Most programming languages contain good and bad parts, but JavaScript
has more than its share of the bad, having been developed and released
in a hurry before it could be refined. This authoritative book scrapes
away these bad features to reveal a subset of JavaScript that's more
reliable, readable, and maintainable than the language as a whole--a
subset you can use to create truly extensible and efficient code.
Considered the JavaScript expert by many people in the development
community, author Douglas Crockford identifies the abundance of good
ideas that make JavaScript an outstanding object-oriented programming
language-ideas such as functions, loose typing, dynamic objects, and an
expressive object literal notation. Unfortunately, these good ideas are
mixed in with bad and downright awful ideas, like a programming model
based on global variables.
When Java applets failed, JavaScript became the language of the Web by
default, making its popularity almost completely independent of its
qualities as a programming language. In JavaScript: The Good Parts,
Crockford finally digs through the steaming pile of good intentions and
blunders to give you a detailed look at all the genuinely elegant parts
of JavaScript, including:
- Syntax
- Objects
- Functions
- Inheritance
- Arrays
- Regular expressions
- Methods
- Style
- Beautiful features
The real beauty? As you move ahead with the subset of JavaScript that
this book presents, you'll also sidestep the need to unlearn all the
bad parts. Of course, if you want to find out more about the bad parts
and how to use them badly, simply consult any other JavaScript book.
With JavaScript: The Good Parts, you'll discover a beautiful, elegant,
lightweight and highly expressive language that lets you create
effective code, whether you're managing object libraries or just trying
to get Ajax to run fast. If you develop sites or applications for the
Web, this book is an absolute must.
