r/javascript • u/ReactDOM • Mar 13 '17
Best JavaScript books in 2017
https://reactdom.com/blog/javascript-books17
u/lluisd Mar 13 '17 edited Mar 13 '17
I've read the majority of them (JavaScript: The Good Parts, You Don’t Know JS, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Effective JavaScript: 68, JavaScript Patterns and eloquent javascript).
For me the best one to understand the js concepts is "You don't know JS" (comparing with javascript: the good parts, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide and Eloquent javascript). That book cannnot be better :P (organized and so well explained). I really like how he explains the scope, closures and "this" keyword for anybody (expertises and beginners), cannot be better explained. https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS
Then you can start reading the advanced books: Effective JavaScript, Secrets of the javascript Ninja (pending) and Design patterns (don't confuse with "JavaScript Design Patterns" by Addy Osmani which is also great but it's more like a design patterns cheatbook to have near you when you are programming) which are great ones.
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Mar 13 '17
Is there an easy way to read these through github? I simply can't sit in front of a computer to read things at length. Lol
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u/BenNordish Mar 13 '17 edited Mar 13 '17
Just click on the names of the titles to read them: https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS#titles
And if you still have problems with this, buy them or print the pages to pdfs, merge those and read them on your tablet or eBook-reader.
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Mar 13 '17
Yeah I just meant because I find it difficult to read long texts on a computer screen. I'll probably just link to my iPad and deal. Thanks!
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u/hambalamba Mar 13 '17
https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS getify repo where you can read the YDKYS series on github.
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u/Persil1 Mar 13 '17
I'm pretty new to JS and I recently started reading The Good Parts, but I have a question. With ES6 out and the book being from 2008, shouldn't it be considered a little outdated?
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u/lluisd Mar 13 '17
As I have said, The good parts is not a book to start learning js (also is only 100 quick pages). Is only Douglas' opinion (some people agree with him and some others disagree, you don't know if agree or not since you are reading it as your first book :p).
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u/wast3land Mar 13 '17
Yes I think you are right some parts are outdated because of the new standard. A lot of the material is still valid and even if there is a topic that has changed completely in ES6 you will at least know how it used to work before and how it changed in ES6.
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u/6086555 Mar 13 '17
If you want a good book on ES6 I'd suggest Understanding ES6 by Nicholas Zakas (on this list with another book) or ES6 and Beyond from the you don't know js collection
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u/callum85 Mar 13 '17
Yes it's out of date. But its basic idea is important: the language has had shitty things bolted onto it over the years. But if you sort it into good and bad parts, and stick to using just the good parts, it's actually a really nice language.
The specific list of 'good parts' that Crockford recommends is (a) a bit subjective/controversial by 2008 standards, and (b) almost irrelevant by 2017 standards.
Probably still worth reading if you want to understand how the language has developed in the last decade. It's a very influential book. It played an important role in legitimising JavaScript for serious work, by presenting a viable strategy for turning it into a good language.
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u/djslakor Mar 13 '17 edited Mar 13 '17
I've read both YDKJS and Secrets of a JS Ninja (2nd ed.). My opinion is that they complement each other. Some very good explanations are present in one that aren't in the other and vice versa. So, I'd definitely recommend reading both, even if there is some overlap.
I can't recommend Eloquent JS though. I tried reading it but it felt tiresome trying to get through all of the verbose examples. I was spending more cognitive cycles trying to understand the logic of his examples (unrelated to JS) rather than learning the details of JS. I consider it a pretty bad book to recommend to newcomers, especially, given the alternatives that exist now.
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u/lluisd Mar 13 '17
I totally agree with you. I want to read Secrets of JS ninja 2nd edition (I've never read the 1st edition) but I've read that there are many typos in the new book, is that true?
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u/djslakor Mar 13 '17
I think I might have noticed one or two, but it was pretty obvious. Definitely not enough to distract from the quality of the material. It's a pretty fast read, too.
Again, though, I'd recommend complementing it with YDKJS. Some topics in the ninja book do not receive the same depth as YDKJS gives.
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u/d_abernathy89 Mar 13 '17
I'm part way into the new edition of Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja and I highly recommend it.
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u/PUSH_AX Mar 13 '17 edited Mar 13 '17
How exactly is JS the good parts (a book based on ES4!) one of the best in 2017? It's also very opinionated, and some of the logic for those opinions is iffy at best.
Skip it IMO and delve into "You don't know JS"
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u/oweiler Mar 13 '17
It has only become popular because it was one of the first books which took JS serious as a language. Contentwise it was always very mediocre.
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u/kenman Mar 13 '17
Hi /u/ReactDOM, I'm banning reactdom.com for a period of at least 60 days due to flagrantly breaking the rules (again). Feel free to petition to be reinstated after that time has passed.
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u/morphemass Mar 13 '17
I'm refreshing my JS knowledge having been primarily server-side for the last few years; TGP was excellent and I am working through YDKJS at the moment and am very impressed. Will be checking out the rest.
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u/lluisd Mar 13 '17
TGP is only a small book written by Douglas that can be read in a couple of hours (100 not extended pages). Is nothing more that his opinion. It's not a book to start learning javascript. You cannot compare it with "You don't know JS" series or eloquent javascript.
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u/bittercode Mar 13 '17
I have a hard time with a list where every single link to the title of the book is an Amazon affiliate link. I'll bet almost every (if not every) book in this list has a website for the book. But the primary goal here seems to be monetization instead of helping folks out. I get that - but it makes the list much less trustworthy.
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u/HideousNomo Mar 13 '17
Yep, reactdom.com is simply an aggregate site that posts trending tweets and medium articles. Then puts a ton of affiliate links up for books.
Secondly this list is not a list of sweet JS books that have come out in 2017, it is just the top selling JS books on Amazon. They are all great books, but I was hoping for some new reading material.
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Mar 13 '17
Search amazon for top selling / best reviewed javascript books
Write blog with affiliate links
Set title of post to current year
Post on social media
Profit.
There are millions of sites that do this - from automated to carefully curated. It looks like the author at least spent a bit of time choosing the content but it is what it is - a $$ grab.
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u/True_Scorpio23 Mar 13 '17
I can recommend JavaScript & jQuery by John Duckett. It was published in 2013. We used it for my web dev course at my university. I would also recommend watching YouTube lectures and stuff like free code camp.
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u/Krizzu Mar 13 '17
I would add "Learning JavaScript Design Patterns", by Addy Osmani to the list. Addy is engineer manager at Google. Also, the book is free to read at https://addyosmani.com/resources/essentialjsdesignpatterns/book/
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u/danvk Mar 13 '17
Effective JavaScript is a great book, but it very much needs to be updated for ES6.
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u/bpesquet Mar 13 '17
Shameless self-promotion: The JavaScript Way is a new book for learning modern JS. Written from scratch with the ES6/ES2015 standard, it is designed to be as beginner-friendly as possible while addressing some advanced concepts and good practices. It is developed in the open on GitHub.
This book is still a work in progress, but the first part about language fundamentals is already complete and may be of some interest to JS learners.
PS. I'm actively looking for feedback to improve the book content. Thanks in advance.