The Best ECMAScript Books for Beginners

Completely revised and updated, this best-selling introduction to programming in JavaScript focuses on writing real applications. JavaScript lies at the heart of almost every modern web application, from social apps like Twitter to browser-based game frameworks like Phaser and Babylon. Though simple for beginners to pick up and play with, JavaScript is a flexible, complex language that you can use to build full-scale applications. This much anticipated and thoroughly revised third edition of Eloquent JavaScript dives deep into the JavaScript language to show you how to write beautiful, effective code.

It has been updated to reflect the current state of Java¬Script and web browsers and includes brand-new material on features like class notation, arrow functions, iterators, async functions, template strings, and block scope. A host of new exercises have also been added to test your skills and keep you on track. As with previous editions, Haverbeke continues to teach through extensive examples and immerses you in code from the start, while exercises and full-chapter projects give you hands-on experience with writing your own programs. You start by learning the basic structure of the JavaScript language as well as control structures, functions, and data structures to help you write basic programs. Then you'll learn about error handling and bug fixing, modularity, and asynchronous programming before moving on to web browsers and how JavaScript is used to program them. As you build projects such as an artificial life simulation, a simple programming language, and a paint program, you'll learn how to:. - Understand the essential elements of programming, including syntax, control, and data. - Organize and clarify your code with object-oriented and functional programming techniques. - Script the browser and make basic web applications. - Use the DOM effectively to interact with browsers. - Harness Node.js to build servers and utilities. Isn't it time you became fluent in the language of the Web? * All source code is available online in an inter¬active sandbox, where you can edit the code, run it, and see its output instantly. Contents. Introduction. (Part 1: Language). Values, Types, and Operators. Program Structure. Functions. Data Structures: Objects and Arrays. Higher-order Functions. The Secret Life of Objects. Project: A Robot. Bugs and Errors. Regular Expressions. Modules. Asynchronous Programming. Project: A Programming Language. (Part 2: Browser). JavaScript and the Browser. The Document Object Model. Handling Events. Project: A Platform Game. Drawing on Canvas. HTTP and Forms. Project: A Pixel Art Editor. (Part 3: Node). Node.js. Project: Skill-Sharing Website.

Learning JavaScript is hell because of two problems. I remove the problems, and you start having fun.The first problem is retention. You remember only ten or twenty percent of what you read. That spells failure. To become fluent in a computer language, you have to retain pretty much everything. How can you retain everything? Only by constantly being asked to play everything back. That's why people use flashcards. But my system does flashcards one better. After reading a short chapter, you go to my website and complete twenty interactive exercises. Algorithms check your work to make sure you know what you think you know.

When you stumble, you do the exercise again. You keep trying until you know the chapter cold. The exercises are free. The second problem is comprehension. Many learners hit a wall when they try to understand advanced concepts like variable scope and prototypes. Unfortunately, they blame themselves. That's why the Dummies books sell so well. But the fault lies with the authors, coding virtuosos who lack teaching talent. I'm the opposite of the typical software book author. I'll never code fast enough to land a job at Google. But I can teach. Anyway, most comprehension problems are just retention problems in disguise. If you get lost trying to understand variable scope, it's because you don't remember how functions work. Thanks to the interactive exercises on my website, you'll always understand and remember everything necessary to confidently tackle the next concept. "I've signed up to a few sites like Udemy, Codecademy, FreeCodeCamp, Lynda, YouTube videos, even searched on Coursera but nothing seemed to work for me. This book takes only 10 minutes each chapter and after that, you can exercise what you've just learned right away!" —Amazon reviewer Constanza Morales. Better than just reading. And more fun. You'll spend two to three times as much time practicing as reading. It's how you wind up satisfied, confident, and proud, instead of confused, discouraged, and defeated. And since many people find doing things more enjoyable than reading things, it can be a pleasure to learn this way, quite apart from the impressive results you achieve. "Very effective and fun." —Amazon reviewer A. Bergamini. Written especially for beginners. I wrote the book and exercises especially for people who are new to programming. Making no assumptions about what you already know, I walk you through JavaScript slowly, patiently. I explain every little thing in sixth-grade English. I avoid unnecessary technical jargon like the plague. (Face it, fellow authors, it is the plague.). "The layman syntax he uses...makes it much easier to suddenly realize a concept that seemed abstract and too hard to wrap your head around is suddenly not complicated at all." — Amazon reviewer IMHO. The exercises keep you focused, give you extra practice where you're shaky, and prepare you for each next step. Every lesson is built on top of a solid foundation that you and I have carefully constructed. Each individual step is small. But, as Amazon reviewer James Toban says, when you get to the end of the book, you've built "a tower of JavaScript.". If you're an accomplished programmer already, my book may be too elementary for you. (Do you really need to be told what a variable is?) But if you're new to programming, more than a thousand five-star reviews are pretty good evidence that my book may be just the one to get you coding JavaScript successfully. "Mark Myers' method of getting what can be...difficult information into a format that makes it exponentially easier to consume, truly understand, and synthesize into real-world application is beyond anything I've encountered before." —Amazon reviewer Jason A. Ruby.

This is an exciting time to learn JavaScript. Now that the latest JavaScript specification―ECMAScript 6.0 (ES6)―has been finalized, learning how to develop high-quality applications with this language is easier and more satisfying than ever. This practical book takes programmers (amateurs and pros alike) on a no-nonsense tour of ES6, along with some related tools and techniques. Author Ethan Brown (Web Development with Node and Express) not only guides you through simple and straightforward topics (variables, control flow, arrays), but also covers complex concepts such as functional and asynchronous programming.

You’ll learn how to create powerful and responsive web applications on the client, or with Node.js on the server. Use ES6 today and transcompile code to portable ES5 Translate data into a format that JavaScript can use Understand the basic usage and mechanics of JavaScript functions Explore objects and object-oriented programming Tackle new concepts such as iterators, generators, and proxies Grasp the complexities of asynchronous programming Work with the Document Object Model for browser-based apps Learn Node.js fundamentals for developing server-side applications.