Using a cookbook approach, The JavaScript Anthology will
show you how to apply JavaScript to solve over 101 common
Web Development challenges. You’ll discover how-to:

Optimize your code so that it runs faster
Create Ajax applications with the XmlHttpRequest object
Validate web forms to improve usability
Take control of your web pages with the DOM
Ensure that your JavaScript code is accessible
Create slick drop-down menu systems

Included in this book is extensive coverage of DHTML and
Ajax, including how-to create and customize advanced effects
such as draggable elements, dynamically sorting data in a
Web Browser, advanced menu systems, retrieving data from a
Web Server using XMLHttpRequest and more.

The JavaScript Anthology also includes extensive coverage of
object oriented coding, efficient script design,
accessibility, and cross-browser issues. Best of all, you’ll
get download access to all the code used in the book, so you
can put the scripts to use instantly.

The JavaScript Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks, and Hacks is a compilation of customizable solutions to the most common JavaScript questions and problems. It contains thoroughly tested, best practice, and standards-compliant tips, tricks and techniques that will work across different browsers and platforms.

Cameron has been adding to the Internet for over seven years and now runs his own design and development business: www.themaninblue.com. He likes to combine the aesthetic with the technological on his Weblog, which contains equal parts of JavaScript, design and CSS.

James programmed and maintains the UDM (Ultimate Dropdown Menu) system, one of the best dynamic HTML menu systems ("the world’s first fully-featured and accessible website menu, and provides useable content to all browsers - including screenreaders, search-engines and text-only browsers").

Using a cookbook approach, The JavaScript Anthology will show you how to apply JavaScript to solve over 101 common Web Development challenges. You’ll discover how-to:

Optimize your code so that it runs faster

Create AJAX applications with the XmlHttpRequest object

Validate web forms to improve usability

Take control of your web pages with the DOM

Ensure that your JavaScript code is accessible

Create slick drop-down menu systems

Included in this book is extensive coverage of DHTML and AJAX, including how-to create and customize advanced effects such as draggable elements, dynamically sorting data in a Web Browser, advanced menu systems, retrieving data from a Web Server using XMLHttpRequest and more.

The JavaScript Anthology also includes extensive coverage of object oriented coding, efficient script design, accessibility, and cross-browser issues. Best of all, you’ll get download access to all the code used in the book, so you can put the scripts to use instantly.

Good if you need one of the tricks.
I should preface my review by saying that I generally love the sitepoint books. Simply Javascript (also co-authored by Adams) is hands down the best programming book I’ve ever read. That said, this book isn’t really so much a "book" as it is a "handy reference." If you skim this book and find something you need, then you may be able to justify the cost. As a cover-to-cover read, it’s definitely lacking and will leave you wanting. Taken as individual chapters, the writing is excellent and the solutions offer solid coding practices. My recommendation would be to find this book in a bookstore, skim the table of contents and chapters, and see if you will actually use any of the included solutions before you buy.

Just What I Needed
I purchased this book out of desperation after using a 1000 page Javascript Wrox book published in 2000 that was worse than useless. The author’s blog posting here is very accurate: it is a modern javascript book that gives usable solutions and concepts that work well. I recommend this book to anyone who has at least some programming background and is sick of cut and pasting garbage code from other mickey mouse tutorial sites that break at the slightest change. It is also a great start for working with AJAX, which is what I needed it for.

That said, the book is surprisingly a great read. I am reading this book cover to cover and also use it as an every day reference with dozens of tips. It is obvious the authors have worked extensively with web sites and write from experience. Thanks for a job well done!

Javascript 4 U
This is an excellent next-step up from an introduction to Javascript and looks at its use in real world situations. You will need to be reasonably fluent in the language to get the best out of it.

The book presents a topic as a question and then presents code to action that query as a solution, then goes through that code in a discussion section. This is where I have a relatively minor criticism of this book; the necessities of discussing the code do not always mesh well with the question and answer format of the layout.

The authors have gone to great effort to ensure that the book is as up-to-date as possible, though this is a rapidly moving target of course, and detail how to ensure that the code will run on as many platforms as possible, rarely giving up and saying ’forget it..’, though this proved necessary in a number of the more esoteric options and older browsers.

A highly recommended read if you are looking for a quick solution, or a detailed understanding of what’s going on.

The most useful JavaScript book on my shelf
I didn’t really think I needed this book -- I have sever other JavaScript books, including the O’Reilly JavaScript Cookbook, and it seemed like this would just be a duplication. But I kept reading really positive reviews of this and other SitePoint books on sites that I trusted, so I decided to take a flier on it.

I’m really glad I did. Unlike some of the O’Reilly books, which are dated at this point, this has really up-to-date, professional code that incorporates best practices. Depending on what kind of JavaScript code base you need to integrate with, you may be able to use this code as-is in many instances. Even if you need to modify it for your own uses, you will never find poorly-organized hackwork here.

Also nice is the up-to-date topic selection. Classics like DOM, form validation, drop-down menus, and cookies are supplemented with topics about accessibility, XMLHttpRequest, in-page dialogs, and using class prototypes. When the authors tell you how to launch popups, they also tell you about all the pitfalls and problems.

No cookbook is going to cover ever possible topic (personally, I would have liked to see JSON examples), but this one is about as complete as you could reasonably ask for. Really, the only downside about this book that I can see is that you need to have at least an intermediate understanding of JavaScript to understand what’s going on. There isn’t a lot of handholding, and you will likely want to own both a good tutorial and a solid reference on JavaScript and spend some time with them before you’re ready for this book. But if you have a good working knowledge of JavaScript and are looking for practical, well-written examples of how to incorporate new techniques into your code, you won’t find a better book than this one.

Good and elegant book
It is a good book with useful tips and tricks.
the authors use an elegant way to catch the target.

Good and elegant book
It is a good book with useful tips and tricks.

the authors use an elegant way to catch the target.

For serious developers!
This book has chosen a different approach for teaching javascript to the readers. It first raises a question and then gives you the solution. What I like most about this book is that the solutions are very brief yet complete.It is obvious that the authors have years of work experience in web-development industry because they mention all the most popular problems that a developer might face while developing a website. (If they wanted to point all the tips and tricks, the book had to be named 10001 tips and tricks not 101 ... !!!).

I’m not quite sure if this book can be very handy for absolute beginners. I had a good(but not extremely good) understanding of javascript yet there were parts of this book that I struggled to understand. However, if you are serious about javascript, this book is the one you can’t afford to miss!

OUTSTANDING!!!!
’The JavaScript Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks’ is quite simply an outstanding book that any web developer or Javascript programmer would be making a mistake to not have on their shelf next to their computer. As the title says, packed full to the brim with over 100 tips and tricks on how Javascript can be used in uber-cool ways, this book is packed with goodies in and out. At nearly 600 pages, this text doesn’t have the lesser # of pages which I usually like about O’Reilly published books, and in the case, the more the merrier!! As per usual, sitepoint has produced a gem; a book that is well written full of useful material, and laid out in such a concise form that brevity ensues even at 600 pages!!

I love all sitepoint books, and its because they publish great authors and employ great layout people for their books that any publishing house in the industry could learn from. I have yet to read a book of theirs that I didn’t instantly think was helpful, and my mind isn’t changed with this wonderful guide.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The JavaScript Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks
This book assumes a strong understanding of JavaScript by the user. This is confusing at times, as you try to understand what the author is taking about. I would have expected a book with this title to spell things out a little better. I found better tips and tricks on-line. W3C website is a better reference.

Little Information
This book may have 101 Essential Tips, Tricks, and Hacks, but it fails at really explaining the language. I was looking for a book that would teach me the language. The content found in this book can just as easily be learned if you’re good with a search engine. By no means a comprehensive book on Javascript.

A ’must’ for any serious Javascript programmer.
James Edwards & Cameron Adams’ THE JAVASCRIPT ANTHOLOGY: 101 ESSENTIAL TIPS, TRICKS & HACKS compiles a range of solutions to the most common JavaScript questions and problems, offering up tested solutions, standards-compliant tips, and keys to ensuring JavaScript code is clean, accessible and logical. From the basics of making a drop-down or fly-out menu to making attribute tooltips display on focus, THE JAVASCRIPT ANTHOLOGY is a ’must’ for any serious Javascript programmer.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Good book but not one for the beginner
If you are totally new to the concept of programming then I would advise you to stear clear of this book. I say this because it is by know means an introductory book and the authors even state that the first chapter is NOT a tutorial so new comers to programming might struggle - hell I’ve been programming for a while and the first chapter was a task even for me!

If you are find with basic programming concepts and you have dabbled in JavaScript a bit before then this book will be perfect for you.

Another gripe is the authors choose to give you excerpts of code rather than the full program, so if you’re working chapter by chapter in front of your machine and you want to write the given program to review the results yourself it can sometimes be difficult to write it due to only excerpts given.

I like it, I like it, I like it....
OK... this book is going under lock and key at my work desk... The JavaScript Anthology : 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks by James Edwards and Cameron Adams.

Contents: Getting Started with JavaScript; Working with Numbers; Working with Strings; Working with Arrays; Navigating the Document Object Model; Processing and Validating Forms; Working with Windows and Frames; Working with Cookies; Working with Dates and Times; Working with Images; Detecting Browser Differences; Using JavaScript with CSS; Basic Dynamic HTML; Time and Motion; DHTML Menus and Navigation; JavaScript and Accessibility; Using JavaScript with Flash; Building Web Applications with JavaScript; Object Orientation in JavaScript; Keeping up the Pace; Index

The book is made up just like the title indicates... 101 tips and tricks related to JavaScript usage on your web pages. If you have read any of the "Recipe"-type books, you’ll recognize the format right away. Each tip is titled appropriately, followed by a solution and discussion. There’s also a number of sidebar entries that expand a bit on the concept or explain a "gotcha" that might bite you if you’re unaware. The writing style is conversational and direct, with *loads* of examples to look at. It’s one of those books that you find yourself spending more time with than you expect, because it’s tempting to read the tip that follows the one you were interested in...

One of the reasons I probably like this book so much is my weakness for coding samples I can "appropriate". If I’m not completely comfortable with a language (like JavaScript), I often need a quick hint or example that I can see in order to formulate my particular solution. Just reading the raw documentation usually isn’t as helpful as seeing something that is close to what I need, and that *works*! As I was going through this book, I saw some tips that immediately addressed a couple of applications I’m working on. I also saw some menuing code that will likely make an appearance in a few more applications.

Bottom line is that I like this book a lot. It’s going into my backpack right now for transportation into work, and this one may end up in my drawer rather than my shelf. I want to keep tabs on it...

I like it, I like it, I like it....
OK... this book is going under lock and key at my work desk... The JavaScript Anthology : 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks by James Edwards and Cameron Adams.

Contents: Getting Started with JavaScript; Working with Numbers; Working with Strings; Working with Arrays; Navigating the Document Object Model; Processing and Validating Forms; Working with Windows and Frames; Working with Cookies; Working with Dates and Times; Working with Images; Detecting Browser Differences; Using JavaScript with CSS; Basic Dynamic HTML; Time and Motion; DHTML Menus and Navigation; JavaScript and Accessibility; Using JavaScript with Flash; Building Web Applications with JavaScript; Object Orientation in JavaScript; Keeping up the Pace; Index

The book is made up just like the title indicates... 101 tips and tricks related to JavaScript usage on your web pages. If you have read any of the "Recipe"-type books, you’ll recognize the format right away. Each tip is titled appropriately, followed by a solution and discussion. There’s also a number of sidebar entries that expand a bit on the concept or explain a "gotcha" that might bite you if you’re unaware. The writing style is conversational and direct, with *loads* of examples to look at. It’s one of those books that you find yourself spending more time with than you expect, because it’s tempting to read the tip that follows the one you were interested in...

One of the reasons I probably like this book so much is my weakness for coding samples I can "appropriate". If I’m not completely comfortable with a language (like JavaScript), I often need a quick hint or example that I can see in order to formulate my particular solution. Just reading the raw documentation usually isn’t as helpful as seeing something that is close to what I need, and that *works*! As I was going through this book, I saw some tips that immediately addressed a couple of applications I’m working on. I also saw some menuing code that will likely make an appearance in a few more applications.

Bottom line is that I like this book a lot. It’s going into my backpack right now for transportation into work, and this one may end up in my drawer rather than my shelf. I want to keep tabs on it...

An excellent reference.
This book is a fantastic reference.

It’s well organized, the code is cross-browser and cross-platform compatible, and the authors were clear with their explanations.

As a bonus, the publisher offers all the code used in the book as a free download, so there’s no retyping needed.

In my opinion, this book is a must-have for all Web Developers, who even occasionally touch JavaScript code (and who doesn’t?)

VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Are you involved or interested in building web sites or web applications? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Cameron Adams and James Edwards, have done an outstanding job of writing a practical book for webmasters who are looking for a copy-and-paste solutions to everyday needs. Adams and James Edwards, begin by providing an overview of JavaScript’s capabilities and limitations, and introduce some core best practices that they’ll be using through the rest of the book. Then, the authors look at techniques for using and processing numbers in JavaScript. They continue by looking at ways of manipulating strings to find information, storing data, and preparing test for output; as well as, including a thorough introduction to regular expressions in JavaScript. Next, the authors introduce you to one of the most powerful data-storage structures in java script: the array. Then, the authors introduce and explore DOM, and look at how to create and read the data from elements, attributes, and text. Then, they look at reading and writing data from different kinds of form widget, address the tasks of validating and processing form data, and discuss techniques for improving the usability of form-based interfaces. They also take a cautious look at manipulating windows and scripting across frames. Next, the authors introduce cookies and show you how to use them effectively. Then, they show you how to get the date and time in JavaScript, how to compare and process dates and times, and how to output the final data in different formats and conventions. They continue by exploring the basic techniques involved in scripting for images. Next, the authors outline techniques for dealing with different browsers and rendering modes. Then, they look at how to read and write the styles from a single element or group of elements, how to read and write CSS rules to an existing or created style sheet, and how to build a style sheet switcher. The authors also cover event-handling in all its flavors, detecting the position and size of an object, tracking the mouse, and making elements appear and disappear. Next, they look at more complex forms of scripting that use motion and animation. Then, the authors include solutions for the problem of menus overlapping select elements in Windows IE 5 and IE 6. They also provide an overview of the current state of play regarding JavaScript and accessibility. The authors continue by showing you how to detect whether a user has the Flash plugin, and mastering communications between JavaScript and Flash. Next, they delve into the exciting area of online application design, including data retrieved using XMLHttpRequest, as well as the older technique of using iframes. Then, the authors introduce OOP, exploring its core concepts and benefits. Finally, the authors look at everyday techniques for writing faster, more efficient code that’s shorter and uses less memory. In this most excellent book, you’ll find scripts and discussions that sit on the bleeding edge of current practice. More importantly, you’ll find this book a useful and inspirational resource for modern, best practice scripting.

VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Are you involved or interested in building web sites or web applications? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Cameron Adams and James Edwards, have done an outstanding job of writing a practical book for webmasters who are looking for a copy-and-paste solutions to everyday needs. Adams and James Edwards, begin by providing an overview of JavaScript’s capabilities and limitations, and introduce some core best practices that they’ll be using through the rest of the book. Then, the authors look at techniques for using and processing numbers in JavaScript. They continue by looking at ways of manipulating strings to find information, storing data, and preparing test for output; as well as, including a thorough introduction to regular expressions in JavaScript. Next, the authors introduce you to one of the most powerful data-storage structures in java script: the array. Then, the authors introduce and explore DOM, and look at how to create and read the data from elements, attributes, and text. Then, they look at reading and writing data from different kinds of form widget, address the tasks of validating and processing form data, and discuss techniques for improving the usability of form-based interfaces. They also take a cautious look at manipulating windows and scripting across frames. Next, the authors introduce cookies and show you how to use them effectively. Then, they show you how to get the date and time in JavaScript, how to compare and process dates and times, and how to output the final data in different formats and conventions. They continue by exploring the basic techniques involved in scripting for images. Next, the authors outline techniques for dealing with different browsers and rendering modes. Then, they look at how to read and write the styles from a single element or group of elements, how to read and write CSS rules to an existing or created style sheet, and how to build a style sheet switcher. The authors also cover event-handling in all its flavors, detecting the position and size of an object, tracking the mouse, and making elements appear and disappear. Next, they look at more complex forms of scripting that use motion and animation. Then, the authors include solutions for the problem of menus overlapping select elements in Windows IE 5 and IE 6. They also provide an overview of the current state of play regarding JavaScript and accessibility. The authors continue by showing you how to detect whether a user has the Flash plugin, and mastering communications between JavaScript and Flash. Next, they delve into the exciting area of online application design, including data retrieved using XMLHttpRequest, as well as the older technique of using iframes. Then, the authors introduce OOP, exploring its core concepts and benefits. Finally, the authors look at everyday techniques for writing faster, more efficient code that’s shorter and uses less memory. In this most excellent book, you’ll find scripts and discussions that sit on the bleeding edge of current practice. More importantly, you’ll find this book a useful and inspirational resource for modern, best practice scripting.

Excellent all round
A brilliant guide to Javascript - starting from the very basics, moving right through to more advanced topics. This book would serve a beginner very well, but would also be very useful to someone with alot more experience in Javascript - perhaps wanting to replace dated methods with modern best practice and get away from relying on hacks and quirks in different browsers to get the job done.

Definatly a valuable reference for anyone working with Javascript.

Well-written, great cookbook
The book contains well-written code, with good explanations. You will use the recipes in your code, particularly the div-based error message dialog, and the menus. Worth the price.

Well-written, great cookbook
The book contains well-written code, with good explanations. You will use the recipes in your code, particularly the div-based error message dialog, and the menus. Worth the price.

Something for everyone
Although I have been programming JavaScript for many years, I use it infrequently. This book proved to be a great refresher as well as preparing me for the latest features JavaScript has to offer. The book uses practical real-world examples that any website can apply to enhance their visitors’ experience without alienating non-javascript-enabled users.

Something for everyone
Although I have been programming JavaScript for many years, I use it infrequently. This book proved to be a great refresher as well as preparing me for the latest features JavaScript has to offer. The book uses practical real-world examples that any website can apply to enhance their visitors’ experience without alienating non-javascript-enabled users.

Very Useful Book
As someone who only dabbles in Javascript from time to time I found the book useful and informative. The authors are careful to offer best practices with regard to accessibility and explain in detail the why and wherefore of each technique used.

The section on dhtml drop down menus is very good and covers the subject in close detail and was relatively easy to follow. Even though the topic was more advanced than my current level I could still understand what was going on and would be able to manipulate the code even if I couldn’t write it from scratch.

There are many other similar topics and I’m sure I will be dipping into this book often.

Very Useful Book
As someone who only dabbles in Javascript from time to time I found the book useful and informative. The authors are careful to offer best practices with regard to accessibility and explain in detail the why and wherefore of each technique used.

The section on dhtml drop down menus is very good and covers the subject in close detail and was relatively easy to follow. Even though the topic was more advanced than my current level I could still understand what was going on and would be able to manipulate the code even if I couldn’t write it from scratch.

There are many other similar topics and I’m sure I will be dipping into this book often.