Javascript & Ajax for dummies book - should i buy?

[nelsonm]

Hi all,

I'm learning javascript, ajax and jquery on my own. While online resources such as w3schools.com and others have been helpful, i feel i need something that explains things on more layman's terms.

It would seem that the "For Dummies" series would be a good place to start. They have a "Javascript & Ajax for Dummies" book but it was published in December of 2009. There is also a "Jquery for Dummies" published in June of 2010. Would these versions still be relevant or should i look elsewhere?

thanks.

[lucy24]

Analogy that springs to mind: How many people around here first learned HTML in the '90's? We can do a whole lot more, but that 1998-vintage HTML still works, and it's a solid foundation for the stuff we've added later. That's assuming, of course, that you learned correct rules and good habits back then.

Computer development tends to go by hiccups-- think "punctuated equilibrium"-- and I can't think of any major hiccups in the past two years.

[nelsonm]

hi,

I agree, 2009, 2010 publications should still be fairly relevant with respect to the basics.

I just feel that for someone who's not used to the technical jargon used in these languages, a dummies book written in layman terms would be more easily understandable and they tend to explain the nuances of why you'd want to do this over that, how to access objects, how and when to connect objects and methods and so on in a way that a lay person can quickly understand.

Books that are written by software engineers tend to be written in a more dry and technical fashion and they assume you can grasp and deduce the nuances on your own.

Unfortunately, not ever one learns in the same way and every one is academically or technically proficient.

[rocknbil]

I would say any way you learn is what's right for you (relevant to your PHP question too.) When I first started learning JS I went with a book. Did all the examples. Front to back. Learned a lot.

Then I came to places like this web site and found much of what that author wrote was wrong, or if not wrong, certainly not efficient. I was p***ed. This guy was a professor at a university and made millions on his stupid book. Most of it was wrong! Eventually my "takeaway" was the basic under structure of the language, so I guess it worked out OK.

Just keep that in mind. :-)

[nelsonm]

thanks for all your insights.

Now if i can just get someone to answer my jqGrid post question at [webmasterworld.com...] !