I thought this was a great easy to learn guide for people like me new to programming.

The style, presentation, good for beginners features are potentially great, but there are too many errors that will confuse and mislead beginners and frustrate experienced programmers (I've been programming for 44 years). I now have very little confidence in what I read in the book because of the errors and misleading discussions. His explanation of capitalization, spacing, and line breaking on page 8 shows he doesn't know JavaScript syntax. He makes it sound like black magic. There are proper ways to do those things. His discussion on random numbers and modulus arithmetic in Chapter 6 is fatally flawed. His explanations of some other computer science terms and concepts is confused, incomplete, and erroneous.

This is the JavaScript book for the non-programmer who knows some HTML and wants to learn how to enhance their web site with some JavaScript. The book assumes no knowledge of programming at all so even the complete novice can learn some programming skills. I used this book in my JavaScript class and by the time we got through the book, my students were even able to write some simple games like Blackjack and Craps.

The book opens with a look at the main objects of a web page that are used in JavaScript and gives some example scripts that are explained in detail. In fact, the book is full of scripts that are used to explain each technique as you learn. The key concept of what an object is and what properties, methods, and events are is explained in some detail. Validating a form is explained. Image flipping and animation are covered. Example scripts will explain how to create scrolling text and a digital clock on your web pages. Basic programming techniques such as if statements, loops, and arrays are covered.

Examples are really the one thing that make this book worth the investment. Each new subject being discussed is introduced with a script followed by explanations and further examples. Then an assignment is given to help you verify that you have learned the information covered. The solutions to all the assignments are on the author's website.

The book covers the basics of JavaScript and will provide a good foundation for the novice. After reading this book you won't be an expert JavaScript programmer but you will be ready to move on to more complex programming tasks and more difficult books.

This is the JavaScript book for the non-programmer who knows some HTML and wants to learn how to enhance their web site with some JavaScript. The book assumes no knowledge of programming at all so even the complete novice can learn some programming skills. I used this book in my JavaScript class and by the time we got through the book, my students were even able to write some simple games like Blackjack and Craps.

The book opens with a look at the main objects of a web page that are used in JavaScript and gives some example scripts that are explained in detail. In fact, the book is full of scripts that are used to explain each technique as you learn. The key concept of what an object is and what properties, methods, and events are is explained in some detail. Validating a form is explained. Image flipping and animation are covered. Example scripts will explain how to create scrolling text and a digital clock on your web pages. Basic programming techniques such as if statements, loops, and arrays are covered.

Examples are really the one thing that make this book worth the investment. Each new subject being discussed is introduced with a script followed by explanations and further examples. Then an assignment is given to help you verify that you have learned the information covered. The solutions to all the assignments are on the author's website.

The book covers the basics of JavaScript and will provide a good foundation for the novice. After reading this book you won't be an expert JavaScript programmer but you will be ready to move on to more complex programming tasks and more difficult books.

Joe Burn's has a unique talent to write technical stuff in a simple and easy to read style. He is an author that writes as if he is talking to you. Although this book is more technical than his first one, I strongly recommend this book as a great way to break into programming JavaScript.

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

I think this is a great book. The examples are right there, and Joe Burns explains the code LINE by LINE, in pretty much non-technical jargon. Great for a beginner, definitely, and certainly intermediate and advanced JavaScripters !
I enjoy the book, and Burns' humor. No question about it, this isn't your typical blah JavaScript book ! Would be good for instructors teaching JavaScript !

This is the best book I have seen on JavaScript. Joe Burns and Andree Growney have done a great job in explaining and experimenting JavaScript. They cover all the beginner to intermediate tasks. This is a superb book, you should consider buying. Especially, if you are new to JavaScript. This is the cheapest book with lots of features never even shown in other books....

Ok, you're not going to be a javascript wizard by reading this book. You may not even close the back cover with a complete understanding of the document object model, or what makes text scroll, or even why javascript works. You may even be a little teed that you were made to type all of that stuff (most of which worked, some of which didn't) and sort of "left hanging." Where now?

What you will have when completing this book is enough knowledge to go forward to more advanced material and find out why javascript can give you hives of pleasure when implemented correctly. If you have no programming background, you're going to have to grind through this material eventually to make javascript do what you want it to. Think of this book as a first step towards a long journey of enlightenment. Wrox's "Beginning Javascript" is a good follow-up.

Save yourself the time, enegry and money you would have wasted on this book. The author is obviously NOT a programmer, and does not understand basic coding principles. He doesn't explain why things work. If you couldn't read between the lines, you might come away thinking things like variables must be encapsulated in + signs, or the parameter order used in a substring is unimportant. I must say the worst is a clock example that has a seperate if statement for every minute and hour (72+). Several of his examples don't work and interestingly, many that don't are not even on the web site that supposedly mirrors the book.

This is a Terrible book! I have never seen a more obnoxious book. It is full of code that doesn't work. Even copying and pasting from his web site doesn't work. I have used this book and 2 classrooms of 20 students each and they absolutely hated the book and hated his bigger and mighty attitude!

...

I discovered Joe Burns, Ph.D. and his online references years ago. Generally I like his stuff a lot, mainly because Joe has a real advantage over most people who write computer books - He is NOT a computer professional! His Ph.D. is in Communications!

That means Joe excels at explaining the way things work, but he is not always as adept at writing good code.

I actually tried to use this text for an introductory JavaScript class I teach. Given the organization and structure of the book (there are 55 lessons covered in 9 chapters), I expected few problems. Then we started keying in some of Joe's sample scripts.

To be blunt, Joe's syntax sucks. He almost never uses closing semicolons at the end of his statements and he often does not use the correct case for reserved words or methods. Since JavaScript is a touchy programming language at best, these seemingly minor errors can drive a beginner (or expert) to distraction.

In spite of the above comments, if you need a "how to" book to get you started in JavaScript, this is not a bad reference to begin with. The lessons are well organized and introduce beginners to basic programming concepts and theory, in spite of the syntactical errors they contain. I recommend, however, that you get O'Reilly's "JavaScript: The Definitive Guide" as a supplemental reference. The O'Reilly text will give you the CORRECT syntax (syntax is the computer equivalent of grammar, folks) plus lots of other nitty-gritty details that will come in handy as your skill level improves.

Good luck!

BKA

As a computer science major already familiar with some object oriented programming, I did not find this book helpful. Like many other computer books, it walks the user through lessons or projects. I would much rather prefer a book like "JavaScript:Your visual blueprint for building dymanic Web pages" by Kelly L. Murdock that covers topics by examples and screen shots.