The kind folks at No Starch sent me over a copy of the newly released book, Eloquent JavaScript by Marjin Haverbeke. I had already been recommending the namesake site as a must-read resource on my list of What to Read to Get Up to Speed in JavaScript so actually having the book was a welcome change. I know some people love to read stuff on the web but call me old fashioned in that I really like the feel of a book in my hands.

What I loved about this book is that it’s not your typical reference tomb. The basic premise is that it’s going to teach you proper constructs for writing solid JavaScript code as opposed to listing every method, attribute, data type or property ever included in the JavaScript language. It gets straight to the meat of JavaScript development, introducing you to the basic constructs of the language and then quickly diving into more complex topics such as partials and currying. This is all done in a step-by-step approach to give the reader an opportunity to not only digest the material but also see actual results in real-time. Definitely a great approach.

Differences Between the Site and the Book

As I mentioned the book is based on the great work that Marjin did on the namesake site. I’ve seen the site and absolutely love it but to me, I feel the book is a MUCH more organized version of his thoughts. The content is broken down into logical sections with better headers which makes conceptualizing specific areas much easier.

And again, I truly am partial to reading books instead of websites so for me, having the book was a real blessing.

What about JavaScript Libraries?

This book is really focused on the JavaScript language itself and not libraries. If you’re interested in really becoming a better JavaScript developer so you can take full advantage of your favorite library, then this book is a great choice. It’s a complementary selection.