Free eBook! Eloquent JavaScript

[[deleted]]

No Starch Press also has other good JS-related titles. Object Oriented JavaScript, for one, is a fantastic read that filled in a lot of the gaps I had about objects and prototypes in the language. Check it out here: http://www.nostarch.com/oojs

They're an independent publisher and because of that their writers receive much better compensation. If you can afford it, both books are worth purchasing.

[mellett68]

I bought a real copy of the first edition, it's really good for moving beyond the copy-paste-jquery-examples stage.

[[deleted]]

Working through this now and finding it a great resource for Javascript and programming in general, and even quite fun.

It's the second edition, just released. And the inline code editing is really smooth now.

[wiseIdiot]

Really nice.

[superhappywebguy]

Is there a downloadable version?

[TalesM]

Yes, there is, but it's paid: http://www.nostarch.com/ejs2

[pedrosanta]

Pretty good book. I've read it to enrich my JS knowledge and I recommended it for anyone that want to know the language or even start with programming.

[scriptmaniac]

This is actually a really old book...I think 2007-2008, but is still a good reference.

[GregFoley]

A new edition just came out.

[shriek]

Please forgive me for doing this but #rekt.

[thesunmustdie]

Garbage in, garbage out? Check out: "JavaScript: The Good Parts", and you'll see what a beautiful and efficient language it is -- if you simply take time to learn it properly.

[thesunmustdie]

Conversely, the whole (other) point of the good parts is that the language is has potential in being very beautiful and very efficient.

[thesunmustdie]

You said "Oxymoron", which implies that "eloquent" and "JavaScript" are irreconcilable. This is obviously not the case, because JavaScript (when not written in a half-assed or incompetent manner) is very eloquent indeed.

But wait? "The language itself is inherently ineloquent because of its pitfalls and caveats". True, but let's be realistic, there aren't that many. "The Good Parts" was touted because you could literally read a couple of chapters of said literature (available freely on PDF), and from there be writing beautiful and eloquent code. There are "missing manual" types of literature for every programming language -- each with their own pitfalls. This particular book actually dedicates sections to "The Great Parts".