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Recommend an AJAX book

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:57 pm
by Luke
I am interested in getting my javascript skills up to par and then eventually getting to know AJAX... as well as possible. Are there any books that could take me from Javascript hacker (at best) to intermediate (or better) ajax developer? If not... how about a set of books? Any help is appreciated.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:34 pm
by feyd
Hmm, when I last went looking there weren't all that many, even less that felt "good." That being said, I have a decent one that I'm liking thus far.

Ajax in Action, published by Manning. ISBN 1-932394-61-3. $45 US.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:38 pm
by Luke
does it expect your javascript to be up to snuff, or should I also pick up a javascript book?

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:52 pm
by feyd
An Ajax book likely won't replace or do much more than supplement a good Javascript book. I've posted previously about my recommendation for O'Reilly's.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:59 pm
by Luke
alright... thanks feyd.

::goes off and buys books::

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:43 pm
by Ollie Saunders
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fifth Edition
By David Flanagan

The only JS book recommended by comp.lang.javascript, basically its "the" JS book. Its very complete, back to basics start and then complete reference. A long term resource. Edition 5 is really new.

Professional JavaScript for Web Developers
By Nicholas Zakas

Not so great for learning JS from the beginning. This book is really a collection of tutorials, almost like a cookbook except there is a lot of detail and the writer clearly knows how to apply JS in the real world. There's a lot of code in there for browser transparent JS which is a must if you are serious. This is a great supplement to Flanagan's book. That being said I actually learnt nearly all my JS from this book alone so it is possible but there are easier paths.

Professional Ajax
By Nicholas C. Zakas, Jeremy McPeak, Joe Fawcett

This is on my wish list.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:53 am
by panic!
I dunno why you'd need a whole book just to learn how to utilise one method, theres loads of ajax functions out there and you normally just supply a div object and a url and the rest is up to your imagination, obviously you might not want to use returned data to put in a div but you can just capture the data and not just innerHTML it.

AJAX should be covered in a few pages to a chapter in a reasonably up to date JS book, a whole book on ajax is just going to be LOADS of examples using the same function altered ;)

Enjoy spending I love buying computer books, can't wait to get paid :)

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:53 am
by m3mn0n
ole wrote:Professional Ajax
By Nicholas C. Zakas, Jeremy McPeak, Joe Fawcett

This is on my wish list.
I got this off Amazon a little while back.

Very good investment.

Wrox FTW! :wink:

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:22 am
by Ollie Saunders
panic! wrote:AJAX should be covered in a few pages to a chapter in a reasonably up to date JS book, a whole book on ajax is just going to be LOADS of examples using the same function altered ;)
You definately need a book on AJAX then.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:27 am
by alvinphp
I agree with Panic!, just get a newer Javascript book that has an Ajax section as that is all you really need.

Personally, I cheat and use Prototype.js as it makes Ajax (and Javascript in general) really easy.

http://prototype.conio.net/

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:54 pm
by m3mn0n
That's like saying: A whole book on PHP Security is overkill. A chapter or two in an up to date book is fine.

Specialization in your learning is always great. Thus why I have a gerneral JavaScript book and an Ajax book. A few general PHP books *AND* books on PHP Security, & etc.

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 3:16 am
by panic!
NAH, it's TOTALLY different, PHP security is paramount with MANY aspects, where as an entire book on AJAX is buzzword overkill, we have 2 where i work and they're just all the same crap all the way through.

A whole book on PHP Security is overkill. A chapter or two in an up to date book is fine.

Semi-apogogiacal argument:

A whole book on PHP's echo function is overkill. A chapter or two in an up to date book is fine.

Specialization in your learning is always great.

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:21 am
by christian_phpbeginner
@The Ninja Space Goat:

I have a link where you can actually learn AJAX for free:
http://www.theajaxworkshop.com/index.php/Main_Page

Many useful informations on AJAX also good examples are there. I am using it but I don't join the classroom (btw, the classroom is also free).
alvinphp wrote:I agree with Panic!, just get a newer Javascript book that has an Ajax section as that is all you really need.

Personally, I cheat and use Prototype.js as it makes Ajax (and Javascript in general) really easy.

http://prototype.conio.net/
Sorry, out of topic here. Yes, I've been in the prototype website, and I was looking for the documentation. Just to make sure I would download the right one, but can't find any. Do I have to download it first because the documentations are embedded ? Thanks !

Chris

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:51 am
by Luke
what about pre-built libraries to assist with ajax applications? I have heard of these:

http://openrico.org/
http://script.aculo.us/
http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

If anybody has any info they want to share about the above mentioned libraries (ie: whether or not they are easy to work with, worth my time, etc.) or any other libraries, let me know!

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:42 pm
by christian_phpbeginner
The Ninja Space Goat wrote:what about pre-built libraries to assist with ajax applications? I have heard of these:

http://openrico.org/
http://script.aculo.us/
http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

If anybody has any info they want to share about the above mentioned libraries (ie: whether or not they are easy to work with, worth my time, etc.) or any other libraries, let me know!
hi ninja !

I have used the script.aculo.us, and yes it's easy to work with. I have downloaded the openrico.org, but I haven't time to try it.

The steps to use script.aculo.us you can find them in: http://wiki.script.aculo.us/scriptaculous/show/usage

My example of usage, copy the code below:

Code: Select all

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Testing Script.aculo.us</title>

<script src="scripts/prototype.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="scripts/scriptaculous.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<style type="text/css">
<!--
body {
	font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
	font-size: .7em;
	color: #000000;
	margin: 0px;
	padding: 0px;
}
#mainNav {
	cursor: pointer;
	padding: 0px;
	margin-top: 100px;
	margin-right: 0px;
	margin-bottom: 0px;
	margin-left: 100px;
	height: 17px;
	width: 130px;
}
#mainNav ul.main {
    display: block;
	margin: 10px;
	padding: 0px;
}

#mainNav li.main {
	background-color: #6699FF;
	border: 1px solid #6666FF;
	list-style-type: none;
	height: 17px;
	width: 130px;
	padding-top: 5px;
	padding-right: 0px;
	padding-bottom: 0px;
	padding-left: 2px;
	margin-top: 0px;
	margin-right: 0px;
	margin-bottom: 1px;
	margin-left: 0px;
}

#mainNav ul.subCategory {
    display: block;
	margin: 2px;
	padding: 0px;
}
#mainNav li.subCategory {
	list-style-type: none;
	height: 17px;
	width: 193px;
	background-color: #FFCCFF;
	border: 1px solid #FF66CC;
	margin-top: 0px;
	margin-right: 0px;
	margin-bottom: 1px;
	margin-left: 0px;
	padding-top: 5px;
	padding-right: 0px;
	padding-bottom: 0px;
	padding-left: 2px;
}

#mainNav a:link {
	color: #FFFFFF;
	text-decoration: none;    
}
#mainNav a:hover {
	color: #FFCC00;
	text-decoration: none;
}
#mainNav a:visited {
	color: #FFFFFF;
	text-decoration: none;
}
#mainNav a:active {
	color: #FF0000;
	text-decoration: none;
}


-->
</style>
</head>

<body>
<!--- Main Navigation -->
<div id="mainNav">
<ul class = "main">
   <li class ="main"><a href="test.php" title="Home" target="_self">Home</a></li>
   <li class ="main">New Books</li>
   <li class ="main" onclick="Effect.toggle('comp','blind', {duration:0.2}); return false;">
      <a href ="#">Computer Books</a>
   </li>
    	<!---Sub Category of Computer Books-->
		<ul class = "subCategory" id ="comp" style="display:none;"> 
		    <li class = "subCategory">Graphics & Animation</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Macintosh / Apple Related</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Digital Video / Video Editing</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Digital Photography</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Office Applications</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Database & ERP</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Web Development & Design</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Programming</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Game Programming</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Networking & Telecommunication</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Operating System</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Web Server & Groupware</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">Computer Science</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">UML</li>
			<li class = "subCategory">General Computing</li>
		 </ul>
</ul>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Cheers,
Chris