JavaScript: The Good Parts

by Douglas Crockford
JavaScript: The Good Parts
book data
48 ratings, 4.29 average rating, 17 reviews (more data...)
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published
May 8th 2008 by O'Reilly Media, Inc.

binding
Paperback, 170 pages

isbn
0596517742    (isbn13: 9780596517748)

description
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 hurr...more




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Rob
09/24/08
Rob rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: 2008, own, technical
Read in October, 2008
recommended to Rob by: Jonathan Phillips
recommends it for: intermediate-level JavaScript nerds looking to learn the "A" game
"There is danger and misery at the edges."

As the title implies, Douglas Crockford takes a subset of JavaScript, identifies it as "the good parts" and proceeds to explain why these parts are good (and should therefore be used). Crockford commends JavaScript for being a very expressive language but is also honest about the failings of individual parts (e.g., how arrays aren't really arrays but are in fact "array-like objects") and proposes some genuine so...more
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Anthony
06/30/09
Anthony rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in April, 2009
I can't recommend this book highly enough, if you are going to get one book on javascript get this one. It's an incredibly quick read and concentrates on showing you a subset of javascript which is more portable, safer and more secure. While it's a slim book it's dense in information
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David Parker
12/07/08
David Parker rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Has a copy to sell/swap


Very good college reference textbook

From

UNIVERSITY Textbook COLLEGE Textbook ONLINE Bookstore
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N8
05/05/08
N8 rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in June, 2008
For those experience with JS it's a good review of the major parts of the language and an interesting insight into one JS master's perception of the state of the language. I especially like Crockford's take on the Good and Bad parts of the language, though at times he seems almost Tuftian in his explanation of what makes a particular part of the language "Bad" (with sparse explanations that just state "don't do this").

I also really enjoyed Crockford's concept of ...more
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Keith
10/24/08
Keith rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: computers
Read in November, 2008
I bought this book because I love the author's web site - I think I have learned more about JavaScript from his site than any other place. The book was not quite what I expected, more of a language spec than a programming book, and I was a little disappointed by that. As a language spec it is readable but I think that without a lot of the explanatory text that one would find on the web site a lot of the code samples are a little opaque.
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Richie
05/01/09
Richie rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: technical
Read in March, 2009
Just read some parts that were relevant to me. Good book though.
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Stephen Davis
11/11/08
Stephen Davis rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: programming
Provides a high level introduction to the syntax of JavaScript, and highlights the "good" parts to use, while also showing the "bad" parts to stay away from. Pretty high level, and mostly useful after gaining experience with JavaScript. Definitely not an introductory book, and will not teach you how to do anything new in the language. Seems mostly to have been a showcase for the author's JSLint project, and showing what was learned from that project.
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Alex
08/03/08
fbuser826361981 rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in August, 2008
recommends it for: people who want to understand the underlying fundamentals of the JS language.
JavaScript has come a long way since those bad ol' days of the first bubble. If anyone can describe "the good parts", it would be Douglas Crockford.

Full review posted on the blog at http://livollmers.net/index.php/2008/08/...
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Steve
06/30/08
Steve rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in July, 2008
Good stuff with a lot to say about JavaScript and language design. Better reading than most of the big fat JavaScript books on my shelf, with much more useful advice. Fun to read for the author's many snarky comments on the design of the language.
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Don Smith
11/18/08
Don Smith rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: currently-reading
I watched some video lectures given by Douglas Crockford at Yahoo! and it caused me to wholly reassess my view of JavaScript as both a useful and general purpose language, and I expect some neat stuff from this book.
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Jesse
08/26/08
Jesse rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: non-fiction
Read in August, 2008
I can't imagine a better book on Javascript the language. The absence of DOM and browser-specific details gives this book much needed brevity and clarity of purpose. The auther clearly knows his stuff.
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Mike
09/11/08
Mike rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in July, 2008
A great look at what is good about JavaScript (even though a lot is bad). The book defines a subset of JavaScript that is actually decent.
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Steve
09/22/08
Steve rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in September, 2008
recommended to Steve by: saw a review in a magazine
recommends it for: any web develooper
Good book that points out the parts of JavaScript that should be used and the parts that should be forgotten.
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Kevin
06/18/08
Kevin rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: technology
Read in July, 2008
One of the best JavaScript books I've read. Concise and to the point.
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Collin Anderson
05/15/08
Collin Anderson rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: want-to-read
The book really isn't for sale yet. But it should be good.
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Dave
09/23/08
Dave rated it: 4 of 5 stars

What a language book needs to be.
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Jeremy
06/21/08
Jeremy rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: currently-reading
Awesome JavaScript book.
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Richard
06/26/09
Richard is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

Ladislav
06/16/09
Ladislav added it


Joelpittet
06/10/09
Joelpittet rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: currently-reading


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quotes from this book

"We see a lot of feature-driven product design in which the cost of features is not properly accounted. Features can have a negative value to customers because they make the products more difficult to understand and use. We are finding that people like products that just work. It turns out that designs that just work are much harder to produce that designs that assemble long lists of features." More quotes...