Subscriber Reviews

Average Rating:  Based on 5 Ratings

"Complicated..." - by Tom P on 03-DEC-2012
Reviewer Rating:
I'm proficient in HTML and CSS and have basic knowledge of PHP but have never studied JavaScript before.

Seeing Modern Javascript: Develop and Design, I thought I'd leap into it. I'm halfway through the book and was fine up until chapter 5 but have lost my way a little in 6 and 7. The content's becoming more and more complicated and the explanations aren't getting any longer than the simple(r) stuff.

So far, I would say this book has a fundamental flaw in that it doesn't explain what piece of code is used for in real, every-day websites. If there was a dummy site, selling cars, for example, and various pieces of Javascript were used on different pages to sum each chapter up I could understand where to use the JavaScript rather than just how.

Annoyingly there seem to be no answers to the questions in the Review and Pursue pages at the end of each chapter. It would be good to know if I'm learning by checking against the correct answers - I'm not going fishing for them to see if I am.

I will update this review when I get to the end of the book but if you are of the same knowledge level as me I'd try something else first. 40+ hours spent on the first 7 chapters...

Glad I didn't buy it but sticking with it...
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"Great book!" - by Gwyn Jones on 06-SEP-2012
Reviewer Rating:
Definitely the most practical, accessible and useful JavaScript title I've read yet.

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"This is the best javascript book i have read" - by billjobs on 15-AUG-2012
Reviewer Rating:
Javascript is the first and only programming language i have learned. I have started to learn javascript as a hobby and an introduction to programming and web development. I tried many books before I came across Larry Ullman's masterpiece: Modern Javascript. This is by far the best book I have read on javascript for many reasons.
1. It is truly modern. Many of the books I have come across do not take advantage of html 5, nor preach good developer practices. This book makes a strong effort to teach you how to use javascript with an eye toward the future of where the language is going and how it will be updated.
2. Larry Ullman introduces the reader to the greater javascript community including prominent figures in javascript development as well as different IDE's and web frameworks. The book also dicusses AJAX, jquery and other javascript offshoots, libraries and server-side javascript
3. This book focuses a lot on objects, including functions, arrays and complex variable structures. It thoroughly explains how pretty much everything in javascript is an object and why this is such a powerful programming tool.  
4. This book does a great job  explaining the event driven capabilities of javascript and how to use them most effectively.
5. Lastly, let's face it, learning a programming language is not easy no matter which book you choose or course you take. Programming requires a lot of trial and error and  direct learning by writing code. Modern Javascript is an excellent companion to take with you on this journey.
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