Hi all,
I'd like your suggestions on a good JavaScript book. I'm looking for something which could be considered "low-level" for a scripting language. I'm not looking for a beginner's book by all means, as I currently use it on the side for work applications. I'm more interested in a book which can supply specifications and details (and I understand web browsers implement this differently).
Ideally I would like to become as comfortable with JavaScript as I am with C - with a decent ability to read through and detect problems and their causes. For instance with JavaScript I have no problem understanding the basics, but when I have to jump into using jQuery or ASP.NET (and provided client-side functionality) I tend to feel like I've jumped into a darkroom, and just randomly calling functions to see what works (and since in business world, it ends up going to production). I'm looking to learn JavaScript well enough that I can understand enough of third-party add-ons and what they're trying to do (and how).
Is there a book out there that can help qualm my overwhelmed frustration with this sort of thing? I know it sounds like I'm asking for a lot in a book, but as an example, when I had to jump into XML, I per-chance found an amazing book (Xml Family of Specifications) which is very thorough with wide-span coverage.
Some of the key concepts I am looking for in-depth coverage:
- Efficient DOM Access (Memory Usage vs Processing)
- JavaScript and CSS
- Events
- Cache and issues
- JSON
- AJAX - XMLHttpRequest
- Security Models
- Cross-Browser info would be nice to have
- Implementations of JavaScript
- Using JavaScript Engine in my own Applications
The last two items are something I think would really help me out. I've tried looking for Google Chrome's V8 engine source, but haven't found it on their repository yet.
Here are the books I'm currently considering:
- JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
- Professional JavaScript for Web Developers
- JavaScript for Programmers (Deitel)
Anyone have these and willing to comment, or other suggestions? Thanks everyone.
P.S. I know most learning comes through practice, but would really like a resource away from the computer.
P.S. I've looked through one of the books above at a bookstore, the others weren't in stock anywhere -- so I have looked through what I can, just trying to make a decision.
