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Argos
5y

Does this book worth reading?

Hello I've finished several books about JavaScript already and many of them mention this one

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition [2011]

I am a bit embarrassed, because despite it looks like a thorough 1000 pages guide, its last edition dates 2011 year.

From one point of view, it should contain core concepts that still remain the same, from the other, reading 2011 book in 2018 sounds like a not very good decision.

What would you say?

Comments
  • 1
    "JS the good parts" + another random book of functional JS is all you need IMHO
  • 0
    core concepts btw are actually mostly the same

    biggest differences are block scoped variables, the context of "this" when you use arrow-function notation and generators (which require a book by themselves)

    the rest is syntactic sugar... a LOT of sugar. beware of diabetes :D
  • 0
    @thatsnotnice

    Yeah I've heard about that book as well, but it is even older (2008 vs 2011) and shorter (172 pages vs 1096) will that really be enough for deep understanding of the language?
  • 1
    deep understanding comes a lot with experience.
    and to build good exp is necessary is to be pointed in the right direction.
    "the good parts" yeah is pretty old, but it's true that at its very core JS philosophy is the same as 10 years ago. it's one of the very few book that truly describes the "philosophy" more than the syntax. syntax is easy, you can learn it everywhere for free

    what is important with JS imho is to understand and master some key concepts that, if you have a traditional OOP background, can be sometimes a little tricky.
    in my experience i found too many JS manuals too much accomodating towards OOP-minded audience. i find way more productive to explain the key concepts for what they are and only then, if you want to code in an OOP-style you can productively use all the provided sugar without any problem, but you always know what's happening under the hood. angular and vuejs for example are a good compromise between modern OOP + some functional style utilities
  • 0
    @thatsnotnice

    What you write sounds very sensible.

    I'm starting 'Good parts' immediately

    Thank you a lot.
  • 1
    well, actually i have 2 books to recommend i really enjoyed

    eloquent javascript (marijn haverbeke)
    effective javaScript (david herman)

    and in general, i'm an avid reader of also eric elliot and reginald braithwaite stuff, there're quite some good articles of them around
  • 1
    "You don't know JS" book series from Kyle Simpson. All free online.
  • 1
    Thank you, guys, again for advices, your help is much appreciated, now I have plenty of stuff to read ;D
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