I have tried to get a publisher to accept a book proposal of mine. Unfortunately it has failed.
Postponed for at least a year. I’ll think about it again in 2003.
The problem is that at the moment there is no market for JavaScript books, strange as this may sound. I tried both in the US and in Holland and got the same response: “Sorry, but at the moment we don’t take JavaScript books.”
The release and support of the W3C DOM has given rise to many new JavaScript books. However, most that I studied are pretty bad, teach you incorrect coding practices and in general don’t know what they’re talking about. Most understand that there is a difference between Netscape and Explorer, but the minor browsers are rarely mentioned.
Then what should you read?
Below are the results of the feedback form that was on this page for a while. I suppose someone would be interested in these facts and figures. For the moment I’m not going to do anything with this feedback.
Text last changed in September 2001.
At the moment (8/01) I get about 20,000 unique visitors a month and I assume the majority of them comes to learn about JavaScript. That's why I asked my readers:
What kind of JavaScript book would you like me to write?
In the last four months, 137 readers of this site have responded to my feedback form. Please note that I added the Expertise and the Problems questions later than the other questions, 72 respondents have reacted to these questions.
The preliminary survey has closed now, I have enough information for my proposal. However, as soon as I start the actual writing I'll ask you a lot of questions. After all, you'll have to decide what kind of book you need most.
If you wish to participate, please leave your email address. I will contact you when a new survey is online.
99 out of 137 respondents (72 %) agreed that existing JavaScript books pay too little attention to the needs of web developers working in the industry. 20 disagreed (14 %), 18 didn't vote.
"all too low-level"
Interesting remark. It's not quite what I meant, but I'll keep it in mind.
What level of expertise do the respondents have?
Intermediate scripters are almost in the majority (50 % exactly).
(Flanagan still leads)
What do people have problems with?
"Whatever non-often used"
Very good point, I'll keep it in mind (though interest for non-often used things is by definition slight...hmmm...)
"Applying object oriented design to javascript"
Personally I think object oriented design is not necessary in JavaScript (though it won't hurt either).
Most interesting are of course the reader remarks. Needless to say, I highlight those that appeal to me.
"ideal book for me: an initial discussion of the dom highlighting the most utilized real-world objects, methods, etc., comparing and contrasting the most common browser models. followed by real-world examples from existing web sites (with their permission, of course)."
"ideal book for me would be an advanced, practical book that will help mentor me in the more complex interactions that js can be used for, in conjunction with dhtml and the dom"
In short: please give us complex practical examples. I will.
"A lot of scripts are available on the net for free. I want a book that teaches you how to write reusable scripts that minimizes tweaking."
That's one of my plans. One of the chapters will be "How to write complex JavaScripts".
"I think there is a need for a JavaScript Cookbook a la The Perl Cookbook. A thematically series of chapters of increasing difficulty that gives the reader the building blocks he needs to make scripts."
Interesting thought. Such a book would be hard to set up, thought, because first I'd have to decide what modules there should be in JavaScript.
"Please write the book on browser compatibility or at least hit it hard!"
I will...
"whatever you do please dont write another bible book. many of these books try to cover too many subjects with not enough decription to actualy learn."
Good point.
"If you get the book published DON'T close the site down PLEASE..."
I won't, don't worry. It will be the companion site to the book. None of the scripts currently on it will be removed.
"how do I write a form validation JavaScript for an application where the administrator creates "on-the-fly" surveys, choosing either checkboxes, radio buttons, text or textarea?"
Good question! This is exactly the kind of feedback I'll be looking for in the future. If you tell me what you really need I'll put it in the book.
"I understand that many of the books listed here were written to simply state the facts for those who already understand JavaScript, however, for the rest of us it would be great to have a book that actually taught JavaScript from scratch."
This is very true, but the problem is that people who know a lot about JavaScript want
to write not about the basics, but about the really neat advanced tricks they've discovered.
I myself am no exception, writing a book about for loops and how ifs work and the difference
between strings and numbers doesn't really appeal to me.