Suggestions on JavaScript book please!

D

demonet

I am a dilettante when it comes to prgramming. I can do some things in VB and anything in HTML. Further, from my days as a 12-year-old hacker back in the 80s, I have a pretty keen mental acuity when it comes to programming in general.

However, I have used esignalcentral.com resources, and other online resources in order to attempt to master Javascript and have not really felt like I was grasping what I needed to learn.

I want to be able to do write any script my mind can conceive in eSignal's EFS.

Can anyone suggest a book or other resource which will aid me in comprehensively learning Javascript? I know that there are dozens out there, but aside from a "Javascript for Dummies", (I always have trouble going through the checkout line with anything "for Dummies"--must work on my ego), I really don't know which one is better than the others.

I am looking for a soup to nuts, yet comprehensive guide to JS. But keep in my mind that I will probably only be using it for eSignal.

Thanks!!
 
I consider "Javascript-The Definitive Guide" to be my bible of Javascript. However, it is more of a reference than a lesson-book and has proven less useful to me than simple Google searches for specific examples on how to do certain tasks. I usually use it as a final authority syntax reference when I'm trying to debug the examples/tutorials I find on the web--it's invaluable that way.

Check it out at: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jscript4/ And check out its little brother, the "Javascript Pocket Reference": http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jscriptpr2/

Other than that, I'd recommend the "Javascript Bible" by Goodman. That's the most complete book on Javascript I've ever seen, but it's got too much lesson material for me, which makes it hard to find specific syntax examples. I find myself wading through pages looking for the last time I remember seeing a certain command used a certain way.

The "Javascript Bible" may be the perfect book for you if you need to brush up on your programming skills, but I'd recommend the O'Reilly books if you're already a strong coder and just want syntax and usage examples. If you could buy only one book on Javascript, I'd recommend "Javascript Bible"--it can stick with you for the entire progression from novice to expert Javascript programmer.
 
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