Learning Python, Second Edition

Amazon.com

The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.

First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.

Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.

In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.

Book Description

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is the popular open source object-oriented programming language used for both standalone programs and scripting applications. Python is considered easy to learn, but there's no quicker way to mastery of the language than learning from an expert teacher. This edition of Learning Python puts you in the hands of two expert teachers, Mark Lutz and David Ascher, whose friendly, well-structured prose has guided many a programmer to proficiency with the language. Learning Python, Second Edition offers programmers a comprehensive learning tool for Python and object-oriented programming. Thoroughly updated for the numerous language and class presentation changes that have taken place since the release of the first edition in 1999, this guide introduces the basic elements of the latest release of Python 2.3 and covers new features, such as list comprehensions, nested scopes, and iterators/generators. Beyond language features, this edition of Learning Python also includes new context for less-experienced programmers, including fresh overviews of object-oriented programming and dynamic typing, new discussions of program launch and configuration options, new coverage of documentation sources, and more. There are also new use cases throughout to make the application of language features more concrete. The first part of Learning Python gives programmers all the information they'll need to understand and construct programs in the Python language, including types, operators, statements, classes, functions, modules and exceptions. The authors then present more advanced material, showing how Python performs common tasks by offering real applications and the libraries available for those applications. Each chapter ends with a series of exercises that will test your Python skills and measure your understanding. Learning Python, Second Edition is a self-paced book that allows readers to focus on the core Python language in depth. As you work through the book, you'll gain a deep and complete understanding of the Python language that will help you to understand the larger application-level examples that you'll encounter on your own. If you're interested in learning Python--and want to do so quickly and efficiently--then Learning Python, Second Edition is your best choice.

Customer Reviews:

very good book for us noobs.......2007-08-26

I'm an experienced C/C++ developer and needed to pick up python in a hurry for work. I ended up buying several python books to make sure I had all my bases covered. I've come to appreciate this book a lot.

It does two things very well. First, it gives you a good overview of the language. You can read the book front to back and it has a nice progression. You'll certainly know the basics if you do that.

Second, and probably more importantly, for those of us too impatient to read a book cover-to-cover, it serves as an excellent reference for beginners. When I started out there were all the little noob things that I found myself constantly having to look up. Like "how do you specify a comment?" or "how do you structure and if-block?" or "how to you get a substring out of a string". Very basic questions like this that many python books don't bother with because apparently they are too basic.

If there is a weakness, it's just that this book is rather small and only covers the very basics. So reading this book alone will certainly not make you a mighty python programmer, or even give you enough info to probably write something interesting. But this book definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf if you are starting out and need the basics.

teaches the language, but didn't convince me.......2007-08-05

I took some time off of work, and I really wanted to just relax and goof off. I'd won a Safari subscription in the Perl Foundation auction, and I wanted to put it to use. I added Learning Python to my bookshelf and had at it.

It's hard to separate Learning Python from learning Python, but I'll do what I can: I felt the writing was a bit dry. It didn't flow the way the Camel and Llama books did, and the attempts to inject humor were really awkward. For example, the author is excited to explain that Python is named after Monty Python, and that "foo" and "bar" are replaced with "spam" and "eggs." This sounds silly. In practice, it's distracting. My brain is used to reading code with foo and bar, and knows how to skip over them. "spam" and "eggs" makes it harder to read.

I guess this is trying to help me become familiar with Python culture, but it just bugged me.

Learning Python (the activity) made me realize that Python's most immediate failings were not the ones I'd heard bandied about. The whitespace thing has serious ramifications, but it wasn't keeping me from coding quickly. Instead, I found that the lambda syntax and statement/expression division in Python really, really got in the way.

The book didn't see this as a problem. It didn't even seem interested in acknowledging that some people thought it was a problem. It just said "lambdas are anonymous functions! Isn't that great?"* and moved on.

One of the best programming language books I've read was AppleScript: The Definitive Guide. The thing that made it a great book was the author's willingness to say, "Look, this is where the language is most insane and horrible." If the authors think that Python is always great, they should at least provide explanations of what pitfalls are avoided by the constraints that leave many outsiders grimacing.

In the end, I learned enough Python in a week to get through all the exercises and then refactor some goofy code I had inherited, confident of what I was doing. Considering that I was also relaxing, drinking beer, and playing video games through that whole week, I think the book lived up to its job.

It just didn't convince me to convert.

(* OK, I'm paraphrasing.)

This book is awful. Use the online tutorial instead........2007-07-28

I am an experienced Perl and C programmer who wanted to try something new, and everyone raves about Python. The language itself is great -- but this book is awful. Here's the really short form of why I think so:
- The point of Python (or any programming language) is to do things, not to marvel at how cool the language is. Reading the book, you can't do anything other than toy programs until you're almost all the way through. That's 400+ pages of reading before you can do anything more interesting than basic operations.
- The book isn't concise -- quite the opposite. The authors marvel at the implementation details of the language at the very start -- which takes up many pages and isn't really relevant for the beginning python programmer.
I finally just went to the online python tutorial[...]it covered most of the same topics with a lot fewer words, and was less confusing to boot.
- The reason I buy books rather than just use online resources is to use the exercises as a method of forcing myself to learn the language in a structured fashion. The exercises in the book are trivially easy: they're not about thinking and understanding, but regurgitating what the book said. Because you're not doing any real work until the 400-page mark, you can't do anything really interesting in the exercises or on your own (if you're just reading the book).

I've read a lot of "Learning XXX" books. This is by far the worst.

My recommendation is to skip this book and go straight to the online tutorial. You'll save trees, money, and time.

Great for experienced programmers.......2007-06-17

Learning Python is an efficient way to learn python if you are familiar with one or more other programming languages. The book does a nice job of comparing and contrasting python's qualities with those of other languages (C++ and Java in particular) and provides many concise examples that highlight specific features well. For me, Learning Python was a great way to get going with software development in python.

If you are fairly new to programming, however, this book probably isn't for you. The first few parts try to be a more general introduction to programming, but they aren't enough for those truly new to programming languages. As an experienced developer, you will likely skim through the first few parts of this book quickly.

It's also not an exhaustive reference manual, and with Python 2.5 now released the book is getting a bit dated. But the core language features have not changed much, and there is plenty of online material describing that changes since version 2.2/2.3 that this book is based on.

"Learning Python" is right.......2007-06-05

The title of this book says it all: "Learning Python" is a great book to read if you want to learn Python. Granted, Python is not the hardest language in the world to learn, and I'm not sure that this book goes into enough detail about Python's trickier features (generators, anonymous functions, etc.). Still, I was able to sit down, read this book, work through the examples, and walk away feeling like I really knew how to develop software in Python. Most learn-a-language books are too dense for you to learn the language from the book alone, but "Learning Python" definitely made it as easy as possible.

Average customer rating:

An introduction to Perl
Get the second edition
Great book
Enjoyable Read
Perfect introduction to Perl scripting

Learning Perl, Fourth Edition
Randal L. Schwartz , Tom Phoenix , and brian d foy
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0596101058

Amazon.com

In this smooth, carefully paced course, a leading Perl trainer teaches you to program in the language that threatens to make C, sed, awk, and the Unix shell obsolete for many tasks. This book is the "official" guide for both formal (classroom) and informal learning. It is fully accessible to the novice programmer.

Book Description

Learning Perl, better known as "the Llama book", starts the programmer on the way to mastery. Written by three prominent members of the Perl community who each have several years of experience teaching Perl around the world, this edition has been updated to account for all the recent changes to the language up to Perl 5.8. Perl is the language for people who want to get work done. It started as a tool for Unix system administrators who needed something powerful for small tasks. Since then, Perl has blossomed into a full-featured programming language used for web programming, database manipulation, XML processing, and system administration--on practically all platforms--while remaining the favorite tool for the small daily tasks it was designed for. You might start using Perl because you need it, but you'll continue to use it because you love it. Informed by their years of success at teaching Perl as consultants, the authors have re-engineered the Llama to better match the pace and scope appropriate for readers getting started with Perl, while retaining the detailed discussion, thorough examples, and eclectic wit for which the Llama is famous. The book includes new exercises and solutions so you can practice what you've learned while it's still fresh in your mind. Here are just some of the topics covered:

Perl variable types
subroutines
file operations
regular expressions
text processing
strings and sorting
process management
using third party modules

If you ask Perl programmers today what book they relied on most when they were learning Perl, you'll find that an overwhelming majority will point to the Llama. With good reason. Other books may teach you to program in Perl, but this book will turn you into a Perl programmer.

Customer Reviews:

An introduction to Perl.......2007-10-05

This book is a gives a gentle introduction to Perll; by the time you have gone through this book, you would have touched on some very simple operations and common language idioms found in Perl. This is not a comprehensive guide; on the contrary the book is selective about covering only those constructs and issues that one is most likely to face early on in programming with Perl.

This does not collect any of the more powerful feature in Perl like Reference; Data Structures; Manipulating lists of list.

I would not recomend this book.

Get the second edition.......2007-10-05

I learned Perl from the second edition of this book a few years ago, and was very impressed. After a few years without writing a single line of Perl, I needed to learn it again, so I bought the most current version of this book, the fourth edition. I was not as impressed with the fourth edition, it seems that a lot of the more advanced, and useful, stuff has been moved out of this book into the intermediate book. This book is missing a lot of the features that makes Perl a productive language. I'd try a few online tutorials first and then see if the intermediate book would work. Or, if you can find an older edition give that a shot.

Great book.......2007-08-12

First of all, this book is only the beginning. It does teach the basics including arrays, scalars, functions and many other topics that are central to a basic understanding of Perl. It also coves regular expressions which aside from the great swatch of modules is one of Perl's greatest strengths.

Because of that and the teaching style this book earns the 5 star rating.

Toward the end it hints at some of the other 'required' topics such as references, modules and objects. After you've read this book get a copy of Intermediate Perl to read up on those topics.

Enjoyable Read.......2007-07-25

The first thing that stood out to me about the book was the humor of the authors. The footnotes were not only informative but also good ways to lighten the mood of the book.
However, the jokes do not take away from the content in any way - you will learn a lot from the llama book. I always recommend the llama to anyone who asks for a book to learn Perl.
Now, this isn't an introduction to programming, programming basics are assumed (which isn't much to ask). But that's another thing I liked about "Learning Perl" - the authors give you the information you need with no fluff. Everything is straight to the point and explained clearly & concisely.

Perfect introduction to Perl scripting.......2007-07-14

I learnt Perl scripting from the third edition of The Llama, and recently had cause to brush up my Perl for a new job, so I thought I'd check out the fourth edition. I'm pleased to say it's still an excellent work. If you want to use Perl as a scripting language, this may be all you need for your entire scripting career. Some basic programming knowledge might be helpful, but even a complete beginner could get something out of this.

The basics are covered well: strings, numbers, control structures, subroutines, arrays and hashes, and most importantly, reading and writing files, and the mighty regular expressions. In fact, I've not read a better treatment of regular expressions anywhere else. Everything is clearly explained and well-written. Basically, this is the gold standard against which all introductory books to a programming language should be judged.

However, this book makes no claim to covering all of Perl. At least the main text of the book doesn't. I don't know what happened with the blurb on the back of the book, but it mentions, among other things: threading, references, objects, modules and package implementation. Technically, these topics are indeed present, but only in that a paragraph each is devoted to them in Appendix B. You will certainly learn nothing of any value about them.

There are some other minor quibbles: you may find the constant Flintstones references tiring after a while. Also potentially wearing are the sometimes inane footnotes, which breaks the flow of the reading experience for little reward. On the other hand, I found them a lot less annoying in this edition, so perhaps I've just mellowed out in the intervening years. Finally, the last chapter does a very whistlestop tour of map, grep, exception handling with eval, and array and hash slicing. I've never found the 'cram a bunch of stuff we don't have time to talk about into one chapter' approach to be very useful, and it doesn't work here, either. Fortunately, apart from the slices, it's all covered again at slightly greater length in Intermediate Perl.

Speaking of Intermediate Perl, if you want to learn Perl as a general purpose language, rather than for short scripts, you need to go and read that one next. Many suggest that you can graduate onto The Camel straight after The Llama, but I strongly disagree -- I tried and failed miserably.

But as long as you bear in mind you're only getting half the Perl experience, this is still the book I would thrust into the hands of anyone looking to learn Perl.

Average customer rating:

Very Easy to Follow
Good tutorial
An excellent Perl/Tk primer
A very good reference, but not the best for a tutorial
An adequate reference

Learning Perl/Tk
Nancy Walsh
Manufacturer: O'Reilly
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1565923146

Amazon.com

By combining the rough-and-ready Perl language with the graphical user interface (GUI) capabilities of the Tk toolkit, Perl/Tk makes it easy to write event-based GUI applications quickly--once you know what you're doing. Learning Perl/Tk shows you how to build GUIs with everyone's favorite public-domain programming language. This book focuses only on GUIs--it leaves in-depth exploration of the Perl language to other books. (Learning Perl is the best of that genre.)

Assuming only a basic familiarity with Perl, Learning Perl/Tk shows you what you need to know to create graphical front ends for Perl programs. Author Nancy Walsh starts with a quick orientation, showing you how to set up Perl/Tk and giving you some simple examples of what GUI source code looks like. Then, she details the use and functions of geometry managers, which the Tk module uses to arrange interface elements. From there, she explores each widget individually, showing how to use buttons, checkbuttons, radiobuttons, labels, entries, and more. She also addresses event handlers. Her discussion of each widget is clear and liberally sprinkled with examples.

One appendix lists the default values of the Tk widgets in tabular form; another spotlights the differences among versions of Perl and Tk for various operating systems. A final appendix explores the font-management capabilities of Tk 8.0. This book doesn't come with a companion disk, and it would be nice to have the examples available locally. However, the publisher maintains a library of related files on its Web site. --David Wall

Book Description

Learning Perl/Tk is a tutorial for Perl/Tk, the extension to Perl for creating graphical user interfaces. With Tk, Perl programs can be window-based rather than command-line based, with buttons, entry fields, listboxes, menus, and scrollbars. Originally developed for the Tcl language, the Perl port of the Tk toolkit liberates Perl programmers from the world of command-line options, STDIN, and STDOUT, allowing them to build graphical, event-driven applications for both Windows and UNIX.

This book is aimed at Perl novices and experts alike. It explains the reasoning behind event-driven applications and drills in guidelines on how to best design graphical applications. It teaches how to implement and configure each of the Perl/Tk graphical elements step-by-step. Special attention is given to the geometry managers, which are needed to position each button, menu, label and listbox in the window frame.

Although this book does not teach basic Perl, anyone who has written even the simplest Perl program should be able to learn Tk from this book. The writing is breezy and informal, and gets right to the point of what you need to know and why. The book is rife with illustrations that demonstrate how each element is drawn and how its configuration options affect its presentation.

Learning Perl/Tk is for every Perl programmer who would like to implement simple, easy-to-use graphical interfaces.

Customer Reviews:

Very Easy to Follow.......2007-05-21

Although I don't program in Perl, I bought this book because it was recommended as a reference for using TK with the Ruby language, since there is no good documentation for Ruby/TK. I found the book very easy to use, and was able to make some fairly complex GUI's pretty quickly. I use the book a lot, and highly recommend it.

Good tutorial.......2004-03-09

This is a solid tutorial that goes through the most important components in Tk and contains good illustrations. You won't become an expert (see that word "Learning" in the title?), and the writing is clear but not spectacular. Before getting this book I tried to read up on Tk on the web and spent many hours trying to get a simple text component to do my bidding. After having read this book, it took me an hour to get the entire app done. Don't repeat my mistake; get this book if you do Perl/Tk!

An excellent Perl/Tk primer.......2003-11-17

I used this book to learn the basics of Tk with Perl under Windows, and found it a fine, concise and clear reference. It got me quickly to the point of being able to develop useful graphical applications and gave what I felt to be a good grounding in important concepts and points. It does not address absolutely everything you will eventually need to know, but at least you will have a good grounding and probably find the subsequent learning curve a lot shallower as a result. Important coverage of the geometry managers (pack, place and grid) is well presented and good examples are given. Numerous other possibly trivial but extremely helpful things are here too: how to set the size and initial screen location of Tk-generated window (use the 'geometry' method), a good discussion of the colour-management issues of the various widgets - including how to find the file of colour definitions under various operating systems, and a clear explanation of the various ways to call subroutines (and pass parameters to them) using '-command'.

Ms. Walsh's style is light and conversational, not at all 'difficult' and without the usual 'clever geek' frills (for example, I personally hate the use of 'foo' and 'bar' as variable and function names everywhere in computing books - it smacks of self-congratulatory cleverness, and more than a tad 'Oh, don't you get it?'). Fortunately that is absent here.

Highly recommended if you are new to Tk under Perl, as it contains essential information and is well written and presented. Definitely worth the money.

A very good reference, but not the best for a tutorial.......2003-09-24

I bought this book with experience with GUI programming experience in both Windows and Linux, but had never really tried TCL/Tk. Perl being my latest obsession, I decided it was time to write some graphical front-ends for my scripts. As I scoped out the field, I reallized that the pickings were slim: only 3 books soley on the TK Perl module. Figuring I wasn't ready for the "Mastering Perl/TK", I bought the "Learning Perl/Tk" (with the Pocket Reference as well). Having finished and applied the knowledge I acquired from the book, I must say that the book leaves a rather strange "after-taste". While it is certainly sufficient for actually learning Perl/Tk, it really moves rather quickly and doesn't cover much in the full scheme of things. Will you be able to write pretty GUIs for your Perl scripts? Why of course, but don't expect to learn anything too complex. I found that this book alone is really not good for learning how to create complex GUIs that are on par with standard GUI APIs found on most desktop computers, and thus some online research is neccessary.

On a more positive note, I really like the way the book is organized. Much better than "Programming Perl", "Learning Perl" or "Mastering Regular Expressions". Just about every other page has a code demonstration and screen shot of how one of the widgets/concepts is implemented. Very nice, when compared to standard O'reilly work.

In a nutshell (no pun intended), "Learning Perl/Tk" is a good reference book that introduces Perl programmers to the Tk module, but really falls short of perfection by not demonstrating the practical integrating of Tk within a Perl script. If you have experience with TCL/Tk, buy "Mastering Perl/Tk" instead, but if you have no Tk/GUI experience, pick this one up and purchase "Mastering Perl/TK" after you have the basic/intermediate concepts down.

An adequate reference.......2003-06-25

This book would be more aptly titled "Perl/Tk: Lengthy Appendices, with Introduction". As some other reviewers have noted, the book presents the Perl/Tk interface in repetitive and extrodinary detail. Unfortunately, no concise summary of all this information exists on 1 or 2 pages, so the book fails to hold a niche as a desk reference.

If you're looking for raw and useful code, you'll be disappointed for sure--the book consists of almost none. The in-text examples are short and trivial, rarely serving a useful or real world application. This would not be so bad, had the author included some complete (or perhaps even partial) solutions to the suggested exercises, found at the end of nearly every chapter. Unfortunately, such code is nowhere to be found.

Amazon.com

This review only needs four words. O'Reilly's Perl compendium is, without a doubt, the ultimate Perl resource.

Containing electronic editions of Perl in a Nutshell, Programming Perl (2nd Edition), Perl Cookbook, Advanced Perl Programming, Learning Perl, and Learning Perl on Win32 Systems, together with a hardbound edition of Perl in a Nutshell, this immaculate collection is a winner in terms of depth and value for the money. If you're looking for something to do with Perl, it will be here somewhere.

Releasing books on CD-ROM is an intelligent move for O'Reilly, since it means that hints, tips, and syntax guidance can be easily found, code snippets pasted straight into working documents, and multiple electronic bookmarks set and referred to within a couple of clicks.

Learning Perl's patient, leveled approach is perfect for the beginner, while the example-packed Perl Cookbook is an essential resource for intermediate users. True techies can cuddle up with Advanced Perl Programmingand the excellent Learning Perl on Win32 Systems. There's something for everyone here.

Besides the complete and unabridged text, the package contains fully hyperlinked, cross-referenced indexes, which are fully searchable, and an overall index that covers all six volumes in one easy-to-use file.

It's difficult to express just how good this package is. For this reviewer, nothing else on the market today can touch it. --Chris Russell, amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Version 4.0 of O'Reilly's The Perl CD Bookshelf gives programmers convenient online access to their favorite Perl books, all from their CD-ROM drive. We've updated this best-selling product with electronic versions of six popular books. Included are the second editions of Perl in a Nutshell, and Mastering Regular Expressions; the third editions of Learning Perl and Programming Perl; and two new titles: Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules, and the long-awaited second edition of Perl Cookbook. A paperback version of Perl in a Nutshell rounds out this incredible package. It also includes valuable content straight from the O'Reilly Network. Formatted in HTML, The Perl CD Bookshelf, Version 4.0, can be accessed with any web browser. In addition to individual indexes for each book, there is a master index for the entire library. With this CD Bookshelf, programmers get a complete Perl library they can easily carry anywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Perl Resource Made Easy.......2007-01-12

You can't beat the search feature of this resource. Saves a lot of time!

electronic copy book is handy at work but not handy to carry around.......2007-01-11

I wish I have a copy I can read on the road.

Disappointed to see MRE is PDF, not HTML.......2005-06-21

I am a happy owner of Versions 1 and 3 of Perl CD Bookshelf. I finally decided to purchase a copy of Version 4 in order to have access to Perl Cookbook 2nd edition, Learning Perl Objects, and Mastering Regular Expressions, 2nd edition (I already owned the first edition of MRE in hardcopy book form).

I was quite disappointed to find that MRE 2nd edition is in PDF format, not HTML. This is a departure from every other book on these three editions of the Perl CD Bookshelf, and makes it significantly less useful, in my opinion.

One of the features I use extensively on the other CD's is the master index, with links to all books on the CD. The master index on Version 4 does not include any links to MRE 2nd edition. The search engine also does not include any capability to include MRE in its results.

I did not see any mention of this change in the promotional material about Version 4, making this loss feel like somewhat of a bait and switch.

Bill Starr
Mon, 20 Jun 2005, 4:45pm EST

Better than paper.......2004-11-06

A programming book in paper can be good, but an electronic version is much better. The ability to search, copy-and-paste makes this bookshelf the best perl reference you can have. All the pages are HTML, so you could put it in your intranet to share it with colleagues. Highly recommended.

Extremely useful to have these do hand whereever.......2004-07-16

O'Reilly have collected some of my favorite books onto one CD. I now find myself using this more than the paper copies of the books!
The search feature is excellent.

Book Description

As web browsers have become more capable and standards compliant, JavaScript has grown in prominence. JavaScript lets designers add sparkle and life to web pages, while more complex JavaScript has led to the rise of Ajax -- the latest rage in web development that allows developers to create powerful and more responsive applications in the browser window.

Learning JavaScript introduces this powerful scripting language to web designers and developers in easy-to-understand terms. Using the latest examples from modern browser development practices, this book teaches you how to integrate the language with the browser environment, and how to practice proper coding techniques for standards-compliant web sites. By the end of the book, you'll be able to use all of the JavaScript language and many of the object models provided by web browsers, and you'll even be able to create a basic Ajax application.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book .......2007-08-09

"Learning JavaScript by Shelley Powers is great reference for beginners to learn JS and then get involve into AJAX world later , Shelley Powers did great job the book is well written and explain JavaScript from programmer viewpoint.

this book covers all fundamentals of Javascript, the book contain 14 chapters and broken into four section :

Chapter 1 through 3 provide an introduction to the structure o JavaScript application.

Chapter 4 through 8 introduce the main JavaScript objects, including the all important functions.

chapter 9 through 11 covers the browser object model and the newer document object model .

chapter 12 through 14 get into the advanced uses JavaScript including DHTML and AJAX.

Every chapter contain questions and the answer available in the appendix ."

Learn Javascript Like A Pro!!.......2007-07-30

'Learning JavaScript' by Shelley Powers is an exceptional book for becoming a Javascript superuser TO-DAY!! With over 300 pages of content written in a manner that is perfect for newbies and even experienced developers looking to pick up something new. The latest edition of this fantastic book covers the newest hot fad technology AJAX and the information is spread out over 14 chapters. I absolutely love the 'Learning' books by O'Reilly, as these books do exactly that. When I see the word 'Learning' in front of a technology, I want to be able to envision said book being like starting a course taught in the classroom. With this book I can do exactly that, taking my skills to the next level!

If you are a web developer and use Javascript on a daily basis in your life, this is the perfect starting point for you to become a better programmer. If you are an experienced programmer and want to start using Ajax, this is also a wonderful option for you. Fantastic O'Reilly styling, great writing, and easy content, this is awesome!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

NOT for beginners!.......2007-06-06

I recently purchased this book based on a lot of the positive feedback it had received in comparison to other JS books. However, after reading the book I was sorely disappointed and here's why:

1. Book is Full of Errors -- Over 400 Errors to be Exact...
This book is full of errors, both in the code samples as well as in the explanations. This is further solidified by the fact that the book's accompanying errata page (found via the O'Reilly web site) currently lists 400+ official and user-submitted errors and amendments to the book. I think I speak for every consumer when I say that purchasing a technology-based book with a bunch of errors is simply unacceptable and a total waste of money.

While many of the errors are simple and are relatively easy to fix if you're an experienced programmer, most of them may vex readers that are new to JS and programming in general. I buy a book of this caliber to learn and NOT to fix somebody's code samples.

2. JavaScript...What JavaScript?
The majority of this book deals mainly with programming practices and standards, most of which you can find online or in other manuals. I purchased this book to learn more about JavaScript but instead got a manual on object-oriented scripting, and many techniques that are impractical when applied to JS.

3. Vague Code Samples
The book suffers greatly from ambiguous code samples that introduce concepts that are not clearly explained or not explained at all. Again, if you're an intermediate programmer or have had experience with JS in the past, you may be able to decipher the cryptic code samples in this book. Otherwise, seek another source to truly learn JS from the start, such as "The Book of JavaScript, 2nd Edition: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages."

Overall, this book had a couple of decent chapters that answered some questions that I had about JS. But the reason I purchased the book was to learn JS from the start. I made the safe assumption that this book would help me accomplish my goal since it's clearly called "Learning JavaScript." Ultimately, I learned only one new thing (towards the end of the book) that dealt with some AJAX and DHTML. I highly suggest reading another book first then perhaps revisiting this one later.

Looking at JavaScript throught the eyes of an ActionScripter.......2007-03-23

Learning JavaScript
by Shelley Powers
Copyright 2007
ISBN-10: 0-596-52746-2 or ISBN-13: 978-0-596-52746-4

Review written by Linda Weller

This book was really a surprise!! I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. It however, proved to be packed with lots of useful information. As a huge fan of ActionScript, I saw the many parallels that are spoken of in regards to these two languages. It was fun going through it to see that there is so much I already know of JavaScript because I know ActionScript.

There are similarities but, there are also differences. One being that JavaScript hasn't gone in the direction of OOP as much as ActionScript has.

Shelley makes clear that Java Script cross-browser incompatibility has been based on DOM or CSS differences not the Java Script language.

JavaScript is useful for form field validation, setting and retrieving web cookies, providing feedback for incorrect form entries, hiding and showing elements, moving elements about the page, capturing user events and adjusting them on the page accordingly, scrolling content, and interfacing with a server-side application without leaving the page.

The syntax for including a JavaScript library or script file in your web page is