Object-Oriented JavaScript

by Stoyan Stefanov and Kumar Chetan Sharma

Book Overview

Create scalable, reusable high-quality JavaScript applications and libraries. Learn to think in JavaScript, the language of the web browser. Object-oriented programming made accessible and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1847194141
• ISBN13: 9781847194145
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book for the beginner or intermediate JavaScript programmer

(Disclaimer: this is a summary of a more lengthy review I posted at http://www.bramstein.com/articles/object-oriented-javascript.html) The book starts with a good introduction to the various aspects of JavaScript, from data types and control structures in Chapter 2 to functions and objects in Chapter 3 and 4. The writing in these chapters is clear and contains plenty of examples you can follow along. Although these chapters provide a good introduction to basic JavaScript, you could find the same information in most other JavaScript books (JavaScript: The Definitive Guide comes to mind.) The interesting stuff however starts in Chapter 5 and 6 with an in-depth discussion of JavaScript's prototype based nature and the various forms of inheritance it supports. These chapters provide one of the clearest introductions to prototype based programming I have yet seen. If you're already familiar with basic JavaScript but unsure about your knowledge of prototypes and inheritance, this would be a good place to start reading. This book shows that there are better and simpler alternatives to classical inheritance available in prototype based languages (and if you really want to use classical inheritance it will show you how to do that as well.) Chapter 8 "Coding and Design Patterns" is in my opinion the most interesting chapter. It introduces various coding and design patterns such as initialization time branching and configuration objects, as well as JavaScript implementations of patterns from the famous Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series) book. My only negative point on this chapter is that I found it too short---I would have liked to see more patterns and perhaps even style guidelines. In conclusion; I found it to be a very good book, and highly recommend it if you are looking for a good introduction to JavaScript or to upgrade your skills to "modern JavaScript".

Very solid book on Javascript

I liked that book covers exactly the JavaScript LANGUAGE, not libraries, not effects, but the LANGUAGE. Highly advise!

Great book for any level programmer

This is a well written book, I recommend that everyone wanting to get into javascript programming go pick up this book. I first bought JavaScript: The Definitive guide by Oreily because everyone in the JavaScript community said thats the most detailed book on javascript. But that book was like reading a dictionary and I would get bored with it pretty quick. This book "Object-Oriented Javascript" is a wonderful read, its well structured. Flowing from 1 chapter to another giving you everything you need to know like building blocks laying out a strong foundation. Before I read this book I wasnt comfortable with javascript at all, but now I feel like I can do just about anything with it. I really liked the chapters on Prototyping and the section on closures work. The author really tries hard to show how javascript works by not only explaining it in laymen terms but also having diagrams to help illustrate his point. The examples are kept short and to the point and he has many examples to help get all his points across. The way this book is layed out it will make for a good desktop reference. Stoyan Stefanov, I'm looking forward to any more books you might come out with.

One of the top books in the field

Having read a large number of JavaScript books, I would say that this is easily one of the best around. The introductory chapters are above average, and thoughtfully mention a number of useful details. The core chapters in the book describe Functions, Objects, Prototype, and Inheritance. These chapters alone are worth the price of the book. They are probably clearer than any other book on the subject. Beginners and moderate JavaScript users will gain a great deal from this book, and advanced users will also find it useful. Highly recommended.

Best JavaScript on Object Oriented Programming

Object-Oriented JavaScript by Stoyan Stefanov is a first among JavaScript books in my opinion. OOP in JavaScript is not new, but has gained much popularity since the use of JavaScript in Ajax and the development of JavaScript libraries and widgets from various web companies (especially Yahoo!). Learning how to create component-based applications using JavaScript is not an easy thing to master if all you know about JavaScript is doing "mouse-overs" or neat little effects. There really isn't a book out there that really explains how OOP works in JavaScript completely. There are books from Apress and WROX that are geared towards "intermediate" topics in JavaScript such as creating objects and so forth, but they quickly go into sing custom libraries which really doesn't teach you anything apart from using a library. This book really goes into detail in explaining how the syntax of JavaScript can be used to create scalable applications from the ground-up. I would say this book is geared for the developer who has a grasp on the language itself but wants to learn more in creating real useful applications for the web using JavaScript and wants to learn without depending on any pre-built library or component. The author goes into the basics of the language first (chapter 1-2) then spends a chapter on functions (chapter 3) which is the many ways in JavaScript to create objects. Since JavaScript is not a fully OO language, it can get confusing on understanding the many different ways to create an object. Stoyan explains it very well with many examples so anybody can understand it. The next few chapters (4 - 6), the author goes into OOP practices like how objects work, the Prototype built-in object, inheritance, and many of the built-in methods and properties you can use to manipulate your custom objects. Yes, object literal notation is covered in-depth since it really is the standard way in JavaScript to create objects. The rest of the book has some excellent chapters on the BOM, DOM, Ajax and Design Patterns which really round out the book and make it worth it. I have never seen a book so complete on some of the more intermediate to advanced features of JavaScript and explaining it so anybody can learn it. Go get yourself a copy of this book today!