JavaScript book question

Question

Hey everyone I just purchased the book JavaScript demystified to read and learn JavaScript but I just noticed that it was published in 2005 and it references netscape browsers and other "pratices" I believe are out dated like using the language attribute in the script tag and also not ending each line with a semicolon

My main question is has javascript changed so much since this book was published that reading this book not teach me what I need to know or could it still be a good reference?

Answer 1

Yes, the language has changed way too much in the past 6 years. All those changes I'm talking about here come along with ECMAscript edition 5 which is now pretty much available in any browser. If that is not covered in the book (I doubt it) its only good for the basic Javascript syntax.

However, there are "oldish" books which also do not cover ES5 but still are great to understand the language. I don't know the book in question, but still a hot candidate is "Javascript - the good parts" by Douglas Crockford.

Again, the basic Javascript syntax has not changed all that much, but there are TONS of new native methods / techniques which really are the future of this language.

Answer 2

Practical applications of JavaScript have absolutely changed. The language itself (syntax and semantics) have not changed hugely. Either way, there are almost certainly better references available these days.

Start with the top-notch online JS reference at the Mozilla Developer Network.

Then:

• Javascript book which teaches javascript the language, not dom
• Javascript Book for free Download
• What's the best and most efficient book to learn JavaScript?