Javascript: A Beginner's Guide, Fourth Edition

I have no programming experience and am teaching myself JavaScript. I tried a couple of other books, which left me feeling frustrated-even if they were supposed to be for beginners. Desperate, I tried this one and am happy to say that I'm writing small scripts and becoming familiar with all the different options. The lessons are well written and easy to follow. The little progress checks and tests at the end of the chapters help highlight the lessons and, if you get any answers wrong, show you where to go back to reread/practice. Although a beginner's book, it gives hints of what can be done, which keep me motivated to continue learning. It may be that I "outgrow" this book at some point, but I'm likely to keep it around for a quick reference.

Javascript: A Beginner's Guide is the best book that I have seen for beginners. The book is written like a text book and provides novice programmers with information on basic programmer's terminology, etc. Exercises are provided to help develop programming skills. When I start offering javascript class, this will likely be my choice for a textbook. As a beginner's book, I give this 10 stars. This is a great book for people completely new to programming. For example, graphics designers without programming experience who want to develop web pages could easily use this book to learn javascript. Experienced programmers, however, may find this book to be too elementary. The author takes several pages to define what a variable is, which may be aggravating to experienced programmers who just want to learn a new language.

Web design has gone through major changes over the years and with the addition of JavaScript web pages have so much more excitement to them. After reading this book and working with examples I was able to create basic JavaScript code and add things to the web pages.The book is an excellent learning tool and easy to follow along with. The title is a Beginner's guide and there could not be a more exact description. The book has the step by step examples and each project has review questions.The book lacks a cd with any tools or examples, although you can get free files from the internet. In updated version this might be something to add. The book takes you from getting the script in web pages to frames and forms.If you new to Javascripting or have a need to brush up on some things, than you may want to get a hold of this book. Overall this is by far the best beginner text I have had a chance to work with.

I haven't looked at many beginners JavaScript books for awhile until this one. I found out on a Thursday that it would be the text book for a class I was to begin teaching on the following Tuesday. Previously I had recommended "Teach Yourself JavaScript 1.3 in 24 Hours" by Michael Moncur to get through the doorway and start using JavaScript. While that's still a fine book, I have to say that I'm really impressed with this one and Pollock's expertise of the subject.This book takes the reader by the hand and speaks in a very mentoring tone. The text asks the right questions to help seal in the knowledge and offers intermediate steps should one like to take them. This is a great book to start off with, and absent the JavaScript Bible by Danny Goodman, it makes a fairly decent reference guide.

I agree with the first two reviewers: this is one of the BEST TUTORIALS EVER for an introduction to a programming language/script. Here's why. (1) The order of introduction to topics is logical; (2) The English is perfect and understandable; (3) The code is illuminated with the call-outs you need; (4) The variable names chosen are never cryptic or confusing --- Pollock gets an A++ for this accomplishment alone; (5) Screen shots are cropped so you see only what you need to see; (6) The topics covered are truly useful.I, too, had purchased other JavaScript books and quick guides. I'm not going to criticize them, because they are useful on occasion, but THIS is the book I really learned JavaScript from. Don't let the fact that there isn't a CD keep you from buying this. You can download plenty of JavaScript samples from the Internet, and none of the scripts is so long you will have trouble typing it. Buy this book, start at page 1 and read straight through. You'll be glad you did.