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Professional JavaScript for Web Developers
This book is also available as part of the 4-book JavaScript and Ajax Wrox Box (ISBN: 0470227818). This 4-book set includes:
672 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2005
153 people are currently reading
961 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas C. Zakas
17 books106 followersChinese: 尼古拉斯
Nicholas C. Zakas is a front-end consultant, author, and speaker. He worked at Yahoo! for almost five years, where he was front-end tech lead for the Yahoo! homepage and a contributor to the YUI library. He is the author of Maintainable JavaScript (O’Reilly, 2012), Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (Wrox, 2012), High Performance JavaScript
(O’Reilly, 2010), and Professional Ajax (Wrox, 2007). Nicholas is a strong advocate for development best practices including progressive enhancement, accessibility, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
Nicholas C. Zakas is a front-end consultant, author, and speaker. He worked at Yahoo! for almost five years, where he was front-end tech lead for the Yahoo! homepage and a contributor to the YUI library. He is the author of Maintainable JavaScript (O’Reilly, 2012), Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (Wrox, 2012), High Performance JavaScript
(O’Reilly, 2010), and Professional Ajax (Wrox, 2007). Nicholas is a strong advocate for development best practices including progressive enhancement, accessibility, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 14, 2023
This book should have been sub-titled: JavaScript The Good Parts (the long version)
While I was reading this, I liked to imagine that I was at university and that Douglas Crockford was the insanely popular genius professor that showed up late for lectures, and then either spoke too fast or else mumbled a lot, and then locked himself in his office refusing to answer the door during office hours while he worked on his Next Big Thing that would make everyone oooh and aaah and validate his brilliance. Meanwhile, in that same imaginary university, Nicholas Zakas was the graduate student that served as the TA to that class—and he happened to be equally brilliant and super-accessible and willing to take the time out to explain it all in a way that was thorough and comprehensible.
(read the rest on my blog)
While I was reading this, I liked to imagine that I was at university and that Douglas Crockford was the insanely popular genius professor that showed up late for lectures, and then either spoke too fast or else mumbled a lot, and then locked himself in his office refusing to answer the door during office hours while he worked on his Next Big Thing that would make everyone oooh and aaah and validate his brilliance. Meanwhile, in that same imaginary university, Nicholas Zakas was the graduate student that served as the TA to that class—and he happened to be equally brilliant and super-accessible and willing to take the time out to explain it all in a way that was thorough and comprehensible.
(read the rest on my blog)
August 2, 2017
What an amazing book !!
Probably the most in depth Javascript book ever written !!
I have been reading the 3rd edition. I am blown away by the clarity and the in depth explanation of whatever topic discussed in this book.
Chapter 6 on Object oriented, chapter - 10,11,12 on DOM and chapter-13 on Events are just awesome.
Probably the most in depth explanation of "Events " I could found on the internet.
Probably the most in depth Javascript book ever written !!
I have been reading the 3rd edition. I am blown away by the clarity and the in depth explanation of whatever topic discussed in this book.
Chapter 6 on Object oriented, chapter - 10,11,12 on DOM and chapter-13 on Events are just awesome.
Probably the most in depth explanation of "Events " I could found on the internet.
July 25, 2017
I haven't read many programming books but this one is best so far. It is not about become javascript master in 5-minutes. No, it is about gaining deeper understanding about javascript (book has more than 800 pages). Concepts are explained easily with executable examples. Great attention is given towards making cross-browser compatible javascript. If you want to really understand something about javascript then this book is for you.
March 5, 2010
The first edition of this book helped me signifcantly - the second edition has significantly changed and improved the way I work in JavaScript. This second edition is NOT a reprint of the first edition at all...it is new material. An excellent read and an excellent resource. Thank you, Mr. Zakas !!! Highly recommended !!!
November 27, 2019
Very good and useful book. Nicholas is one of my favorite writer who can share knowledge deeply and don't make you boring with examples.
If you would like to become better JS developer, you must read the book.
If you would like to become better JS developer, you must read the book.
February 1, 2025
Since I begin writing Angular for my employer, I 've read a lot on Angular and some on TS, but almost never on JS. This book, combined with YDNJS series gave me a lot of insight about how disinformed I am (not was, mind you!) on this specific language, and how wide and complex JS galaxy is (JS is definitely more than a world!).
The book gave me a lot of thinking on how classic Java handles some complex issues such as scoping, prototyping, constructors, function invocation etc etc elegantly, while at JS, almost any of those require pages and pages of explanations. I think JS is a language to booby trap poor developers like me during job interviews.
If would recommend this book heavily to other Angular programmers too, tough the book is thick and requires some patience to digest. The heavies of the chapters are the first seven, I had to read the fifth and sixth chapter maybe two if not three times to grasp the concepts. I also supplemented heavily by youtube channels such as Programming with Mosh, ColorCode, Web Dev Simplified etc etc. The later chapters are much easy to understand and flow quickly.
I think only a fraction of what I've learned in this book is going to impact the way I program, tough I am very glad that I've read it. Unfortunately the JS world is a complex matter, and requires readings from multiple sources.
The book gave me a lot of thinking on how classic Java handles some complex issues such as scoping, prototyping, constructors, function invocation etc etc elegantly, while at JS, almost any of those require pages and pages of explanations. I think JS is a language to booby trap poor developers like me during job interviews.
If would recommend this book heavily to other Angular programmers too, tough the book is thick and requires some patience to digest. The heavies of the chapters are the first seven, I had to read the fifth and sixth chapter maybe two if not three times to grasp the concepts. I also supplemented heavily by youtube channels such as Programming with Mosh, ColorCode, Web Dev Simplified etc etc. The later chapters are much easy to understand and flow quickly.
I think only a fraction of what I've learned in this book is going to impact the way I program, tough I am very glad that I've read it. Unfortunately the JS world is a complex matter, and requires readings from multiple sources.
July 25, 2017
I haven't read many books about programming (and about javascript) but this one is the best. It gives pretty thorough overview of javascript and how it has evolved. Also this book explaines concepts in easy language and with executable examples. Also this book gives very good tips how to achieve cross-browser compatibility (and where it is nearly impossible). It is not about become javascript master in 5-minutes, it is more about gain deeper understanding in longer period (book is over 800 pages). This book is for you if you want to get deeper understanding about javascript and refine your javascript skills.
January 29, 2013
A thorough Javascript book. Good book to learn Javascript if used in concert with the http://www.codecademy.com lessons. The number of examples is a bit overwhelming since they are made up of literally hundreds of small samples. You can download these but I'm not sure how useful they are as a whole. I suppose if there was one or two particular things that you wanted to dig into then it might be useful.
May 12, 2016
This is THE book to read for learning JavaScript, whether you are completely new to it or are familiar with basic usage but want to really learn and master the language. It's important to understand this book is written for ECMAScript5 (ES5) which arrived in 2009 and is completely supported in all browsers. Because of that, it doesn't cover ECMAScript6 (ES6) which is now being widely used as browsers are implementing it and especially when using the Babel build tool which converts ES6 to ES5.
July 1, 2012
If you buy just one JavaScript reference, make it this one. I am filled with admiration that one person can write so comprehensively and authoratively on this amorphous topic.
Read
March 28, 2014Easy to understand, super complete and vast information on JavaScript and how it works. Excellent for anyone that seriously wants to get into JS.
August 24, 2015
This book clarified so many different concepts and is an invaluable reference.
February 3, 2015
Absolutely fantastic. Clearly written and very well explained. It's a dense book but incredibly rewarding. I now feel I have a much better handle on JavaScript and the browser ecosystem.
February 9, 2016
One of the best references for beginners on learning Javascript. Nicholas C. Zakas is one of the best authors that I recommend to find his books to enjoy the obvious words from him.
March 7, 2019
Thorough but outdated
August 19, 2020
I read an older edition a long time ago, so I can't speak to the latest edition or how well it has kept up with latest tech. But the older version was easily the most thorough, accurate, and helpful book out there on javascript - not just its application, but also the inner workings. If it has been recently updated, I highly recommend it for the pro web developer.
February 11, 2018
Albeit rather outdated, it's still a great reference for wannabe fronted web development. Don't think I've found anything even comparable.
January 23, 2020
I bought this book the day after I attended a session given by Nicholas Zakas (author) at the Velocity Conference in San Jose this year. He offered some brilliant pointers and techniques on writing Javascript code that performs well and is efficient and stable on all browsers.
The book covers all aspects of Javascript in detail and approaches all subjects with an object-oriented mindset. From language basics (data types, variables, objects, functions) and event handling to the Document Object Model (DOM) and the Browser Object Model (BOM) to error handling and debugging to advanced features (custom events, drag and drop) and offline storage just to name a few. He also talks about AJAX, JSON vs. XML and HTML 5 and the new APIs it's bringing. There is also a brief history of language that is written in a much more informative way that in any other book I've read on the subject.
The book puts a lot of emphasis on performance and efficiency, especially when it comes to scope, memory management and algorithm complexity. You will finally learn and understand what closures are all about. You will know how some statements work in some browsers (IE is always the slowest browser.) You will learn a ton of stuff you won't find anywhere else neither online nor in a book.
There is also a section on best practices including maintainability, performance and deployment that I found especially useful.
If you are not a programmer AND just starting to learn Javascript, get Learning JavaScript, 2nd Edition. Otherwise, this is your book. It is essential in any respectable front-end developer's library.
The book covers all aspects of Javascript in detail and approaches all subjects with an object-oriented mindset. From language basics (data types, variables, objects, functions) and event handling to the Document Object Model (DOM) and the Browser Object Model (BOM) to error handling and debugging to advanced features (custom events, drag and drop) and offline storage just to name a few. He also talks about AJAX, JSON vs. XML and HTML 5 and the new APIs it's bringing. There is also a brief history of language that is written in a much more informative way that in any other book I've read on the subject.
The book puts a lot of emphasis on performance and efficiency, especially when it comes to scope, memory management and algorithm complexity. You will finally learn and understand what closures are all about. You will know how some statements work in some browsers (IE is always the slowest browser.) You will learn a ton of stuff you won't find anywhere else neither online nor in a book.
There is also a section on best practices including maintainability, performance and deployment that I found especially useful.
If you are not a programmer AND just starting to learn Javascript, get Learning JavaScript, 2nd Edition. Otherwise, this is your book. It is essential in any respectable front-end developer's library.
March 25, 2012
I have read reviews and bought a number of other JavaScript books(the definitive guide, the good parts, etc), and this one was by far the best, in my opinion.
I wont go into the others, but the reason I found this book so good is mainly the writing, it explains difficult concepts very well. It's a quite large book, but don't let that put you off, it isn't overly verbose, so even if you do have a programming background this book wont be painful to read(in my opinion the information is just right). The chapters on inheritance and functions(especially the part about closures) were my favorite ones in the book.
highly recommended for programmers and beginners alike.
I wont go into the others, but the reason I found this book so good is mainly the writing, it explains difficult concepts very well. It's a quite large book, but don't let that put you off, it isn't overly verbose, so even if you do have a programming background this book wont be painful to read(in my opinion the information is just right). The chapters on inheritance and functions(especially the part about closures) were my favorite ones in the book.
highly recommended for programmers and beginners alike.
November 13, 2012
Estremamente denso di informazioni senza risultare mai pesante. Dettagliato, chiaro e preciso. A volte anche oltre il normale uso che si fa di Javascript, con informazioni utili a chi stia scrivendo un framework o un clone di analytics.
Forse l'unico difetto è che, finito questo libro, vi chiederete se valga la pena leggerne altri su Javascript.
Dovrei rivedere praticamente tutta la mia libreria e togliere una stella a quasi tutti gli altri manuali, per rendergli giustizia.
Assolutamente consigliato.
Forse l'unico difetto è che, finito questo libro, vi chiederete se valga la pena leggerne altri su Javascript.
Dovrei rivedere praticamente tutta la mia libreria e togliere una stella a quasi tutti gli altri manuali, per rendergli giustizia.
Assolutamente consigliato.
February 26, 2016
This is great book! I read it as part of Javascript Is Sexy's How to Learn JavaScript Properly, and I'm very happy with the explanations and code examples around the book. I came out with a very practical understanding of JS and I now feel confident to build things with what I learned. Also, although I took notes from it, I'm sure it will make a great reference for later on. (It touches deeper topics and all the intricacies of cross-browser compatibility, JS versions and modes, programming best practices, lot's of things...) I'm glad I learned from this book and the before-mentioned guide!
February 17, 2015
I were starting read this book with thought "A better good parts" and come through whole book without change of mind. Also good addition as book to another Zakas book about optimization, but also as in another book propogandistic way to put yahoo everywhere and no a word about google tools for example. No Politics in studying is much better than farting yahoo everywhere.
August 2, 2015
I really liked it. It taught me a lot of new things about JavaScript I had never know before. I found some of the things that I was specifically looking for in my programs! This could also be a good reference book!
December 30, 2007
This book is a great reference for me because Nicholas was so thorough. I am planning on losing my other js books and keeping only this one as a desk reference.
July 26, 2013
A very good reference, and useful if you are learning your first programming language, but otherwise somewhat redundant in an age of Google and Stack Overflow. A pity, the author has done a good job.
June 7, 2014
Chapters 1-8 where great, but the rest was plan vanilla Javascript DOM manipulation.
May 11, 2014
very comprehensive book on javascript
December 8, 2014
Good book, plan to keep it around and re-read/refer to it.
May 29, 2014
Extensive Resource for JS
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews