JavaScript is a difficult language to learn, and thus requires a good book, class, or mentor to really learn how to use it effectively. There are many good reference books on JavaScript, and a few that focus on Ajax in general, but both assume that you are already a JavaScript master (or at very least a journeyman). What the market needs is not another advanced book on Ajax, but a good JavaScript primer. O'Reilly's Learning JavaScript appears to fit that niche at first glance, but it quickly descends into an over-technical, poorly explained, typo-filled mess that is entirely inappropriate for JavaScript beginners.

Writing analysis

The first major failing of Learning JavaScript is the copyediting. There are more typos in the first half of this book than in the previous 5 books I've read combined. Some of them are even in the code samples, which make them unusable. The example code is purely theoretical and never represents a working program anyway, so there is little to fear from typographical errors. The capitalization of Web (in reference to the World Wide Web) is inconsistent, as well.

Learning JavaScript starts out with a basic description of the language and how it works, then immediately delves into advanced object-oriented programming principles, stopping to explain very few technical terms along the way. Most chapters do end with some reader questions and programming problems to work on (with answers in the appendix) -- and that is something many teaching books lack -- but many readers will find themselves too poorly instructed in JavaScript basics to answer or solve them.

Putting the book to the test

You will have a difficult time learning JavaScript programming from this book, even if you have a background in some other high-level language. The author says in the introduction that Java is difficult to learn, and implies that JavaScript, by contrast, is easy. If you agree with that sentiment, this book might be of some value to you. Most readers will probably find themselves searching for other JavaScript references (to understand concepts the author glosses over) or teaching texts (to move to another book altogether) by the second chapter.

Conclusions

This book is, at best, inappropriately titled and unsuitable for its intended market. If you already know a little about JavaScript and have created your own JavaScript functions in the past but don't have a solid understanding of how to do more with it, then Learning JavaScript may be a good fit for you. For everyone else -- the beginners and the advanced JavaScript programmers -- this book is not the best choice.

I've read and reviewed many O'Reilly books over the past two years, and this is undoubtedly the publisher's lowest point. Learning JavaScript was poorly executed on all levels, and not at all on par with any other O'Reilly programming book.

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Copyright 2007 JEM Electronic Media, Inc. No reprints without written permission.