The "cookbook" approach is designed to take a common web site feature, like a search engine, and code a common JavaScript routine that would do that. You can then take the code in the book and use it with very little modification. In most cases, you would learn from the code as you are implementing it, and from there you can enhance the function to better suit your particular needs. You get the best of both worlds... You are quickly able to implement a function you are getting paid to build, and you are learning at the same time.

I liked the piece on context-sensitive help files. Nothing is really complex or visually impressive. But it's core functionality that you can implement quickly, it's useful for the end user, and you can build on that technique both in your current and future applications.

For Notes/Domino developers, you'll find a lot you can use here. Being that Domino functionality often translates to the web, you may find that a pure JavaScript implementation of a feature may not be the fastest or easiest way to build something for your application. You'll need to examine the functionality you need for your application and determine the best way to do it. But even if you choose to use Domino to accomplish some task, seeing the way to do it in JavaScript can help you expand your horizons and consider different approaches.

Conclusion
I would recommend this book as a practical supplement to a good "how to" and a good reference book. If you're just starting to learn JavaScript, you may want to leave this one alone for awhile.

The code could be better (as could anyone's). There is a strong focus on using local variables instead of global and the naming conventions make following the logic from one function to the next a little difficult. This, however, does not diminish the value of the concepts presented.

To use the book, you "MUST" download the files. Not only are they a lot easier to read, you can comment them extensively as you go and pick up logic bits.

An inportant suggestion is to not blow through the example application too quickly. If you take the time to take them apart, modify them and reassemble, you will pick up much more than just running them reading the code and moving on.

I wish there were more books that presented the business functionality of javascript and how it can be used to handle many of the things that are being passed to server-side processing.

I bought it, used it and would buy it again...

Chapter one's search engine is not a lengthy script, but takes a while to digest because so many local variables are used. While this is economical, it makes picking up the logic flow from one function to the next a little more difficult. Having said that, the concepts presented in the code are well worth the effort to work through every line.

Downloading the zip file is the only way to go with this book. the code in the book is, due to format limitations, much more difficult to follow than the code viewed in a good editor. Besides you can comment the code line-by-line if that helps you.

If I was looking for an intermediate business oriented javascript book, this would be it!!

After fully mastering the approach of any one of the samples, you can begin immediately to see ways to either expand or apply the code. That's really what most of us are looking for.

Thanks for writing it.

From the very first sample (Online Test), I knew this book would be teaching me a lot of new techniques. Having a web-based application running solely (actually, more like 99%) on Javascript is great. Bradenbaugh is very thorough in his writing, explaining, and guiding readers through various sections of each application. His presentations of the processes and variables used are so helpful when walking through the source code.

Right out of the book, there is no need to configure anything except to download the samples. Once you have it saved on your machine, it's time to make things happen. The best thing about the author's walk-through is that he tells you explicitly what is going on, and he offers ways to enhance each application. That's a must when you are looking for ideas from someone with as much knowledge as he has.

I see combining several chapters worth of code into a bigger and better application. For example, using the file I/O techniques used in the Online Test application in conjunction with the Slideshow application, one could create a database of images used and allow users to load and save them. Better yet, why not offer something like a shopping cart for your users to select which image to include in a slideshow. The possibilities are endless from the use of this book. If time permits, incorporate other functions and create a true scripting-library. Use the include directive to bring in what is needed to make your application lean and user-friendly.

There are some sample chapters of the JavaScript...

The information presented in this book is concise and logical. The examples are superior to anything else I've ever seen.

The first example does not work in either netscape communicator 4.72 or ie 5.0. It is full of script errors. This really irritates me. I don't mind doing a little debugging but this is ridiculous.

If you don't quite have the time to try and build entire applications, or would like to use cross-browser JavaScript to its fullest extent, then this book is highly recommended - kudos to the author. If you're looking for a JScript reference, stick with JavaScript : The Definitive Reference by David Flanagan or the JavaScript Bible by Danny Goodman.