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JavaScript @ Web Programming
Programming Shed : Programmer Store & Resources |
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JavaScript Index - JavaScript Book :
JavaScript Programming for the Absolute Beginner
by Andy Harris Paperback: 347 pages Publisher: Premier Press, Inc. ISBN: 0761534105; Book & Cd edition (June 14, 2001) JavaScript is a scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. JavaScript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content. JavaScript Programming for the Absolute Beginner not only teaches you JavaScript, a great programming "gateway" language, it will teach you the fundamental programming concepts you need to grasp in order to learn any computer language. It also uses game creation as a learning tool. You will learn how to program in JavaScript and produce something at the same time! Plus, the accompanying CD will contain games that you can cut and paste right into your own Web site! This book is perfect for anyone looking for an easy, non-intimidating introduction to JavaScript and general programming concepts. About the Author: Andy Harris began teaching computing at the university level in the late 1980s as a part time job. Since 1995, he has been a full-time lecturer at the Computer Science Department of Indiana University/Purdue University-Indianapolis. He now manages the IUPUI Streaming Media Lab and teaches classes in several programming languages. Customer Reviews Simply a fun book, October 16, 2001 Reviewer: A reader from www.Javascripts.com Often computer books attempt to produce a book that teaches while focusing on fun, real-world level examples. Rarely do publishers and authors pull this style of book off in a manner that is useful. JavaScript Programming for the Absolute Beginner is a book written by Andy Harris and published by Premier Press, formerly PrimaTech, that comes about as close as you can to pulling this off. JavaScript Programming is aimed at the beginner who is new to programming. This book teaches many of the basics of using JavaScript while creating actual programs. In the early chapters the programs are relatively simple. This includes color pickers and a mad lib game. As the book progresses, you continue learning the programming topics needed to use JavaScript, but at the same time you learn how to create a number of games--yes, games. There are games such as a dog fight game where two players fly little planes around the screen and try to shoot their opponent. When working with concepts such as arrays, you learn to also create a basketball game. The book is effective at teaching both, key concepts in JavaScript and basic game development for JavaScript. For the absolute beginner to JavaScripts, this is a great book to start with. For the experienced JavaScript developer, this book is still worth looking into. If you are interested in doing games, or in doing graphics manipulation in your JavaScripts, then you may still find this book worth the price, especially when you look at the CD. The CD for this book contains all the sample code from the book as well as a number of other games including BioBattleship, DropZone, Clix, IceBlocks, and more. There are also a number of examples on the CD that use a game library that is available online. Overall, it is my opinion that this is one of the neatest books for learning the basics of JavaScript programming. Additionally, it is a fantastic book if you are interested in getting started with game programming using JavaScript. Even if you are not interested in games, this is still a great book to check out! There is one thing I did not manage to figure out regarding this book. The cover has a very cool looking 3D Tetris block. This same graphic is animated on the CD. Additionally, Tetris blocks are used as design elements throughout the book. I never found a Tetris game in the book or on the CD. One of my pet pieves is when a cover on a book indicates something is in the book that isn't. If you find the Tetris game in the book or on the CD, let me know. Even if it isn't there, the book is still worth the cost. fabulous, October 5, 2001 Reviewer: ryan torvik from lafayette in the author shows a very firm understanding of JavaScript programming. he takes you step by step through many difficult programming issues, so you don't need any programming experience at the beginning, and you will have acquired some pretty advanced knowledge about programming and good programming practices! each chapter is centered around a specific goal; each has its own game to program. at the end of the chapter, you will have all the tools needed to program the game described at the beginning. you are motivated to actually learn the material, because it is presented in such a unique way. there are so many examples in each chapter, complete with pictures of how things are supposed to look, and common and uncommon traps to look out for. also included, real world applications for just about every concept presented. this book is fantastic. perfect for the absolute beginner and a great resource for anyone. |
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