JavaScript Resources

Online and Print Resources

Course Textbook

Negrino, Tom & Smith, Dori. Visual QuickStart Guide:
JavaScript for the World Wide Web, 5th Edition
Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2003.
[Buy it at Amazon.com]
[companion website]

Recommended Books

Goodman, Danny. JavaScript Bible, 4th Edition
USA: IDG Books Worldwide, 2001.
[Buy it at Amazon.com]
Wilton, Paul. Beginning JavaScript
USA: WROX Press, 2000.
[Buy it at Amazon.com]
Flanagan, David. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition
USA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 2001.
[Buy it at Amazon.com]

On-line Resources

Tutorials
These are good resources to check out if you are having difficulty understanding a concept that we have discussed in class or if you want to tackle a topic that we have not or will not cover in class.
Discussion Areas
I like you and you can consider me a friend, but , unfortunately, I am just too darned busy to help you with your scripts after this course has ended. These are good resources to turn to when you are having difficulty with a script and are not lucky enough to have a friend or co-worker who is a JavaScript guru.
- comp.lang.javascript
  This is the official Usenet JavaScript newsgroup (Huh? What the heck is a newsgroup?) . If you are a first time visitor, be sure to read the FAQ.
- Tek-Tips
- World Wide Web Artists Consortium
- JavaScript Weenie
- Microsoft Scripting Newsgroups
Script Archives
Script Archives are places where you can go to find pre-made JavaScripts that you can cut and paste into your pages. Some of these scripts require you to make a few changes before you can use them in your page. I am not a big fan of cutting and pasting scripts, because I think it discourages you from learning how to do that task on your own from scratch - which is important to wrestle with if you really want to learn how to program. Often these scripts actually require that you know quite a bit about JavaScript in order to get them to work. However, I do believe that they are useful for the following reasons. 1) Time is a luxury. Sometimes you just don't have the time to learn something new. When this is the case, hit the archives. But, if you find yourself here more often than not, maybe you should reconsider whether or not you really want to learn JavaScript. 2) Some folks (and these folks are definitely the minority) learn best by throwing themselves into complex examples. These folks like to tinker with the examples to see what happens and as a result deepen their understanding. If you are one of these folks, keep a copy of the DOM by your side as you tool with these examples. 3) I believe that these archives function best as time savers once you have already mastered the basics of JavaScript. These are great resources when you understand how to construct something in theory and are confident that you can do it on your own, but just don't have the time to build it from scratch. 4) If you like to construct things using a model, you can find your models here.