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Recommending Javascript the Good Parts to Javascript beginners is like recommending Effective Java to Java beginners. It is assumed you know some js/java and pr
by why-el 14y ago
Recommending Javascript the Good Parts to Javascript beginners is like recommending Effective Java to Java beginners. It is assumed you know some js/java and preferably have written some of it so that the patterns and antipatterns described in both books (Crockford's to a lesser degree, it's after all about the good parts) would make sense.
- doktrin 14y ago>Recommending Javascript the Good Parts to Javascript beginners is like recommending Effective Java to Java beginners. Or, like recommending K&R C to beginners (C beginners, but even worse to programming beginners). There are a handful of books out there that, IMHO, are vastly mis-recommended, and I would agree that JS:The Good Parts is one of them.
- jamesbritt 14y agoWeird. I learned C from K&R and found it helpful and easy to follow. I don't think I had much coding experience either beyond c64 basic.
- bjoe_lewis 14y agoI learned from K&R too, and seriously, no book ever told me how closely arrays and pointers were related (atleast, whatever books I read), as TCPL. I don't find anything wrong with recommending it to 'programmers' who begin C.
- cjg_ 14y agoK&R is great! For a really deep understanding how pointer and arrays are related I also recommend Expert C Programming by Peter van der Linden (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298 http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp...)
- Joeri 14y agoI found K&R C to be refreshingly easy to follow, but that isn't saying much because prior to that I had learned C++ from Stroustrup's book (which I had to read three times cover-to-cover before I finally understood what in the world he was talking about). Any book would seem easy to follow after that pan-galactic gargle blaster. And now I'm sure someone will respond saying that they found Stroustrup's book remarkably straightforward. To each his own I suppose.
- just2n 14y agoI don't think I can endorse this, necessarily. I learned C from "C by Dissection" back when the cover was purple. I then learned C++ from a combination of Bjarne's book and "C++ in 24 hours". Before that I only knew qbasic and vb, so it was a fairly big transition and I was young and had no experience, so it was difficult to get to a point of understanding (I did this in HS when no CS courses were offered at my grade level, so it was heavily self-guided). I recently read K&R for the first time and found it thoroughly enjoyable and understandable going into it with the mindset of a first-time reader. I thought "I wonder what it would've been like to read this instead of how I did it, since everyone recommends it." I think I'd recommend it to others, even people new to programming. What's bad about really terse or difficult to follow books is that they densely pack information or lack explanation and that really inhibits learning. I find that K&R raises a lot of questions without leaving the reader unsatisfied or confused, which I think is the exact opposite -- if you're really interested, you'll use that as motivation to go learn more. You might not immediately see why language features are very valuable, but I think that improves for everyone as you learn more.
- Joeri 14y agoCrockford's book explains the best practice in a comprehensive way, but it does not explain why you would want to follow those practices. You need to have sufficient experience with the consequences of bad practice to recognize when and why you would use the practices from the good parts. I wouldn't say you need any javascript experience per se, but a solid background in software engineering is definitely helpful.