Javascript: no longer the ugly step-child

May 13, 2005

I have worked with many web programmers in the past, none have really specialized in javascript or gave it much emphasis. They always gave me the impression that javascript wasn’t ever the best solution to handling things on a web page. I agree somewhat, but it does several thing much better and it certainly has grown up in the past 5 years. I recently received an advance copy of Professional JavaScript for Web Developers and even though I don’t profess to have any serious skills in javascript, but I have found that this book to be a handy reference and resource for me—yes, me a designer.

A JavaScript Book for a Designer?

Yes, I never thought I could use a book like this, google has treated me well in finding what I needed with javascript. However having a reference book on your desk can be just as fast. Javascript guru and author of the book, Nicholas Zakas, makes it easy to follow. With great examples and he covers everything javascript—even http request implementation is discussed (the AJAX name wasn’t coined yet). I don’t ever see myself becoming a javascript expert, but I would recommend it to any javascript expert or novice, programmer or web designer using javascript in his/her work.

What I have learned so far

I probably won’t ever read the entire book cover-to-cover—it just doesn’t read like Harry Potter. First, I have learned that there are far more handling events for javascript than I previously knew. End-fo-line semi-colons are optional. I learned to do an onload event that is not attached to the body. It should have been called ‘LiveScript’ instead of JavaScript. That is just a very small sampling of what is in the book. Yet, I am still learning the basics of javascript. The examples are easy to follow, which is important to me. After going through this book it certainly has reinforced the idea that JavaScript is no longer that script you used for validating forms, it has much more power.