Scan barcode
spav's review against another edition
1.0
Everything but eloquent. Quirky and irrelevant examples. Plain bad
darosadev's review against another edition
4.0
Eloquent JavaScript is an essential book to have in every developer's shelf.
It starts with a basic understanding of what programming is, teaches us the basics of JS, digs deeper and gets to Modern Javascript, allowing us to be ready to adventure further, either into frontend frameworks, as well as backend frameworks.
It's not just a simple book that teaches you Javascript. It's a go-to when you are in need of a deep explanation of a JS feature and even Programming itself.
I don't think that reading is the best programming learning method, but I definitely recommend this book to everyone that's stepping up into programming and JS.
It starts with a basic understanding of what programming is, teaches us the basics of JS, digs deeper and gets to Modern Javascript, allowing us to be ready to adventure further, either into frontend frameworks, as well as backend frameworks.
It's not just a simple book that teaches you Javascript. It's a go-to when you are in need of a deep explanation of a JS feature and even Programming itself.
I don't think that reading is the best programming learning method, but I definitely recommend this book to everyone that's stepping up into programming and JS.
trevan's review against another edition
5.0
Eloquent JavaScript is definitely staying in my bookmarks bar. I've read a few JS books in the past and, whether it was my utter lack of comprehension of JS or the poor presentation of the content, I didn't get much out of them. But Haverbeke's book really struck a chord with my growing interest in client-side programming. It's presented in such a way that beginners can get an understanding of JavaScript and learn by example (there are hundreds of code examples; in fact the whole book is based on examples), but yet intermediate (like me) and advanced programmers are presented with advanced techniques and topics to expand their understanding. I was truly blown away by how well the chapter on object oriented programming explained the concepts of objects and prototypes. I've been struggling lately with prototypes especially, and definitely came away with a more solid understanding after reading this book.
So if you're wanting to learn, are currently learning, or just want to know the right way of writing JS, read this book!
So if you're wanting to learn, are currently learning, or just want to know the right way of writing JS, read this book!
tamouse's review against another edition
4.0
UPDATE
I re-read this book after a while, after digging in with more Javascript, and I have to change my opinion on [b:Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming|8910666|Eloquent JavaScript A Modern Introduction to Programming|Marijn Haverbeke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308260856s/8910666.jpg|13787033]: This book is essential to understanding how to write Javascript applications. Not just the sort of everyday JS you might write in small snippets to support a site that is mostly driven from the backend, but the sort of modern, single-page application that today's JS libraries support. Even further, when you carry JS itself into the backend, via node/io.js, what Marjin talks about in this book becomes not just essential, though still that, but rather mandatory for code that is understandable, maintainable, and extensible.
If you're working on JS applications, buy this book. In addition, get the books by [a:Kyle Simpson|5333816|Kyle Simpson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1425808791p2/5333816.jpg] in his "You Don't Know JS" series.
Old Review
This may not be the Javascript book you are looking for. If you plan on writing a JavaScript library at some point, it may be useful?But I found it rather too mundane. Learning the JavaScript "object" model can definitely be useful, and the author's approach to functional programming concepts might be okay, it still gave me nothing of much use in the end.
Taking the full title, it does provide some fairly decent foundational information on how to program, but it fully misses the boat when it comes to telling people how to actually solve problems in software, as do most all texts in this realm.
For an introduction to programming, it already assumes the reader has a grasp on data structures, algorithms, and how to determine which ones to use. It does nothing to help the new programmer in solving problems, breaking them down, etc., assuming the new programmer already knows how to do that.
As for eloquence, I also think that is a misnomer of huge proportion. While I concur that functional programming provides a rather great amount of eloquence to software development, the author misses many an opportunity to provide more fundamental understanding of it.
I re-read this book after a while, after digging in with more Javascript, and I have to change my opinion on [b:Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming|8910666|Eloquent JavaScript A Modern Introduction to Programming|Marijn Haverbeke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308260856s/8910666.jpg|13787033]: This book is essential to understanding how to write Javascript applications. Not just the sort of everyday JS you might write in small snippets to support a site that is mostly driven from the backend, but the sort of modern, single-page application that today's JS libraries support. Even further, when you carry JS itself into the backend, via node/io.js, what Marjin talks about in this book becomes not just essential, though still that, but rather mandatory for code that is understandable, maintainable, and extensible.
If you're working on JS applications, buy this book. In addition, get the books by [a:Kyle Simpson|5333816|Kyle Simpson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1425808791p2/5333816.jpg] in his "You Don't Know JS" series.
Old Review
Taking the full title, it does provide some fairly decent foundational information on how to program, but it fully misses the boat when it comes to telling people how to actually solve problems in software, as do most all texts in this realm.
For an introduction to programming, it already assumes the reader has a grasp on data structures, algorithms, and how to determine which ones to use. It does nothing to help the new programmer in solving problems, breaking them down, etc., assuming the new programmer already knows how to do that.
As for eloquence, I also think that is a misnomer of huge proportion. While I concur that functional programming provides a rather great amount of eloquence to software development, the author misses many an opportunity to provide more fundamental understanding of it.
msmurph's review against another edition
4.0
Reread for a refresh. Useful for fundamentals but not for beginners.
michaelacabus's review against another edition
4.0
I was trained in programming at an early age; I was, and still am, a humanities type who became immersed in the digital world. As such, I have read many programming books; this one is quite fun, and it is really helping to know Javascript. The exercises are fantastic challenges, and I love a good programming challenge. No, it's not an easy read, but well worth it...
ntombizakhona's review against another edition
5.0
This book is well written, easy to understand and the programming concepts and terminology are explained in an easy to digest manner.
The content is grasped quickly, you don't have to read something over and over again for it to make sense, because he definitely has appropriate metaphors and analogies.
I do appreciate the honest take about, *cough cough*, how downright annoying JavaScript and the ever increasing NPM modules can be, but at least he makes you see the benefits of it as well.
The book has fun, practical projects that will advance your knowledge and skills in JavaScript.
A Great Guide for the Beginner.
The content is grasped quickly, you don't have to read something over and over again for it to make sense, because he definitely has appropriate metaphors and analogies.
I do appreciate the honest take about, *cough cough*, how downright annoying JavaScript and the ever increasing NPM modules can be, but at least he makes you see the benefits of it as well.
The book has fun, practical projects that will advance your knowledge and skills in JavaScript.
A Great Guide for the Beginner.
adster123's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars.
The book is written in an unorthodox manner. As someone who works with JS most days and was just looking to keep myself up to date, it spends too long on some topics I'd consider secondary and too little time on some I'd consider fundamental.
Some examples are bizarre and obtuse. The chapter on async JS was particularly painful solely due to the impenatrably abstract example given. I can only assume a simulation of a village of super smart communicating crows is a misguided attempt at humour.
However it does cover the basics in a nice way. The exercises are useful, hints are provided at the end of the book as well as full solutions online. Some chapters were written very well - I can see myself referring back to the chapters on regular expressions & canvas in the future. I have found information on canvas in particular hard to come by in other books of this nature.
Also the ebook is freely distributed on the book's website, so that's a big plus.
Overall hit and miss. Probably not at the top of my list of JS books but worth a speed read.
The book is written in an unorthodox manner. As someone who works with JS most days and was just looking to keep myself up to date, it spends too long on some topics I'd consider secondary and too little time on some I'd consider fundamental.
Some examples are bizarre and obtuse. The chapter on async JS was particularly painful solely due to the impenatrably abstract example given. I can only assume a simulation of a village of super smart communicating crows is a misguided attempt at humour.
However it does cover the basics in a nice way. The exercises are useful, hints are provided at the end of the book as well as full solutions online. Some chapters were written very well - I can see myself referring back to the chapters on regular expressions & canvas in the future. I have found information on canvas in particular hard to come by in other books of this nature.
Also the ebook is freely distributed on the book's website, so that's a big plus.
Overall hit and miss. Probably not at the top of my list of JS books but worth a speed read.
kamee's review against another edition
3.0
ջս սովորելու համար յարմար գրքերից ա, յատկապէս սկսնակների համար։
չնայած, երեւի պէտք չի սկսել ջս֊ից, ու երեւի չարժի անել ջս ընդհանրապէս :)
չնայած, երեւի պէտք չի սկսել ջս֊ից, ու երեւի չարժի անել ջս ընդհանրապէս :)
stoicloofah's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how effective this book would be for someone learning JavaScript from scratch, but for an intermediate JS programmer, I think it's still worth reading. A lot of it will seem apparent, but it's packed with really good examples and details that explain a lot of quirks and design decisions in JS that you may not have thought a lot about. Particularly, I thought there were 3 really good chapters:
5. Higher-Order Functions
6. The Secrete Life of Objects
10. Modules
The rest is roughly as good as the chapter titles would express, but those 3 chapters are worth picking out.
5. Higher-Order Functions
6. The Secrete Life of Objects
10. Modules
The rest is roughly as good as the chapter titles would express, but those 3 chapters are worth picking out.