

JQuery Fundamentals - nym
http://www.rebeccamurphey.com/jqfundamentals/

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petercooper
Oh the misery of some of the other comments here. This is a fine piece of
work.

I've been working with JavaScript on and off for years (though am far from an
expert), but something like this is still a great primer for me, even the
introductory stuff. It never hurts to retread the basics quickly and from the
perspective of someone you _know_ is a seriously expert developer right NOW
(and not when I picked up most of my JS.. 7-8 years ago!)

Forgetting that, what I've read of it so far is well written and not padded to
fill a certain page count like many books. It's open, it's free, and even if
it's not going to win any prizes, it's certainly way above average in the
gamut of programming books, free or not.

~~~
telemachos
I'll add two cents: as someone very new to JavaScript, I like the idea of a
rapid introduction to the language and then straight into jQuery (which I
would expect to use more than "raw" JS for the near future anyhow).

Also, putting the book on GitHub was genius. There are already 13 forks, and
the author has been very quick to respond to issues posted there. (Full
disclosure - one of the forks is mine. I can't contribute to the jQuery part,
but I tried to help out with the installer script when the author mentioned it
was a bit wonky.) Releasing a book in this way allows people to add value (if
they can), and it's great to see an innovative use of GitHub. (There may be
lots of other books available there, but it's new to me if so.)

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csmeder
I cant find any reviews
[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=review+%22JQuery+Fu...](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=review+%22JQuery+Fundamentals%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=f&oq=&gs_rfai=)

Has any one read this book, have a review?

~~~
mgkimsal
It's meant to be used in conjunction with her instructor-led classes, so it
won't necessarily be the same as something that was written explicitly to be a
'book'.

That said, Rebecca's very sharp, knows her stuff, and how to communicate and
explain things well in person. I haven't read this yet, but assume much of
that will translate to the written word.

~~~
csmeder
Thank you. I have been thinking about buying a JQuery book, but I might try
this one instead. It sounds promising.

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knuckle_cake
There is a lot of info here, but it's attempting to focus on too-wide of an
audience. The Javascript 101 section would be better left on the cutting room
floor (or put into a separate article,) for example.

What is here looks really solid, though there are nitpicks for the pedants to
find and gripe about. I am especially interested to see what shows up
eventually in Part III.

Big, big kudos to the author for putting everything onto a single page.

~~~
rmurphey3
FWIW, the reason there's a JavaScript chapter is that I find many, many people
come to jQuery via HTML/CSS, and neglect to learn JavaScript on the way. To
dive straight into jQuery without explaining the larger JavaScript scene seems
counterproductive to what I'm trying to accomplish when I teach these classes.
That said, you're more than welcome to skip that part :)

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istjohn
This actually adds little value to the very good standard jQuery docs. All
this information's there, and it's just as easy to follow w/ the benefit of
more example code.

By the way, I've found the .chm format docs much, much easier to browse. There
isn't an official .chm release but you can find a current version here:
[http://charupload.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/jquery-
documentat...](http://charupload.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/jquery-
documentation-chm/)

~~~
petercooper
The jQuery docs are great and make for an excellent reference, but as a mostly
reference work, they lack the narrative structure of a "book" like this. A
non-fiction is not just a collection of words - it's a journey where you're
guided, hopefully, by an expert. Once one has read this book, the jQuery docs
would be an invaluable reference from there on out.

~~~
istjohn
I just don't see jQuery as a grand interconnected topic deserving of "book
treatment." It shouldn't be seen as something that requires one to read a book
before you can start using it. Just find the function that does what you want
to do in the docs, read the description and example code, and use it. Before
long, you'll intuitively get the jQuery aesthetic. There is no reason to try
to master the theory before attempting to actually use jQuery. There is no
theory. It's all very simple.

Now, on the other hand, if you don't yet know Javascript and you're trying to
use jQuery, I would suggest learning the syntax and semantics of the language
first. But if you know Javascript, then jQuery is trivial.

In that respect, I think maybe the biggest value in this book is the
Javascript overview at the beginning. Too many people try to use jQuery
without grasping its foundation.

~~~
petercooper
_Just find the function that does what you want to do in the docs_

I often go looking for the wrong thing. I'll think "In Ruby/plain
JavaScript/C/whatever, I'd achieve X by doing Y and then Z" and then look for
jQuery's equivalents to Y and Z, rather than doing it the easier and
conventional jQuery way.

Books are good at relaying the _thought processes_ of experts rather than the
function by function material that, yes, a reference site provides a lot
better.

For a slightly convoluted example, let's say I have a little JavaScript and
DOM knowledge and am a few days into using jQuery without following any
serious tutorials or books. To change the code within an element I might try
something like _$('#whatever').innerHTML = 'whatever'_ rather than the more
jQueryesque _$('whatever').html('whatever')_ \- a simple example but it can
get a lot more elaborate than that.

However, it's definitely a case of _different strokes for different folks._
You might be able to pick up on the idioms and nuances of new libraries and
languages without much guidance, but books like Rebecca's can provide a much
needed "guided tour" for some people nonetheless.

All of the above is why I wrote _Beginning Ruby_ despite the existence of the
venerable Pickaxe. The Pickaxe is an awesome reference book with a
_relatively_ weak tutorialesque set of chapters tacked on the front. My book
caters to people who want to learn in a more linear, narrative fashion (and,
to be fair, has a relatively weak _reference_ section tacked on the end ;-))

