5 comments about HTML & JavaScript Programming Concepts (Computer Applications Series).

1. The content is accurate, but written in a very simplistic style, and very limited in scope. This would be a good text for 8th or 9th grade classes.



2. I found this book to be quite disappointing.. It was awfully short, though it did introduce many important concepts. I'm not sure that I agree with the lesson plans. It gives you instructions to copy down certain codes, then gives a brief explaination later on about what you did. I came across a few errors, and since they have recently updated their resources webpage, there is no access to the pictures in which the book refers to.



3. I've been working with this book in order to create a Web Development course for high school students and I have come to really dislike this book. To its credit, it covers most of the basics that people will need to get into HTML and JavaScript. However, the organization is rather poor with the sections being a collection of random material. And much is not explained in enough detail for people to really understand what is going on or what can be done. The material is not up to date either by including some tags that most people would consider deprecated. I also feel that they do not truly understand the purpose of technologies like JavaScript and how to use them. Overall, an introduction to some basic aspects of the technology, but without enough information or understanding of the technology.



4. We used this book in a class...good thing I already had experience with HTML!

   This book does a basic job teaching HTML. When you're done this, you'll be able to use different fonts and things..tables if you're lucky. As for "advanced" concepts, you won't see them here.

   As for JavaScript, forget it. They essentially have you copy a bunch of their code down and see what it does. Not as in depth as javascript needs at all...

   Oh, and by the way, if you need to learn how to use Notepad, how to save an HTML file, or other basic things, they go REALLY in depth with that.




5. This book was used in my Computer Science class. I'm glad that I already knew HTML prior to this because it teaches you nothing. Online tutorials have way more information than this book. It's very short. Sure, it covers some topics... but it makes you believe that you cover a world's worth of JavaScript in 3 chapters. That barely scratches the surface. The HTML part isn't too bad, but could've been improved.

   By the way, one will not learn anything similar to the snippets of code on the cover. They're placed there to make you seem like you're learning a lot.

4 comments about Teach Yourself Javascript in a Week (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. The title of the book states that the reader can learn JavaScript in a week. Although this may be true, two weeks is better suited for the amount of reading required to learn the contents of the book. Nonetheless, the book is extremely well written and easy to understand. The author's directions are concise, complete, and directed toward the reader of non-technical manuals. This particular edition was the first JavaScript book I read in the compilation of eight books that I have read thus far. The author provides detailed examples of JavaScript programming code that actually work when you type each one into a standard word processor and load the file into the web browser. I did not find any errors in the written code examples found in the contents of the book. I typed in all examples from start-to-finish and did not experience problems with any of the provided JavaScript programs. In addition, the included CDROM contains invaluable tools and utilities for creating and enhancing web site pages. I was impressed with the compilation of information stored on the CDROM, and I still utilize the contents frequently. It must be noted that I am now an experienced JavaScript programmer, so the contents of the CDROM must be extremely valuable to beginners. I would recommend this book to any person studying the JavaScript language, whether it be beginners, students, or professionals in the field of computer technology and programming. I currently hold a B.S. degree in Mathematical Theory, a B.S. degree in Computer Science, and am working toward an M.A. in CI(Applied Computer Technology). In addition, I hold a California Teaching Credential in Secondary Education, and I teach mathematics and computer science at Porterville High School in Porterville, California. Hence, I believe that this review has been substantiated as genuine and deserves the respective merit. In closing, I must emphasize the value of this book to beginners learning the intricacies of the language named JavaScript. It parallels the on-line guide written in HTML & JavaScript by the creators of the Netscape Navigator Browser who wrote the JavaScript language. Buy the book! It's worth it's weight in gold



2. This book functions as a fabulous introduction to the language of JavaScript for beginners, as well as a terrific resource and reference for those already familiar to JavaScript. I used this book all last summer at work, and the results were great! :



3. The biggest problem with this book is that it contains a good amount of erroneous code. I did not get very far in it before I had to refer to a more authoritative text. Then I bought the more authoritative text.

   The publishers of these 'Teach Yourself..' series would save us all alot of hastle if they would rigorously test all program source before they publish the book!




4. The book reflects the JavaScript as it was first inplemented with the Netscape Navigator 2.0. If you are interested in the history of JavaScript, or willing to start from the first simple examples, buy it.

No comments about Essentials for Design JavaScript - Level two (Essentials for Design).

No comments about Teach Yourself Javascript.

5 comments about Perl, CGI, and JavaScript Complete, 2nd Edition.

1. Despite some basic concept familiarization, I was horribly intimidated by JavaScript and Perl. This book does a great job of introducing and hand walking you through difficult concepts and ideas - building a little at a time - Great desk reference... Recommended to some friends and bought as a gift for others!



2. I like Sybex's idea of giving the reader 1,000 pages of info for under [price]. But this book is not well executed: there are innumerable mistakes littering this book, but the website lists only one entry in the "errata." And these are mistakes that can frustrate a newbie (e.g., the book says that UNIX PATH varibale has a ';' delimiter when actually it is a ':', etc.) Also, the reference section for Perl modules leaves out any mention of CGI.pm -- a very important module. Both sections leave the reader wondering just what level of expertise the authors have.

   I would not recommend this book.




3. I just bought this book and read into it, and many of their examples are incorrect and they do not teach you very well. If you want a decent book on programming, try one from PeachPit Press.



4. This is a very dry reading. It holds a lot of information but not fit for the learning point of view, it is set up more to be a reference for the already advanced jscript/perl/cgi programmer. The layout is not created up well enough to display samples, and only makes you more confused as you get further into the book. I found myself reading pages over 2 or 3 times before one page would make sense with the next.



5. I bought this book mainly for Perl and CGI. I found it quite difficult to follow, and had to re-read chapters repeatedly to get the main points. Even then it was hard. I think I would prefer more "hand-holding". I always felt I was being overwhelmed.

1 comments about JavaScript Essential Training.

1. If you're new to programming and javascript, this is a great resource for getting you started. The video keeps the concepts and examples simple without dumming anything down, which is extreemly helpful. I found the personal insights by Dori especially enlightening. They provided good context for how javascript fits into the web development world.

No comments about Literature Timeless Voices,Timeless Themes (Gold Level) Annotated Teacher's Edition.

5 comments about Extending Acrobat Forms with JavaScript.

1. I have been making forms in Acrobat since version 3.0, and have a background in Dbase III, Foxpro, Visual Basic .NET, and SQL 2000. However, I never learned Javascript formally or in-depth.
   
   This book was an excellent springboard to a good working knowledge of JavaScript, especially relating to Acrobat. The chapters are broken down by functionality and increase in complexity, and each has at least one project that the author will guide you step-by-step (you can download the PDF's from the author's website). The book was edited very well, I found only one mistake (a typo) after reading the book almost page for page. What makes this an outstanding book is the clarity of the examples and explanations the author has so obviously spent much time on to help us "poor newbies".
   
   My focus was how to get started interacting with databases (SQL or Access), and while the first Chapter (16) was review for people familiar with databases, Chapter 17 really got me started. The project in the book gives the basics -- to go beyond, you need the following resources: the Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Reference and the Scripting Guide (...).
   
   Developers know that the devil is in the detail, so once I got past the database interface hurdle, the other chapters were just as useful to put the necessary finishing touches on my project.
   
   Here's the bottom line: If you are already advanced in your knowledge of JavaScript, this isn't your book! You know enough to pick up the Acrobat JavaScript Reference and figure it out. If you're just starting out or need to know, in detail, what capabilities Acrobat and JavaScript can give you for an IT solution, this book is an excellent resource.
   
   One last thing that makes the author of the book outstanding: He has a free newsletter for those looking for better ways of utilizing Acrobat (...)



2. I love this book! I am a professional graphic designer that does not know how to write any JavaScript. I just wanted to be able to create more dynamic pdf files. The author did a great job explaining the JavaScript used in this book in a way that non programmers can grasp!
   
   Mr. Deubert was also very gracious in helping me customize one of the scripts in his book to work for a specific project I had. He stands behind his product!
   
   I recommend this to anyone that is a non programmer looking to learn how to use JavaScript with Acrobat.



3. I was looking for some more advanced features than were offered, but it looks like it will be helpful to me moving forward. I build alot of forms in Adobe Acrobat. If you have never done javascript in Acrobat, or have intermediate knowledge, it may be a helpfull book for you.



4. I had no prior working knowledge of javascript and I wanted to make my Acrobat forms more functional. This book served the purpose.
   The book is a little dated, but still very relevant. Things have changed with the release of Acrobat 8, but the information in the book is still valuable. The book gives step-by-steps on how to do things in previous versions, but if you are willing to look around, you can find the screens referred to in Acrobat 8. With that in mind, I had to give the book a five star rating, since I can't fault the author on anything in the book.
   I am looking forward to books this good written for Acrobat 8.



5. It's made for the Macintosh. Unfortunately, the book isn't available as an updated version for the newest Adobe Professional. The examples are quite simple.

3 comments about Web Application Design and Implementation: Apache 2, PHP5, MySQL, JavaScript, and Linux/UNIX (Quantitative Software Engineering Series).

1. This is the book I wish I had had when I was starting to set up my Books-On-Line web site. Here in one simple step is just about half of what you need to know to set up a fairly complex database driven web site. I say about half of what you need to know because he spends no time at all on appearance, type fonts, color, illustrations, all that stuff. As he says in the introduction, he's not good at that (neither am I), and for those subjects you need another book.
   
   But for a functioning web site he recommends what is sometimes called LAMP - for Linux, Apache, MySql and PHP. To summarize why:
   
   The software is FREE, a very good price.
   It doesn't crash as often
   It runs faster so you can use a slower computer.
   
   By the time you finish, you'll probably want at least one book on each of these software packages, but here is an excellent place to start. It gives you enough to get started and you only need to go deeper into each of these packages when you start getting fancier. The nice thing about this book is that it gives you everything you need to get started in a well written, easy to understand way.
   
   Mr. Gabarro, there are two things I would suggest for your next edition: One, include a cd of a working collection of the four packages rather than saying go get any distribution, and two, talk a little about past and emerging technologies such as Cold Fusion for the past, and Ruby on Rails for the future. I'd be interested in your opinions.



2. Have read 40% of the book so far. There are many places where visual aspects are discussed, and there are no visual illustrations!!. The book is clearly aimed at people whose knowledge is elementary in the areas being discussed, and yet there is no attempt to make it easy for the reader to learn. Also, the examples are unimaginative.
   
   On the bright side, I like the casual conversational style.



3. Hi guys, first of all, thanks for actually considering buying this book. I do appreciate all reviews, whether they are good or bad, as this is the very first book I wrote. I do have to say in response to T.Arora that I did spend a lot of time writing this book (took me over a year), and the reason I did not include more images was a contractual restrictions. I was told to write a book of about 300 pages, and adding images would have made me go way over board. I felt it was more important to concentrate on explanations and the actual code. After that, you could always write the code and see what it looks like.
   
   I do hope you read it till the end. I've heard good things about the last chapter, when everything gets together. Hopefully you will like my examples a little better. :)
   
   For those thinking on whether or not to buy the book, realize that this book is about learning how to make database-driven websites, not how to make pretty pages. If you want to learn tricks and dangers of Web programming, the book can definitely help you. If you just want to learn Web design and how to choose colors, get a different book.
   
   Thanks to all of you that have purchased it so far! :)

5 comments about Designing with JavaScript, 2nd Edition.

1. I recommend this book to people that have done some HTML(& CSS), Javascript. This books presents the techniques that are used to create sliding menu bars, scrollers, tabbed folders, and many practical & useful scripts. The book doesnt delve deep into the syntax of javascript, but teaches you the technique instead. Together with the well chosen examples(& example code) and screenshots, it is easy to understand.

   Although the example codes are simple, once you get the basics, you can easily create your own scripts using the techniques taught in the books and interwine them with your own imagination.

   The xbStyle object presented at the end of the book really helped. Although its a little outdated (xbStyle.js has been split into 2- xbStyle.js and xbDOM.js). But the API's are still the same, except now they are more specific(being split into xbDOM[contains methods like xbGetElementById() ] and xbStyle[object] and all.

   Overall, this terrific book will put you on the 'exponential' road to javascript success. It did to me




2. I'm a true beginner. I've been learning javascript, and this is definitely not the book for that. It claims to teach, but it doesn't, not really. I have to admit it does explain the techniques and examples used, but the style in which this book is written I did not find very conducive to learning the language. This is more like a compilation of the most commonly used scripts. The examples are made to be applied immediately in webpages. I did dip into it and use one or two scripts, but for the most part I did not get that much out of it(other than the pleasure of viewing the pretty pink swirly pattern on the cover and throughout the book).

   I would compare this book's offerings to fast food: it all comes prepared, and the most you'll have to do is squeeze some ketchup on top of it. You won't be stepping into the kitchen.

   I found JavaScript Programming for the Absolute Beginner, by Andy Harris, much better for learning javascript concepts and syntax.




3. In some of my other reviews, I've talked about how you need a mixture of "how to" and reference books. This book falls into the "how to" realm, as this is a volume you can use if you're just starting out with JavaScript. Don't let the small size fool you, however. There's a lot of really good information packed into a book of manageable size.

   The book is made up of a series of code samples that illustrate a particular task or function you'd want to accomplish in a web page. For instance, in the Forms And Validation chapter, the authors discuss why you would want to use JavaScript to do form validation. They then start out with a simple script to show how you'd set up a validation script for a form. After that, they start to build out the different validation edits that should catch invalid data. At the end, they recap with the complete script they just walked you through. The advantage to this style is that you are learning by doing real-world examples. And when finished, you have examples of code that you can refer back to in the future when you need similar functionality.

   Another important thing to understand about JavaScript is how to use it to work with the object model of the browser, such as windows, forms, images, etc. Much of this information is interspersed within the chapters that are teaching you how to do things with JavaScript. I would have liked to see a chapter devoted just to the browser object model. However, given the intended audience (beginning web developers), it could have been a little too confusing to break that out.

   For Notes/Domino developers, you'll find a lot that will be immediately useful as you start developing Domino web applications. Once again, the form validation section will help you to understand how you can use JavaScript to do your form validation instead of making round trips to the server to edit the Domino form using @Formula language. You will have to work a little harder to translate some of this into the Domino development environment, however. Since Domino translates Notes design objects into HTML "on the fly", you may never end up coding

   tags by hand. You'll have to work to understand where you can put JavaScript code within Designer so that it works in your application. Having said that, you will still need to know how to code the JavaScript routines that you'll need. This book will help you get there.

   Conclusion
   I would recommend this book if you are just starting to get into using JavaScript for your Domino web apps. You'll get up to speed quickly on basic functionality, and you can refer back to the examples over time to help you figure out new features you want to add over time.




4. If you are looking for a book to cover DHTML, DOM, and java scripting with a view to enhance your web sites, this is an excellent book.
   
   I have developed many corporate ASP.NET web sites, and did not rely on java scripting for anything. (Yes ASP.NET pages do generate some java scripts).
   
   I found this book a great stepping off point to learn CSS, DHTML, DOM, and using java scripts to enhance my web sites.



5. I tried to do the autoscroll example from chapter three. I started with the samples I downloaded and unzipped from the O'Reilly site. The first thing I noticed was that the picture in the samples was different from the picture in the book (no bother there), but then I noticed the picture was not really big enough to fill up the full width of the page, much less be big enough to scroll.
   
   I went to a site which had panoramas so I could find a picture big enough for the exercise, and finished writing the page. But when I tried it out, the script didn't work at all. Not being an expert, I assumed that I had done the exercise incorrectly, but when I tried the example downloaded from the O'Reilly website-- it didn't work either!!!
   
   Also, I noticed the code example in the book did not match the sample document from the downloaded .zip file.
   
   You would think they would have the bugs worked out by now: it IS, after all, the Second Edition!