Instant JavaScript
by Nigel McFarlane
443 Pages
ISBN# 1861001274
1997
Price: £22.99
US$24.95
Canada$34.95
Wrox Publishing
1998
30 Lincoln Road, Olton
Birmingham B27 6PA
United Kingdom
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Instant JavaScript
reviewed by
John Foster-Hill
This single-volume reference guide to JavaScript is a must-have for all would-be, should-be or has-been web programmers. It provides a great introduction to the language and compares impressively with the other (mostly dross) JavaScript books on the market. While most computer books seem single-handedly responsible for the world tree shortage, here no space is wasted (the contents page is on the inside cover!) packing all the facts into its 443 pages.
January 14, 1999
The introductory chapter deals with an overview of the language: data types, operators, keywords and the like and then delves further. The information presented is well structured in appropriate chapter headings which include basic topics ('windows and Frames' & 'Browsers and Other Hosts') as well as more advanced ones ('Forms and CGI' & 'Applets and Java'). In particular the book is very good at looking at browser compatibility and implementational aspects of the language across browsers. 'Instant JavaScript' is also the first book to deal with the emerging JavaScript standard ECMAScript. Throughout there is varied use of typography to aid information assimilation and the digestion of key points. These break up the text into manageable bitsized chunks highlighting important areas, tips, keywords, file commands and so on. There is also a summary of the points made at the end of each chapter.
The style throughout is punchy and not overly wordy; neither does the author try to be funny or overly presumptuous about the tastes of his audience (which is incredibly annoying in computing books). There has been a concerted effort to make the book as user friendly as possible with a comprehensive appendix section and index, as well as an errata section for any last minute revisions. Also any examples shown are neither too obscure nor too irrelevant. The book works both as an introduction to the language, graduating to progressively more and more advanced topics and as a handy reference guide.
If there are any downsides to this book they are that a certain basic knowledge of HTML and programming is needed and assumed which seems to indicate that this is not the book for complete beginners. There is not much in the way of flashy colours and graphics, but these can often be distracting. Another downside is that there are no line numbers on code snippets, although the snippets are generally short and therefore not too difficult to follow. Server-side JavaScripting is only given a cursory nod which is a shame and perhaps will be addressed in the second edition. These faults aside, this book represents a real triumph (yet again) for Wrox and is definitely the single best JavaScript volume this author has read.
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