Description
With the explosive growth of JavaScript over the last decade, compiling a complete reference of the language, its libraries, and uses seems like an exercise in pure folly. There is truth to that, especially given the fairly permanent nature of paper. The aim of this book, as such, is not to compete with a blog or Web-based reference covering every move in the space of JavaScript. They have the luxury of updating as the Web winds blow. Rather, we aim to present the kinds of ideas that are more long lasting.
We think we got it right last time because the second edition of the book is still being used well even as this edition goes to press. Sure, there were groaners about long-dead browsers or ways of using the language that today are quite antiquated. However, in that edition we also covered core fundamentals in a deep way. Consider the fact that the last edition described Ajax before it was Ajax and covered DOM specs still not well understood to this day. To make sure this edition holds up as long, we did a major overhaul, reworking core material based on student feedback, expanding practical material, and updating to more modern ways of coding without getting too trendy.
While the majority of the third edition is new in the sense of its aim, this edition is exactly the same in other ways as the last one, in the sense that our primary focus is on material that will last readers many years to come and that we de-emphasize idiomatic JavaScript, tools, and browser versions that will be antiquated by the time you read these very words, particularly if you judge us against the latest POST or tweet. Sure, we must provide some time-sensitive information, but embracing the permanence of books is the most important goal of this edition.
If your aim is the very freshest data possible, you should probably stay away from all books, even this one. However, if your aim as a reader is to explore well-considered and thought-out information on JavaScript that has been tested for years, you are in the right place. So relish all the HTML5-related discussion today, and look back at the end of the decade and giggle about how much everything has changed, while at the same time noticing that the more things have changed in JavaScript, the more they have stayed the same.