JavaScript: Novice to Ninja

I gave it 5 stars simply because it does what I wanted it to do - it provides a basic intro to the language that did not waste my time.Pros:-most importantly, it is 1.90$. For just an introduction to syntax you don't need something more expensive, save your money for your 2nd book. Honestly, I wouldn't buy the up to date version for more $, because I'd rather look to more advanced books for ES6 features anyway and only pay 1.90, but that's just my preference. There are better ways to get your more advanced information - go look at Kyle Simpsons books.-easy to read, not excessively wordy. Not too much droning on about the 'why' behind simple language constructs easily grasped by those with coding experience. good coverage of syntax & language basics without beating simple concepts into the ground-most of the book, over half, focuses on DOM manipulation, the Window object, & other javascript-specific things - which saves time for those who already know other languages. pinpoints well those aspects of the language which experienced programmers might need to know about javasciptcons:-the explanation is shallow. It's about syntax, and the "whats" of the language. you will not get an understanding of the inner details of the type system, or how the this pointer works, or the subtle details of scoping.-as such it won't give you a clear understanding of the potential pitfalls and bugs in javascript, which javascript is full of. For that you need a more in depth book_______________So for the above reasons I say it is an excellent first book for those with past coding experience. Considering the price of a used book (I think I got mine for 1.99 at the time)... it's a bargain.TBH I wouldn't worry about 1st vs 2nd edition, just read this for an intro to the language and move on to more advanced books for the up to date information on the cutting edge features of javascript. Kyle Simpson's book series is highly recommended for those of you who are looking for a followup read & in depth coverage

I've being looking for a solid book about pure Javascript and its compexity, and this is the clear winner. There are many hidden tricks and traps in the use of the language that only a well trained "ninja" could teach at a firm pace.The functional programming and the object oriented programming chapters are in my opinion, the strongest parts of the book that will be very difficult to find anywhere else.The book's structure is clear and straigthforward, so you won't have to jump from one point to another to get the whole picture. The supeheroes and "Breaking Bad" references used on the examples will amuse you a lot.

I have purchased and meandered my way through way more introduction to JavaScript books than I'd care to admit... And when I bought this book it was mainly based on the fact that I have generally found the layout and presentation of books from Sitepoint (This publisher) to be very good. That being said, I can say that I think this is a very good book for learning JavaScript from. If you peek inside you'll see that the information is presented in an almost "Block" like format because of the way that the code is separated from the discourse, which I really liked because it made it easy to scan through the example code again after having read a section to quickly refresh my memory on how to do something. I also liked that the examples given are basic enough to not be intimidating at all, but also contain all the aspects required to accomplish more complex tasks down the road. For example the chapter on AJAX presents a simple 3 button webpage where each button interacts with data from a different source ( from a text file, from a website, and from an API). The program is simple but it really helped me to see the big picture and gave me the confidence to learn more complex tasks. I also really liked that the author made use of the website reqr.es a website that lets you simulate posting data to a server / database, which gives you the confidence that you're doing things right. I came away from this chapter feeling like I finally understood what is actually going on with AJAX and ready for more complex ideas. Lastly since I already know how to program in couple of languages I sometimes feel that books like this move too slow to stay interesting... however I didn't feel that way with this book at all. In fact I think that the author strikes the right balance between providing the essential information a true novice would need to know while not getting bogged down trying to over explain key topics. I think this is probably because the code examples work incredibly well at making the exposition clear. I've given this book a rating of 4 stars and not 5 for kind of a small reason really... the only complaint I have about the book, and it's not really even a complaint, is that the images in the book, though completely readable and good for what they are, are a tad grainy. This is a result of the type of printing however and is still better than other books I've seen... but for the same list price of this book I've seen much better paper and print quality. Again this does't detract from the content, but just a minor issue.

As the first book on javascript i have read, (i tried a couple of those short ebook's on amazon but the kindle for mac formatting is awful, so this book was reasonably formatted on kindle and the reviews were good), it was very helpful, each chapter is a rundown on the features of javascript, if your after in depth then you'll need a more advanced book, but as a first read, this hits alot of good fundamental points and purposes of the language, so you get a good view of whats involved in javascript and a good platform on which to hit it in more depth.

No index in the back of the books is a disappointment, but the table of contents is very deep, so it covers most of my needs.This is now my go to book for javascript!

This is listed as a beginner book but it is pretty comprehensive and you won't still be a beginner when you're done.

excellent read. it includes a mini project throughout the book to put what you read into practice. great for learning a new programming language.

Good Information. Could do better with examples though. No index.

Thanks for that product. i really like that to get that product. again, Thank you very much from my side

Brilliant book, covers a lot of JavaScript topics all in one place, with enough brevity to be clear to beginners, but with solid examples and in depth explanations and history for those needing something a little more in depth. I bought this to wean myself off of using so much jQuery and to better understand what's going on behind the scenes with DOM traversal and Ajax calls, and it's certainly helped. An intro to ECMAScript 6 at the end and some helpful hints and tips make this one of my top purchases for 2014 - the only drawback being the spelling mistakes. The typos I can easily ignore but there are some mistakes in the code which could be hindering if it's not spotted, but I look at the positive - this is what working with real code is like! You have to deal with mistakes and typos all the time ;)

This book needs a good proofread as its good and well written. But it is littered with errors,