• This new edition of the definitive guide to JavaScript has been revamped to cover the latest browsers, language updates, extensions, and JavaScript standards
• Part tutorial and part reference, the book serves as a learning tool for building new JavaScript skills and a detailed reference for seasoned JavaScript developers
• Danny Goodman’s exclusive interactive workbench, The Evaluator, makes it easy to master JavaScript and DOM concepts
• Offers deployment strategies that best suit the user’s content goals and target audience
• Bonus CD-ROM is packed with advanced content for the reader who wants to go an extra step

• This new edition of the definitive guide to JavaScript has been revamped to cover the latest browsers, language updates, extensions, and JavaScript standards
• Part tutorial and part reference, the book serves as a learning tool for building new JavaScript skills and a detailed reference for seasoned JavaScript developers
• Danny Goodman’s exclusive interactive workbench, The Evaluator, makes it easy to master JavaScript and DOM concepts
• Offers deployment strategies that best suit the user’s content goals and target audience
• Bonus CD-ROM is packed with advanced content for the reader who wants to go an extra step

• This new edition of the definitive guide to JavaScript has been revamped to cover the latest browsers, language updates, extensions, and JavaScript standards
• Part tutorial and part reference, the book serves as a learning tool for building new JavaScript skills and a detailed reference for seasoned JavaScript developers
• Danny Goodman’s exclusive interactive workbench, The Evaluator, makes it easy to master JavaScript and DOM concepts
• Offers deployment strategies that best suit the user’s content goals and target audience
• Bonus CD-ROM is packed with advanced content for the reader who wants to go an extra step

If JavaScript can do it, you can do it too... Create Web pages brimming with dynamic content. Engage your site visitors with programmed style sheets that respond instantly to user interaction. Take charge of your user interface by controlling CSS, plug-ins, Javaandtrade; applets, and even XML data. Premier JavaScript authority Danny Goodman teams up with developer/inventor Michael Morrison to help you bring your pages to life, whether you re a beginner or a JavaScript pro. You ll find what you need in this extensively revised edition an updated, standards-intensive tutorial for newcomers, and plenty of advanced detail for veterans. Inside, you ll find complete coverage of JavaScript Get up to speed fast on JavaScript basics with an updated tutorial tailored for newcomers Master JavaScript and DOM concepts with Danny Goodman s exclusive interactive workbench, The Evaluator Apply scripting to Web standards XHTML, DOM, CSS, and XML to produce future-compatible pages Implement cross-browser dynamic HTML applications for MSIE 6, Mozillaandtrade;, Safariandtrade;, and other browsers Energize your content with custom objects, XML data, and other client-side techniques Learn in depth from hundreds of fully scripted example HTML pages Bonus CD-ROM includes Full, searchable PDF version of the book 22 bonus chapters covering advanced DOM, XML, and JavaScript objects; dynamic HTML, data validation, plug-ins, and security; techniques for developing and debugging professional Web-based applications, and more Nine complete JavaScript real-world applications Over 300 ready-to-run HTML documents demonstrating most of the Document Object Model and JavaScript terms in the book

You need to own a copy of the "Javascript Bible"
I own several Javascript books, all of which seem to be littered with mistakes, and code that doesn’t work across all browsers, except for this one. Developing web pages is the hardest of all development technologies, you have to know a lot about different technologies, and make them work across all browsers. Thankfully Netscape, which was a major problem in the past, has come a long way and caught up to the rest. However, making Javascript work for each browser is hard enough, and this book really comes to the rescue. It tells you what works for which browser. The authors have done their research, and has helped me tremendously with the work I do for my clients. I will continue to support the Javascript Bible series, and I hope the authors continue to produce a great reference.

Excellent resource for anyone but the novice programmer
Pro: really good reference work for most people
Cons: 1) Not for someone who doesn’t know either javascript basics or another scripting language. 2) Organization is good, but it isn’t an encyclopedia and it isn’t a start-to-finish tutorial. 3) Poor typeface decisions.

This book is the greatest for several different types of people. First, anyone who knows the basics of javascript, from advanced beginner to advanced js user. Second, anyone who wants to learn javascript and already knows some programming; you can use it as a tutorial, but only if you don’t need much explanation about scripts and object-oriented programming.

It really is just excellent for someone who has previously learned something about one of the chapters but needs a refresher and/or more detailed/comprehensive walkthrough.

Four stars instead of five for a completely unnecessary mistake. Unfortunately, the W3c ignores people who do not have eagle-sharp vision and will fill a page full of semicolons and colons, or parens and curly brackets. If you don’t have a font that clearly distinguishes these, it is a major source of semantic errors and eyestrain. The font chosen to print the code in this book could not be worse. Colons and semicolons are almost impossible to distinguish (not to mention periods and commas),and curly brackets look like thin lines with no curls.

C’mon guys. There are fonts of every type where periods and commas are easier to distinguish, and curly brackets have a distinct shape. USE THEM FOR PUBLISHING CODE!!

Excellent resource for anyone but the novice programmer
Pro: really good reference work for most people

Cons: 1) Not for someone who doesn’t know either javascript basics or another scripting language. 2) Organization is good, but it isn’t an encyclopedia and it isn’t a start-to-finish tutorial. 3) Poor typeface decisions.



This book is the greatest for several different types of people. First, anyone who knows the basics of javascript, from advanced beginner to advanced js user. Second, anyone who wants to learn javascript and already knows some programming; you can use it as a tutorial, but only if you don’t need much explanation about scripts and object-oriented programming.



It really is just excellent for someone who has previously learned something about one of the chapters but needs a refresher and/or more detailed/comprehensive walkthrough.



Four stars instead of five for a completely unnecessary mistake. Unfortunately, the W3c ignores people who do not have eagle-sharp vision and will fill a page full of semicolons and colons, or parens and curly brackets. If you don’t have a font that clearly distinguishes these, it is a major source of semantic errors and eyestrain. The font chosen to print the code in this book could not be worse. Colons and semicolons are almost impossible to distinguish (not to mention periods and commas),and curly brackets look like thin lines with no curls.



C’mon guys. There are fonts of every type where periods and commas are easier to distinguish, and curly brackets have a distinct shape. USE THEM FOR PUBLISHING CODE!!

Very Authoritative
This "Bible" covers everything that is needed for JavaScript programming. Everything is very well written and very easy to understand with clear code examples and real world applications. The beginning tutorial is a great way to get beginners started then the more advanced topics are covered in the Book or on the CD with all of the examples listed on the CD as well.

This is a book that I will continue to use.

The title tells no lies
Definitively it’s the javascript bible.

If you want to fine tune your AJAX apps you’d better buy this book.

It’s extensive object and fuction reference does not leave anything in the shadows.

This book is worth every cent.

The title tells no lies
Definitively it’s the javascript bible.



If you want to fine tune your AJAX apps you’d better buy this book.



It’s extensive object and fuction reference does not leave anything in the shadows.



This book is worth every cent.

Another nerd validates their own knowledge
An overwhelming amount of information without a simple beginning. The author jumps from beginning level information to way too sophisticated so fast that it will lose any non-technical person.

Very comprehensive and useful
This is really a bible-level handbook of javascript. The contents are very comprehensive and look professional. The best thing is that the examples in each chapter really help understand the boring syntax and functions.

Loaded with info, but turns too complicated after a while
I understand that when it comes to javascript, there is a lot of history that needs to be taken into consideration. Browser differences and compatability, etc. are things no javascripter should ignore. However, this book, in my opinion, makes it overly complicated by trying to touch on every little twist there was in the history of javascript.
At first, this book taught me a lot, but it started to get tiring when I’d learn a certain technique only to find out it was kind of out-dated or not the best way to achieve a certain task.
I don’t deny it’s necessary to at least be able to recognize the old ways of doing things but for the new javascripter, this just makes things far too complicated in too short a period of time. Before reaching halfway through the book I got fed up because I no longer knew what was the "right" way of achieving my goal in my scripts.
I would recommend this for people who are looking for the complete package of javascript knowledge, however, if you’d rather look to the future rather than dwell half your time in the past, I’d say go somewhere else.

The Definitive Cross-browser Reference, tho’ getting a bit out of date
This is an exhaustive reference text. It documents the full functionality of javascript, indicating which functionality works on which browsers, and is the best of its kind, based on the several texts I have considered.

The complete text (plus additional chapters) is on an included CD, which is handy for searching.

The only critique I have is that it is now two years old, and things change. Hence, it documents the Mozilla browser, but no references to Firefox, which is derivative from Mozilla. Would like to see an updated version, or better yet, would like to see the publisher allow owners of the book to access a continuously updated version online.

The discounted price makes it well worth the money, especially with free super saver shipping.

Superb, complete coverage
Other reviewers have already summarised the book contents, so no point in repeating the message.

The writing style is superb - probably the best I’ve seen in any technical text. The content is complete, with lots of good examples which don’t interupt the flow of the book. Plus the extra bonus chapters on the CDROM, and a searchable PDF version of the book. Brilliant!

Much better than any of the dreadful O’Reilly books.

A book for everyone and noone
I like this book. But I’m not so sure about how the author targets his audience.

He seems to try to make it available to the casual HTML coder that wants to liven-up his pages; but I don’t think this will aid someone who’s never coded anything in his life before.

Javascript is the kind of language real programmers hate (and the author makes a point of this!) Nonetheless, it’s also a language many like myself have to live with; so I can say this much about it...

This book is certainly huge and also quite helpful to someone that knows HTML and needs some interactivity on the client side. You can also just read the first 1/4 of it and keep the rest around to draw from as a reference. It’s certainly useful; and the companion CD contains a full PDF of the book so you don’t have to lug this heavy tomb between work and back.

May be the only Javascript book you need!
Whether you’re a beginner, or a seasoned object-oriented programmer, you’ll find the instruction in this book to be well written and understandable.

The first one-fifth of the book is an introduction to JavaScript and basic scripting concepts that really apply to most languages: variables, data types, loops, if...then, etc. And suddenly, bam! You’re a JavaScripter!

After that follows the most complete JavaScript reference you’re likely to find. Every object, major browser, property and method is covered, with a bit of code for each. Try them out and learn by doing.

One of my favorite features of a book so thick and meaty, is a good index. This book has one of the best! There isn’t much I cannot look up quickly when I need to invent something new on the job.

In the last 5 years, this is the ONLY JavaScript book I’ve needed. It’s truly a must have reference for front-end Web developers. Get one for your home and one for the office.

Take your Web pages to the next level beyond static XHTML and CSS into the interactive world of client-side scripting with the Web’s most universal client-side scripting language.

not for real programmers
Pro: pretty comprehensive
Con: This book is obviously written for the people without much idea about programming. It tries to explain many basic things in an extremely layman’s term, which may make a real programmer feel odd. I do think some serious programmers or people well trained in computer need to learn javascript too - in that case, this is not the right book to read.

Fantastic book for referencing javascript
I hestated about buying this book when I read some of the reviews about how poorly organized this book is. Also I have "JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook" by same author and was not happy with it.

Before I bought the book, I would look up everything I needed info on, in the online index and found *EVERYTHING*. I did the same for a number of other Javascript books and most of the stuff wasn’t in their index.

First let me say that I am an Engineer with 20+ years experience so though I’m pretty new to JavaScript, I’m an expert in a number of languages.

I found this book to be very well organized and incredibly helpful. I haven’t tried reading it as a book cover to cover, and at 1200 pages (plus bonus chapters on CD) I never will. I use it as a reference and read just enough to understand what I need to do. As a result I’m coming at the book not as a novice but with enough understanding to have basic ideas of what I want to do. For this type of usage, this book is "fantastic".

The CD is awesome. There are a number of bonus chapters (one which was very useful to me...using XmlHTTPRequest), and having the entire book available as a pdf is a totally great way to do searches. Too bad the .pdf is too big to be readable on my clie.

I highly recommend this book.

An amazing effort
This encylopaedic work is clear and profoundly useful. It is voluminous but does not waste words. I was so impressed by the library copy that I have bought my own.

Nothing Compares Under The Sun As Far as Javascript Is Concerned
With nearly 10 years of javascript programming behind me and not one single day dedicated to alert "hallo world" or prompt "tell me ur name" bagatelles, and with almost 15 javascript books purchased over those years at a rate of one per year, I guess I have an educated and somewhat reliable word, which can be trusted, to say about this book - and its various eidtions.

When I first purchased an early edition, I thought the title was a bit conceited: a "Bible", you see.

If some book of this series ever fully deserved such qualification, this can be only Mr. Goodman’s book. I can’t vouch for future editions, but I qualify for the past ones: this book is definitive.

The book is divided into chapters that deal with the subject object by object. This is exactly what is expected for coping with a language like javascript that is arranged with properties and methods that work on objects. That’s the correct approach, simply, under any point of view, educational included.

For each object all the properties and methods get explained in an astonishing manner.
It is important to stress that unlike some "core" manuals (I think of some Php), these explanations are not snappy or short: they are detailed. They do not assume you can guess what they don’t say by working out the rest from parsimonious and cryptic sentences as many online manuals invariably do: they employ all the words it takes to be clear and detailed.

It seems mr. Goodman has understood that in order to be terse and clear you haven’t to be so short and so cryptic, but only as short as it is necessary and not a bit more - and never, never cryptic.

The new editions cover, with the highest professionality, all the new DOM related methods, and this accounts for why new editions get released: because the language is subject to huge evolutions since it got connected with the DOM.
If the latter evolves, the former has to follow, and mr. Goodman has to write more.

The reason a few beginners say that this book is not for them is easily explained: the book deals, as I said, with javascript object by object. It starts like that _nearly_ immediately.

So, it does not cover the basics (which pertain to any scripting language and not just to javascript) in real detail.

That is, the book _implicitly_ presumes something (but not too much): it somewhat presumes you know what a loop via a "for" cycle is, it somewhat presumes you know what an "if/else" conditional check is, and it somewhat presumes you know, more or less at least, what an array is: a collection of variables each arranged as key versus value.

It does not presume more. And it is not that it does not provide explanations for those topics at all: it is that for an _absolute_ beginner grasping the meaning of a loop can be daunting regardless of how many words you spend. This is no mr. Goodman’s fault: it has been daunting for us all the first times in our lives we saw loops.
You have to chew on them on your own, with a little bit of torment and agony, and nothing, not even tons of words, could really ever bridge the gap of unfamiliarity that the first blast gives to a novice.
This is why mr Goodman, arguably, does not spend _that_ ton.

Provided you have a minimal knowledge, this is your javascript book. Period. Nothing compares. That is. Simply.

Provided you haven’t such minimal knowledge yet the matter is as follows: you will have it in a few weeks finding some route of your own - we all did that way if you had no teacher as I hadn’t.
I learned what loops are on mr. Jason J. Manger (1996) manual, and if you complain it is difficult to understand loops from mr. Goodman, wait to understand them via mr. Manger’s work as I did!

And once you will have that understanding, this will be, again, your book, your defintive javascript book, after you trudged your way through those few weeks.

All the javascript routes lead to this book, like all the ways in the ancient world were said to led into Rome.

Alberto Vallini

Excellent reference - not so good at teaching programming
If you already know how to program and you’re looking for a good JavaScript reference, this is the book for you. However, if you’re not already an experienced programmer this book won’t be of much help. JavaScript Concepts & Techniques: Programming Interactive Web Sites does a much better job of teaching people to program in JavaScript. The JavaScript Bible assumes you already understand basic programming concepts and can program efficiently in some other language.

That said, Danny Goodman’s JavaScript Bible does an excellent job of explaining the idiosyncrasies of the JavaScript language to experienced programmers. The book contains detailed syntax listings and descriptions of Core and Client-Side JavaScript objects, properties, and methods. Pertinent examples make it easy to put the explanations into context.

Every JavaScript programmer worth her salt has a copy of the JavaScript Bible on her bookshelf.

Dissapointment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve read the reviews before buying this book, i saw one complaint , but i thougt i’ll try it anyways. Well it was a dissapointment.

This book is disorganized.And verry beginner Unfriendly.
You aint having any fun reading this book.

I’m so disapointed , i better not express anything about this book..

I don’t recommend it to any beginner.

OK for the cut&paste programmer.
The value of this massive book lies in its many examples. The JavaScript language is simple enough, but its the definitions of the system objects that create complexity in using it. Goodman spends lots of time going over the particulars, with short readable examples.

This is great for the serious HTML writer. I’m imagining a reader who’s done a good bit of HTML and may have a little experience with more common kinds of programming. That reader has probably looked into the source code for lots of other people’s web pages, and has probably seen JavaScript embedded for various cool functions. Such people will appreciate the thoroughness, detail, examples, and friendly style of the book.

That intended reader is not a battle-hardened veteran of software engineering or advanced student of computer science. People with more programming background may be disappointed by the relatively low density of the text, and by its organization. The author has created a successful organization grouping by task, but that is very different from a formal presentation of the language and standard APIs.

Decide who you are and what you want. This is a book for a specific purpose and reading population, and seems to serve those very well. If your purpose or backgorund are different, though, the organization may not meet your needs.

//wiredweird

Waste of your time and money
I bought this book hoping that it would have a complete alphabetical list of Javascript objects, functions, operators and easy to understand examples and explanations of each. I was imagining that because this book is represented as a 5 star rated "Bible" that there might even be a tutorial. Instead, I found this book a dry theoretical 1236 page tome that is long on theory, and impossibly organized. Even if I know the exact name of the Javascript function/command/object, I had to page through multiple sections to locate it. There is no tutorial and in my experience this book is impossible to use without reading the whole thing. The people that rate this clunker a 5 star have a great sense of humor.

Perfect for Newbies and Pros
I picked up this book and another one (that shall remain unnamed) recently when starting to learn javascript. What I have appreciated the most about this book is that it seems to always discuss the quirky things about javascript that would take me a day or more to figure out what is going wrong and how to fix. It has saved me a huge amount of time.