Reader reviews

Disappointing. The description oversold what is actually inside.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. Two stars. The subject deserves a better treatment than this.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with javascript.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

This is the third book I have read on programming this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.