Reader reviews

Exactly the book I needed. Straight to the point and genuinely useful.

This is the third book I have read on javascript this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Exactly the book I needed. Straight to the point and genuinely useful.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

An enjoyable and informative read, though it could have been shorter.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The chapters on research are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

Finally, a book that treats workbooks with the care it deserves.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.