Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax: Second Editon

Title of this book is totally misleading.I don't recommend this book for complete beginners because after few chaptersauthors start to present in front of a reader very complex code examples.Reader even needs to know fundamentals of object oriented programming to understandexamples.I recommend that you watch some video tutorial on JavaScript if you are complete beginner before reading this book.Probably this book is ideal for programmers whose level of knowledge is between beginner and advanced.Authors think that it is better to put JavaScript in head tag.I don't think so. It only means that you must write additional code.Code examples use inefficient programming techniques and obsolete DOM detection techniques.What is good about this book? You will learn how to write cross-browser JavaScript using utility methods.Authors of this book actually don't know how to present information insimpler and cleaner way.

Being familiar with XHTML, CSS, and DOM scripting, I thought I'd use this book to learn the next step: Creating JavaScripts that interacted with a server. Unfortunately the first chapter that specifically addresses AJAX, Chapter 8, has proven to be unusable.My recurring analogy for the problem is that of an experienced bicyclist who invites a new rider out for a spin. Almost always the experienced rider becomes tired of waiting for the new rider and so speeds off into the distance. So it is with too many technical books. In the case of technical books, the piece that is too often missing is a skilled technical editor who will enforce pacing and consistency of voice from the first chapter to the last.So it is with "Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax". The book dumps too many concepts, and the learning tasks required to absorb those concepts, onto the reader in massive undifferentiated piles. For example, by the time the book reaches an AJAX code sample the reader is presumed to have successfully installed and validated the operation of a server (the book mentions XAMPP in passing, then moves on) and be ready and able to understand the operation of JS samples comprising multiple functional sections. (It doesn't help that the JS code samples don't put blank lines between functional sections and are completely un-commented.)I got as far as the book's second AJAX sample before I hit a wall. Regardless of whether I ran the example under XAMPP or from the book's online Web site, the example ran only on Internet Explorer, but not Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. It's now up to me to break the book's examples apart and figure out why this is happening. So much for "beginning"…If you're already pretty good with computers and computer languages, and have proven trouble-shooting skills, then you'll probably be able to make use of this book. But of course if you have those skills you don't really need the book in the first place.

It a great book for beginners , I enjoyed this Book , as you are Reading you are learning a lot and is not difficult to understand the point of the Author does.

This is a very good book if you are looking into getting your JS DOM scripting skills up there. I am writing a mini DOM library..and this book is really helping me out. I highly recommend it.

The main problem with this book is: The author introduces a library DOMhelp.js which he wrote nicely but no comment. This library has been used all over the book without stating a single line in the book how some function works. My question to this author is: If I already knew how some of your ultra powerful function is working in the background then why I bought this book but I could just write a book and start making money.Moreover, reading jquery documentation would be a better idea rather buy this book because at least you will know how the function works under the hood.