Author/s : Mary Delamater, Ray Harris
Publisher : Mike Murach & Associates
Category :
Web design, HTML and JavaScript
Review by : Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating : 8 horseshoes
"Murach's JavaScript" literally assumes you know nothing and gets you to coding some fairly advanced JavaScript. The very beginning is too easy for a lot of people as you've probably heard of HTML and CSS by the time you read this book. It's easy enough to skip over though. (And if you haven't heard of HTML and CSS, go back and read Murach's book on that first!)
I like that the book introduces practices such as fluent APIs, closures, and even the module
pattern. I like that that book teaches using console.log() in addition to the Chrome and IE debuggers. Personally, I learned about some ECMA 5 features including functional programming methods and the global JSON object.
I would have liked a warning about how to use break/continue well or not misuse it. I was surprised to see the basics of functions introduced in Chapter 10 since they were used in Chapter 9. And the last chapter on jQuery felt incredibly rushed. I know it was meant to be an overview, but I feel like covering less and moving slower would have helped.
There are lots of small applications in the book so you can see how to use what you learn. Many chapters even have multiple applications. And as with any Murach book, the end of chapter exercises/review questions are excellent.
---
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher for reviewing it on behalf of CodeRanch.
More info at Amazon.com