JavaScript Bible [With CDROM]

the Gold editon of Javascript Bible is a giant book with comprehensive reference to just about everything there is to JavaScript. I rely it as my primary JS reference, even though I have several titles on this topic, because I have been able to find more information in this book than others. Realize that a big book like this has both advantages and shortcomings.

This book really helped me in my classwithout it i am sure i would not have passed the class

This book is not for someone who is an absolute beginner to scripting or programming. I would only recommend it for someone who has some experience with scripting and programming - you don't need much, but you do need some in order to fully enjoy this book. When I bought this book, I had already read a slimmer, truly beginner JavaScript book, "Teach Yourself JavaScript 1.3 in 24 Hours" by SAMS. The SAMS book taught me the basic concepts of JavaScript and gave me a good foundation in Document Object Model, syntax, scripting logic, etc. With that knowledge already, the Goodman, JavaScript Bible was fully appreciated. The JavaScript Bible is the best book around on the subject for an intermediate beginner - I mean someone who is still a beginner to JavaScript, but not an absolute beginner. When you are at this stage, buy this book. It is the best learning tutorial at that stage. After reading this I intend to buy the O'Reilly JavaScript book for reference and comparison. I would not recommend the O'Reilly book as the proper learning tutorial for the intermediate beginner, because unlike the JavaScript Bible, the O'Reilly book is written for those who are quite programming and scripting saavy. The O'Reilly book is worth purchasing for reference after reading the JavaScript Bible. The O'Reilly book is also worth buying later in order to find any points that The JavaScript Bible may have not included (and points that the O'Reilly book may have not included but are found in the JavaScript Bible). The JavaScript Bible is a good teacher and a very good reference book. The O'Reilly book is a OK teacher and an excellent reference book.

First off let me tell you my background reading this book. I have no "real world" programming experence. I have however, taken several college programming courses (C++, Java, COBOL, etc). With that background, I found this book to be wonderful! Before I read it, I didn't have the first clue about javascript. I would try doing something and get frustrated and give up. I got 10 chapters into this book and I was already adding cool stuff to my personal homepage.Now if you've never programmed in your life, you may get a little confused with this book. However, you will probably get confused with ANY book. I honestly believe that the fundamentals of programming need to be taught to you. You just can't learn programming for the first time from a book. You will have questions and you will get confused and things will need to be explained to you. You will also need to ask questions. So I would suggest taking some sort of course or getting some training first, then pick up this book if you're new to programming in general.

Most complete reference and tutorial I've seen on the subject. -Jeffrey Trent, President Structure Software, Inc.