Like many web developers, I learned about modern JavaScript/ECMAScript soon after it came out in 2015. JavaScript is the programming language that has powered interactive webpages since Netscape Navigator was a thing. Now, it’s the world’s most used programming language for all sorts of non-browser-based applications, including mobile apps, web servers, and full-stack development. Therefore, understanding how it works and why it works becomes a priority for most software engineers. Grasping the implementation details can mean a leg up in the professional marketplace for a software product and a developer’s career.
However, books on JavaScript have tended to go in two directions that don’t help seasoned developers. Many focus on introducing new programmers to JavaScript and cover the modern syntax as they introduce the language. These works will continue to have an impact on newbies, but those who have been around programming for decades might not want to wade into a basic tutorial. At the other end, advanced, authoritative works exist that delve into all the details of the language. They tend to be 600-1000 pages long – too long for me who also has to keep up with other aspects of our business. I’ve never found an intermediate-length guide to advanced JavaScript until now.
This book fills the gap by looking at how and why modern JavaScript works like it does, at under 300 pages. Marketed as an independently published book, it’s a tad pricey, and I wish a major press for developers would pick it up because the content is amazing. Yousaf Khan explains exactly why things like Promises, async await syntax, and Symbols work the way they do. Through code examples, he demonstrates his reasoning well. For someone programming with JavaScript since Netscape v2.0, I learned how to think more critically about some of these newer features. I only wish Khan would have taught me them ten years ago when ECMAScript 2015 was first defined!
Web developers should pay attention here because they will likely have a lot to learn. It covers just the right amount of detail. It doesn’t pedantically exhaust obscure references and avoids newbie material because Khan chose only advanced topics. If anyone wants to do a deep dive into modern JavaScript/ECMAScript, I’ll refer them to exactly this work. I hope it receives a wider audience with more marketing than most independently published books do – because the programming community needs it to. If you want to go from good to great in JavaScript in a short amount of time, I can say without reservation this book is the guide you need.
Advanced JavaScript Unleashed: Master Advanced JavaScript Concepts like Prototypes, Symbols, Generators, and More
By Yousaf Khan
Copyright (c) 2024
Independently Published
ISBN13 9798884426252
Page Count: 279
Genre: Computer Science
www.amazon.com