First, let me note this review is for the third edition, and a fourth edition recently came out. The fourth edition covers recent updates to JavaScript (also known as ECMAScript). I would have bought the fourth edition had I realized it when I made the purchase, but recent JavaScript language updates have not been dramatic. After I finished the third edition, I was able to read about them in a few minutes online to supplement my knowledge.
Second, this book’s subtitle is slightly inaccurate. It’s not really an introduction – that is, the entire book is not really aimed at newcomers to JavaScript. Some of the book is aimed at newbies, but other parts of the book are more appropriate for advanced coders. On the upside, Marijn Haverbeke always explains the language clearly with examples; it’s not terse in any sense. But new JavaScript programmers are more worried about getting things right rather than the details of the Internet’s HTTP engine, which has its own chapter. This book could be used as an introduction, but a guide would have to select certain chapters to use. Indeed, the publisher could separate this book into two, one as an introduction and the other for more experienced programmers.
I ended up skimming through many chapters because I had already learned the content years ago. Similarly, I ended up slowing down in certain chapters to catch concepts and features that I didn’t know well. Unlike some of the longer books on JavaScript, this one does not aspire to be comprehensive, but in its effect, it covers a lot of ground. Both newcomers and more advanced programmers can benefit from having it on their shelves.
Did it do the job? I think so. As a web programmer active since the late 1990s, I’m always trying to keep up with better ways folks have approached problems. This book taught me many things and expanded my mind past the type of problems I routinely encounter at work. Haverbeke includes several interesting projects in special chapters to help folks get their hands dirty. Newcomers might find some projects too advanced, but individual exercises at the end of chapters provide more succinct opportunities for them to test out new knowledge. Despite being two books sandwiched into one, I accomplished my aim of learning more about the modern JavaScript that started in 2015. I left smarter and dreaming of bigger things.
Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming
By Marijn Haverbeke
3rd Edition
Copyright (c) 2019
No Starch Press
ISBN13 9781593279509
Page Count: 450
Genre: Web Development
www.amazon.com