Recommended books about CGI

A good web development framework anticipates what you need to do and makes those tasks easier and more efficient; jQuery practically reads your mind. Developers of every stripe-hobbyists and professionals alike-fall in love with jQuery the minute they've reduced 20 lines of clunky JavaScript into three lines of elegant, readable code. This new, concise JavaScript library radically simplifies how you traverse HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and add Ajax interactions to your web pages.

jQuery in Action, like jQuery itself, is a concise tool designed to make you a more efficient and effective web developer. In a short 300 pages, this book introduces you to the jQuery programming model and guides you through the major features and techniques you'll need to be productive immediately. The book anchors each new concept in the tasks you'll tackle in day-to-day web development and offers unique lab pages where you immediately put your jQuery knowledge to work.

There are dozens of JavaScript libraries available now, with major companies like Google, Yahoo and AOL open-sourcing their in-house tools. This book shows you how jQuery stacks up against other libraries and helps you navigate interaction with other tools and frameworks.

jQuery in Action offers a rich investigation of the up-and-coming jQuery library for client-side JavaScript. This book covers all major features and capabilities in a manner focused on getting the reader up and running with jQuery from the very first sections. Web Developers reading this book will gain a deep understanding of how to use jQuery to simplify their pages and lives, as well as learn the philosophy behind writing jQuery-enhanced pages.

This book provided me the needed information to be able to use JQuery practically and efficiently.

I have committed myself to using jquery exclusively for my javascript applications but not much is written about it so it is difficult to solve problems. This book answered a lot of my questions and cleared up many difficulties. I use it as a reference whenever I am stuck. Thank you for writing it.

This is a really nice book on jquery. I've been using jQuery on a few projects, but this really helped point me to several things I could be doing better. All too often you find yourself following a tutorial blindly, without full understanding. This book set a few of my "tutorial assumptions" straight.

I only wish it had a little more meat to it. I think it's just a matter of a few things I'd hoped to find not being there though. Definitely suggest this book if you're serious about messing with jQuery in a real project.

reading this book will assist you when working with jquery. it is very well written. short and to the point. worth buying

I really have tattered the edges of this book. Normally, I would read a technical book like this, extract all of the information I needed, and then set it back on the book shelf. Not with jQuery in Action! I bring it to work, and then I take it back home in the evening. It is an outstanding book for any programmer who is really serious about keeping all of the user events at the browser level; instead of always going back to the server for something. This book has raised my level of awareness of all of the DOM-level programming available with the use of simple jQuery scripting. Thanks Bear and Yehuda for all of your hard work. Please keep on writing and authoring!!

Most programming languages contain good and bad parts, but JavaScript has more than its share of the bad, having been developed and released in a hurry before it could be refined. This authoritative book scrapes away these bad features to reveal a subset of JavaScript that's more reliable, readable, and maintainable than the language as a whole-a subset you can use to create truly extensible and efficient code. Considered the JavaScript expert by many people in the development community, author Douglas Crockford identifies the abundance of good ideas that make JavaScript an outstanding object-oriented programming language-ideas such as functions, loose typing, dynamic objects, and an expressive object literal notation. Unfortunately, these good ideas are mixed in with bad and downright awful ideas, like a programming model based on global variables. When Java applets failed, JavaScript became the language of the Web by default, making its popularity almost completely independent of its qualities as a programming language. In JavaScript: The Good Parts, Crockford finally digs through the steaming pile of good intentions and blunders to give you a detailed look at all the genuinely elegant parts of JavaScript, including: Syntax Objects Functions Inheritance Arrays Regular expressions Methods Style Beautiful features

The real beauty? As you move ahead with the subset of JavaScript that this book presents, you'll also sidestep the need to unlearn all the bad parts. Of course, if you want to find out more about the bad parts and how to use them badly, simply consult any other JavaScript book. With JavaScript: The Good Parts, you'll discover a beautiful, elegant, lightweight and highlyexpressive language that lets you create effective code, whether you're managing object libraries or just trying to get Ajax to run fast. If you develop sites or applications for the Web, this book is an absolute must.

I was very disapppointed in this book. For the price of the book there was very little content. I am returning this book and buying something with more substance.

This is an excellent book, as it concisely illustrates a number of details that would be impossible to find in other books. Moderate/advanced JavaScript programmers will gain the most from this book, it is not particularly geared towards the beginner.

The book has a very specific focus, so do not be deceived into thinking this book covers the entire language. For information like that, Flanagan's JavaScript The Definitive Guide will be better. This book, however, is an excellent discussion of the important features of the language. Highly recommended.

This is a book that you can easily read in one sitting. It will run you through parts of JavaScript commonly considered "advanced" and help you become a better JavaScript programmer. Unlike other books on JavaScript which seem interested on pretending JavaScript is a weak and dysfunctional cousin of Java, it embraces the JavaScript object model and teaches you to use it correctly.

I would strongly recommend anyone who intends to write JavaScript code read this book.

The content in this book is simply incredible, and it should be read by anyone seriously interested in JavaScript. Many of the other reviews have described the content, but I was shocked to see not one mention of the glaring errors in the code examples.

O'Reilly provides a good errata resource, but every other code example in this book has either a missing semicolon that you have to hunt for (most common) or code that is completely wrong. Perhaps none of this has been mentioned due to the strong merits of the content -- but it appears nobody even did a quick review over the code in this book! If you are going to buy this to have on your desk for years to come, buy it on PDF now and wait for the second edition print for the errata corrections.

With that said, I'm not trying to troll on this great book. I want to give a heads up to people so they don't have to work part-time as a copy-editor.

I decided to pick up this book because I had been using Javascript for years as a "garnish" on top of my web development, but usually only in the form of a few hacked-together utility functions and edited scripts. In truth, I was afraid of the language - it appeared to be a very inconsistent, buggy system that took arcane knowledge to master across browsers. After starting to work with a number of JS frameworks, I knew I needed to confront the language and learn it properly.

This book is possibly one of the best technical/programming related books I have had the pleasure of reading. It doesn't try to be a massive encyclopedic volume like most of my other technical books, so I didn't have to devote countless hours and days pushing through lengthy filler. Every section contains brief information about the most critical parts of Javascript you need to begin coding what you need right away in a tidy object-oriented fashion. If you have experience with any other C-based language and understand general OOP concepts, this book will make you fluent in Javascript with the least amount of time and effort on your part!

This Fifth Edition is completely revised and expanded to cover JavaScript as it is used in today's Web 2.0 applications. This book is both an example-driven programmer's guide and a keep-on-your-desk reference, with new chapters that explain everything you need to know to get the most out of JavaScript, including: Scripted HTTP and Ajax XML processing Client-side graphics using the canvas tag Namespaces in JavaScript--essential when writing complex programs Classes, closures, persistence, Flash, and JavaScript embedded in Java applications

Part I explains the core JavaScript language in detail. If you are new to JavaScript, it will teach you the language. If you are already a JavaScript programmer, Part I will sharpen your skills and deepen your understanding of the language.

Part II explains the scripting environment provided by web browsers, with a focus on DOM scripting with unobtrusive JavaScript. The broad and deep coverage of client-side JavaScript is illustrated with many sophisticated examples that demonstrate how to: Generate a table of contents for an HTML document Display DHTML animations Automate form validation Draw dynamic pie charts Make HTML elements draggable Define keyboard shortcuts for web applications Create Ajax-enabled tool tips Use XPath and XSLT on XML documents loaded with Ajax And much more

Part III is a complete reference for core JavaScript. It documents every class, object, constructor, method, function, property, and constant defined by JavaScript 1.5 and ECMAScript Version 3.

Part IV is a reference for client-side JavaScript, covering legacy web browser APIs, the standard Level 2 DOM API, and emerging standards such as the XMLHttpRequestobject and the canvas tag.

More than 300,000 JavaScript programmers around the world have made this their indispensable reference book for building JavaScript applications.

""A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers...well-organized and detailed."" -- Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript

Since the earliest days of Internet scripting, Web developers have considered JavaScript: The Definitive Guide an essential resource. David Flanagan's approach, which combines tutorials and examples with easy-to-use syntax guides and object references, suits the typical programmer's requirements nicely. The brand-new fourth edition of Flanagan's "Rhino Book" includes coverage of JavaScript 1.5, JScript 5.5, ECMAScript 3, and the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Interestingly, the author has shifted away from specifying--as he did in earlier editions--what browsers support each bit of the language. Rather than say Netscape 3.0 supports the Image object while Internet Explorer 3.0 does not, he specifies that JavaScript 1.1 and JScript 3.0 support Image. More usefully, he specifies the contents of independent standards like ECMAScript, which encourages scripters to write applications for these standards and browser vendors to support them. As Flanagan says, JavaScript and its related subjects are very complex in their pure forms. It's impossible to keep track of the differences among half a dozen vendors' generally similar implementations. Nonetheless, a lot of examples make reference to specific browsers' capabilities.

Though he does not cover server-side APIs, Flanagan has chosen to separate coverage of core JavaScript (all the keywords, general syntax, and utility objects like Array) from coverage of client-side JavaScript (which includes objects, like History and Event, that have to do with Web browsers and users' interactions with them. This approach makes this book useful to people using JavaScript for applications other than Web pages. By the way, the other classic JavaScript text--Danny Goodman's JavaScript Bible--isn't as current as this book, but it's still a fantastic (and perhaps somewhat more novice-friendly) guide to the JavaScript language and its capabilities. --David Wall

Topics covered: The JavaScript language (version 1.0 through version 1.5) and its relatives, JScript and ECMAScript, as well as the W3C DOM standards they're often used to manipulate. Tutorial sections show how to program in JavaScript, while reference sections summarize syntax and options while providing copious code examples.

This is I believe the best book about basic Javascript on the market right now.

Pros: Technically complete, solid writing style, understandable examples, no better intro books on the market.

Cons: Authors repeatedly show that they prefer class-based object systems, which Javascript is not. Authors do not effectively teach advanced Javascript prototype-based object usage and in fact seem to view it as a nuisance to be avoided. Authors don't regularly use closures except in section on closures.

I would recommend following this book up with "Javascript: The Good Parts" and making sure you fully grok how to use closures to avoid namespace pollution.

I've learned a lot of tech in my time, and this book does the best job explaining the fundamentals of a language that I've ever come across. Flanagan basically builds the whole language piece by piece, explaining the fundamentals of every aspect.

There are some more esoteric techniques he doesn't cover, but I hardly consider that a shortcoming; aside from those, he basically covers the entire breadth of JavaScript, both in its core design and in practical browser-based applications. This really is the definitive book on JavaScript, even if it is two years old (which is ages in Internet time).

This book is downright comprehensive and thoroughly deserves its "definitive guide" title.

But, the example scripts the author gives are long and deadly boring, which is why I won't give it five stars.

To "get" JavaScript, you need shorter scripts which are easier to learn from.

My recommendation is to use this book in conjunction with the w3schools website.

This is the book all the JS rockstars out there tend to recommend to people. I don't think it's for everybody personally. It's very thorough and explains JS and its various incarnations at a high level of intricacy that I wouldn't recommend to beginners who are easily distracted (i.e. more heavily creative-brained designers). I'm fairly evenly brained myself and I occasionally found myself zombie-reading as exciting as some of the specifics are too me.

On the other hand, if you want to know just about everything there is to possibly know about JS, this is the book. And that's worth five stars to me.

A good place to get a start with JS if you've never programmed is a decent class or self-teaching the basics online. Then I recommend Jeremy Keith's DOM scripting. Then the Complete Reference. Then this bruiser when you really want get in deep.

Great book, easy read, well formated and very instrutive. You will find everything that you need about JavaScript (covering standard ECMAScript v3). From the basics to the most advance about the language.

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is ideal for both standalone programs and scripting applications. With this hands-on book, you can master the fundamentals of the core Python language quickly and efficiently, whether you're new to programming or just new to Python. Once you finish, you will know enough about the language to use it in any application domain you choose. Learning Python is based on material from author Mark Lutz's popular training courses, which he's taught over the past decade. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson that helps you thoroughly understand a key component of Python before you continue. Along with plenty of annotated examples, illustrations, and chapter summaries, every chapter also contains Brain Builder, a unique section with practical exercises and review quizzes that let you practice new skills and test your understanding as you go. This book covers: Types and Operations -- Python's major built-in object types in depth: numbers, lists, dictionaries, and more Statements and Syntax -- the code you type to create and process objects in Python, along with Python's general syntax model Functions -- Python's basic procedural tool for structuring and reusing code Modules -- packages of statements, functions, and other tools organized into larger components Classes and OOP -- Python's optional object-oriented programming tool for structuring code for customization and reuse Exceptions and Tools -- exception handling model and statements, plus a look at development tools for writing larger programs. Learning Python gives you a deep and complete understanding of the language that will help you comprehend any application-level examples of Python that you later encounter. If you're ready to discover what Google and YouTube see in Python, this book is the best way to get started.

The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.

First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.

Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.

In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.

I just spent a few days going through this book and learned a lot. I've been working with PHP for years, but never did much complicated code. I studied Java about 8 years ago also and learned a lot about OOP from that. But never did any programming in Java. So it was all concept, no experience.

My reason for reading this book was to start using Python with Django. I wanted to learn Python first so I would understand the framework better.

This book covers in excruciating detail many of the finer qualities of just about everything you can imagine being in the language. I'm sure it doesn't cover everything the language can do. But somehow it spends 600 plus pages going over details that I wouldn't expect to find even if I was reading a 300 page book called "What I was thinking when I wrote this particular function on July 3rd 1991"

If something can be explained by 2 lines of example code and a three sentence paragraph about what's going on, the author does that -after 2 pages of explanation of how this code you are about to see might be a little like C, but it's a little different too, and how what you are going to learn is really powerful, and how some students might notice that the code is similar in structure to the code that you will see on page 400 later in the book.

If you think my review is way too verbose, read the book.

I give it 3 stars because it was in fact clear and well communicated information. It was just often hard to keep reading past all the unnecessary words to get to the useful content.

As a newcomer to Python, I find this book educational but somewhat inadequate for getting one's feet wet with a new programming language. Essentially all the sample code in the book is in the form of very short snippets run from the command line. There is almost nothing in the way of a full-blown sample Python program showing the reader what it's all supposed to look like in the end.

Python's strengths as a programming language are ostensibly its readability and ease of use, but you get no sense of that reading this book. All you get is bits and pieces that you have to glue together somehow. It's neither a complete technical manual nor a good introductory book for the novice programmer. The book is useful, but I would hope that there are better titles out there.

I wanted to like this book. As a general rule, I give the benefit of a doubt to O'Reilly books, and rarely am I mistaken. But this was one of the rare exceptions. In my experience, there are two trains of thought when it comes to learning a programming language:
1) Start right in with a book, using it to familiarize yourself with the language while you use the language to start fleshing out stuff that you learn in the book -- let's call this the "synergistic" or maybe "complementary" approach: using the book complements the coding you try, which, in turn, lets you put stuff you're learning into a workable framework.
2) Read the whole book through, and then apply what you've learned.

Personally, I don't know anyone with a good enough memory to really be able to pull off #2. But, honestly, it's more about patience than memory: people get excited about a language, and want to start using it. Having to (pretty much) read a whole book before you can start digging in is a bit of an anti-climax. The problem is that that's what you have to do with _Learning Python_. For example, one of the fundamentals of almost all programming languages is how looping is accomplished. In _Learning Python_, looping isn't discussed in detail until you're almost *250* pages into the book. Instead, the very, very fundamentals of the language are gone over in excruciating detail. Honestly, if you'd never programmed before, this might actually be a helpful, good thing. If, on the other hand, you've had pretty much any other programming experience, the pace is slow and tedious. I found myself yearning to be *doing* something, and instead was just plodding along.

If you have had previous programming experience, and are relatively well-versed with how languages work, I have to recommend _Python Essential Reference_ by David M. Beazley. Just read its first chapter in the bookstore, and you'll find yourself becoming quickly enlightened.

Like my title suggests, if you have programming experience and you do not mind or have little trouble reading the Python documentation in a online fashion then its probably not absolutely necessary that you have to buy the book.

However, the author is very good in instilling the nature of Python programming and he's good at getting you to think about the concepts but this book is definitely not a cookbook. Last thing is that it doesn't concentrate on the GUI nor library usage etc as it's mission is simply to teach you about the core of Python

This book is great! Good writing, good exercises. Good for people who have some experience in programming. If you have never had any contact to other languages or logic, consider studying some introdutory topics before reading this book.

Perl is a powerful programming language that has grown in popularity since it first appeared in 1988. The first edition of this book, "Programming Perl," hit the shelves in 1990, and was quickly adopted as the undisputed bible of the language. Since then, Perl has grown with the times, and so has this book.

"Programming Perl" is not just a book about Perl. It is also a unique introduction to the language and its culture, as one might expect only from its authors. Larry Wall is the inventor of Perl, and provides a unique perspective on the evolution of Perl and its future direction. Tom Christiansen was one of the first champions of the language, and lives and breathes the complexities of Perl internals as few other mortals do. Jon Orwant is the editor of

"The Perl Journal," which has brought together the Perl community as a common forum for new developments in Perl.

Any Perl book can show the syntax of Perl's functions, but only this one is a comprehensive guide to all the nooks and crannies of the language. Any Perl book can explain typeglobs, pseudohashes, and closures, but only this one shows how they really work. Any Perl book can say that "my" is faster than "local," but only this one explains why. Any Perl book can have a title, but only this book is affectionately known by all Perl programmers as "The Camel."

This third edition of "Programming Perl" has been expanded to cover version 5.6 of this maturing language. New topics include threading, the compiler, Unicode, and other new features that have been added since the previous edition.

Larry Wall wrote Perl and he wrote Programming Perl. Better yet, he writes amusingly and well--all of which comes across in this latest edition of the definitive guide to the language.

Like Topsy, Perl just grew, and as a result the need for a third edition came about. It's now over 1,000 pages, which it needs to be, as it performs several different duties. First, it's an introduction to the Perl language for those who are new to programming; also, it's a guide for those who are coming from other languages; and, finally, it's a Perl language reference.

Among Larry Wall's other pursuits is being a linguist, and it's perhaps for this reason that Perl is a peculiarly flexible language with many routes to achieving the same ends, as the authors ably demonstrate. It's also extensible in several ways, designed to work with many other languages. Also, as it's largely interpreted, programs written in Perl tend to run unmodified on a variety of platforms--although platform-specific Perl modules and programming practices are also discussed.

A major strength of Programming Perl is the way subject areas are approached from several directions. This constant shift of viewpoint eliminates blind spots in the reader's understanding and provides a pleasing echo of the way Perl itself can take many routes from here to there.

Because the Perl community is both knowledgeable and active, the language covers much more ground here than in the previous edition. Even if you have both previous editions, you'll want this latest version--if only for the new jokes. --Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk

If you are programming in Perl, this is a required book to have. It is the definitive manual on the language written by the author of the language, yet is very readable.

It is difficult to study perl using only this book.
Learning perl is the best way to study perl.
This book should be a reference of perl.

And there are many examples on the Net.
You can use these examples to modify for your purpose.
Sometimes, you should study how to debbug perl.

I decided to buy this book because I needed to learn Perl after having programmed in several other languages for my new job.

I was looking for a reference guide that pretty much outlined EVERYTHING that Perl can do. Proper syntax, short cuts, how to properly go about writing code in this language, how do write certain operations... etc

I was also looking for something that could be authoritative and set the STANDARD for how something should and should not be done... and not be written by some sloppy idiot who thinks he knows what he's doing.

And last but not least, I was looking for something that was funny and entertaining to read and not a dry boring textbook.

This book, as others call it "The Camel" or "The Camel Book", meets all those criteria. This is truly the BEST book on Perl out there, written by the inventor himself, Larry Wall, and some of his Perl-guru buddies. If you came to this page wondering if this is the book to get to learn to program in Perl, look no further.

Absolutely 5 stars on this one. And trust me, this book is pretty funny. It's almost as if it's written by your best friend or your roommate who you drink beers with, yet still goes into amazingly tidy and meticulous detail on how to do things properly. I couldn't have asked for a better book.
If you're like me and learning this for work, see if your boss will even buy it for the office. Mine did!

I hope you enjoyed my review. I've gone from knowing NOTHING about Perl to writing some pretty robust scripts in a matter of a few short weeks and I truly LOVE writing stuff in Perl because it is very easy once you get the idea of how the syntax is written in your brain. Anyways, I felt I had to share my experience with you so you can do the same. Enjoy.

PS: There is a correction I've found since there have been a few newer releases than the Perl 5 explained in this book. (As I write this, I'm using Perl 5.8.8).

pg. 513: At the very bottom should tell you that the period character "." will display the current position of the debugger.

pg. 514: The w command no longer lists a window of lines around your position. It is now the "v" as in [v]iew.

I program in C# almost exclusively. However, I needed some serious regex power and this kind of power can only be handled/performed with Perl.

Well, I have been learning Perl now for about 2 months and this book is uber invaluable to my book collection and has made it very easy to pick the syntax up quickly.

-- smerkdaddy

I would not recommend this book upfront if you don't know any Perl. Read up Beginning Perl by Simon Cozens and feel around a bit. Then pick this book up and put in the effort and you WILL appreciate the power, truth and beauty about PERL.

It is not a light read... certainly wasn't for me. But at the end of it, the effort was so worth it. The book will give you several Aha moments and by the end of it, thou shalt be rewarded!!

Learning Perl, popularly known as "the Llama," is the book most programmers rely on to get started with Perl. The bestselling Perl tutorial since it was first published in 1993, this new fifth edition covers recent changes to the language up to Perl 5.10. This book reflects the combined experience of its authors, who have taught Perl at Stonehenge Consulting since 1991. Years of classroom testing and experience helped shape the book's pace and scope, and this edition is packed with exercises that let you practice the concepts while you follow the text. Topics include: Perl data & variable types Subroutines File operations Regular expressions String manipulation Lists & sorting Process management Smart matching Using third party modules Perl is the language for people who want to get work done. Originally targeted to sysadmins for heavy-duty text processing, Perl is now a full-featured programming language suitable for almost any task on almost any platform-from short fixes on the command line to web applications, bioinformatics, finance, and much more. Other books may teach you to program in Perl, but this book will turn you into a Perl programmer.

In this smooth, carefully paced course, a leading Perl trainer teaches you to program in the language that threatens to make C, sed, awk, and the Unix shell obsolete for many tasks. This book is the "official" guide for both formal (classroom) and informal learning. It is fully accessible to the novice programmer.

For folks who are new to PERL this is a good book to learn the language. The presentation is easy to understand and illustrations help us grasp the concepts faster. There are exercises at the end of each chapter which helps in getting to do hands-on programming. I would have liked more exercises in some of the chapters. It would have been better if there were questions / challenges spread along the chapter.

LEARNING PERL is a programming library's foundation title and a highly recommended pick: it covers all the basics of what most programmers use and need to get started with Perl, and offers up a fifth edition of a classic first published in 1993. The latest changes to the software including Perl 5.10 are covered in chapters that discuss file operations, expressions, matching, and more. It also covers all kinds of platforms, from web applications to finance, and goes beyond the usual 'how to program in Perl' book to enhance the methods and approaches of the Perl programmer.

The book is irritating. (-2 star) I keep wasting my time looking for every little star, cross, double cross, ... symbol in the text. Almost every page has comments at the bottom, and these comments are denoted by tiny symbols. I'd like to see the authors find all the text that goes with all those comments. They really need to listen to their own advice and write the book for people who will be reading it.
The book is incomplete. (-1 star) The authors keep mentioning things that will be discussed later or not at all. I have to look for the topics on the Internet to get an explanation.
The book uses terms without fully explaining them. A beginner would not understand the terms without looking them up on the Internet. (-1 star)
The book covers some interesting syntax rules. (+1 star)
The book gives exceptions to the rules. (+1 star)
The book is up-to-date. (+1 star)
The book gives fully contained examples (+1 star)

An oft-repeated allegation against Perl is that it is write-only. In my opinion, this allegation is usually made by programmers proficient in other languages that have trouble understanding or following Perl idioms (one trivial example: the use of for loops instead of the Perl-native foreach loop).

The value of this book is that it teaches a beginner how to use idiomatic Perl. Someone learning Perl from this book will, in course of time, distinguish between line noise and well-written Perl.

A small subset of Perl is covered, not quite sufficient for much other than basic text processing; however the learning provides a firm base for exploration of other Perl books in O'Reilly's Perl menagerie. Specifically, the "Camel" book (Programming Perl) becomes a lot easier to read once the reader has completed this book and work through its exercises.

In sum, this is the best book for a gentle introduction to a very useful language.

This is the book which led me into the Perl world. It's not the first Perl book I read. Before came to this book, I read some other books, took online lessions, etc. but it's this easy reading book did the work. I also bought the cookbook but never touch it. The knowledge from this book is quite enough for routine use of Perl for basic but useful scripting. If you're new to Perl, this is the right book for you.

jQuery is a powerful JavaScript library that can enhance your websites regardless of your background.

For designers, jQuery leverages existing CSS and HTML skills, allowing you to dynamically find and change any aspect of a page.This book provides a gentle introduction to jQuery concepts, allowing you to add interactions and animations to your pages - even if previous attempts at writing JavaScript have left you baffled.

For programmers, jQuery offers an open -source, standards-compliant, unobtrusive approach to writing complex JavaScript applications. This book will guide you past the pitfalls associated with AJAX, events, effects, and advanced JavaScript language features.

This book has a companion title, jQuery Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library.

The Perfect Companion: jQuery Reference Guide: dig deeper into the library and go you through the syntax, specifications, and follow up with a detailed discussion. This book offers an organized menu of every jQuery method, function, and selector. Entries are accompanied by detailed descriptions and helpful recipes that will assist you in getting the most out of jQuery. You'll discover the untapped possibilities that jQuery makes available, and hone your skills as you return to this guide time and again.

Stop scratching your head, and start improving your web applications with jQuery and JavaScript!

This book is great for people that know css well, it makes javascript programming, so much better. If you understand how css works, attaching events, actions, animations is simple. What used to take 30 lines of Dom scripting to do can be done in 2. this book shows you how.

Recommend as a buy as an introduction to jQuery, especially individuals intending learn how to build new or repurpose user-interactive pages and sites with Drupal versions 5 or 6.

I received my copy directly from the publisher as I wanted to one, do a little research into the relationship between Drupal and jQuery, which has now been included with Drupal since version 5, and two to learn a bit more about interactive site design to be able to design my own Drupal 6 modules and/or templates sometime in the near future.

I found the book easy to learn from and have already started a development instance that now includes some of the functionality from the book (a picture library for my 3D art), but in combination with other resources; jQuery in Action and jquery.com tutorials. I found it fell a bit short on some of the details I required, but then I was never intending to build the actual examples found in the book for my current production site, which is a Drupal based CMS and not an eCommerce site.

I found Chapter 2 quite useful, covering the basics and relationships between Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), XPath selectors and jQuery DOM traversal as I see this as something I will be using in either a Drupal module or modified template. As I recall these topics and areas are also mentioned on one of the Drupal pages that one really needs to learn to understand, use and develop with Drupal. The section on jQuery and AJAX was also informative, at least for a beginner like myself.

The idea of writing less JavaScript code by using a library greatly appeals to me as writing or learning lots of code has never been my goal, focus or strength, the desired and resulting user functionality is and always will be. jQuery seems to satisfy this personal need and this book helped me to quickly learn and get up to speed on it. I think more experienced site developers and JavaScript masters will find it a bit short on information, and the index left a lot to be desired (only seven pages total?) as I found myself having to go to the jQuery web site for more on what I think is basic information; Chapter 3 Events, .bind() .click(), .toggle(), .hover().

Appendix A-Online Resources, and B-Development Tools both provide useful information for beginners, most I had already discovered before receiving the book, something other beginners could do as well.

This is a great book, to a point. It explains the concepts behind JQuery and gives some good, easy-to-follow examples. It's a good tutorial and introduction to using JQuery for AJAX, enhancing the UI, manipulating data, etc.. So why did I give this 3 stars?

Because in the end, what matters most to me is if I can USE the book on an ongoing basis. I'm not going to be able to, because the index for this book is WAY too sparse. It's missing many, many topics. For example, something as simple as the click() and clone() functions aren't in there, and neither is noConflict (which allows JQuery to play nicely with other libraries. And that's just the "C's".

I'm not asking for a complete reference - I understand that Packt does have a JQuery reference. But it would be nice to be able to find things I just read about 15 minutes ago! The poor index means I'm going to end up barely using this book at all.

This isn't just a great tutorial on jQuery, it's also a terrific bookshelf reference. I find myself grabbing it off the shelf once or twice a day to jog my memory or to find a concise example of what I'm trying to do. The examples are clear and complete and don't leave you with any missing pieces. Definitely essential reading if you're taking on development with jQuery.

OK... we have all heard jQuery is the in library from someone somewhere. Yet, it does so much and it does it differently. How do we shift gears and get into the library. This book is well thought out and covers the basics and beyond in a very friendly fashion. I want more details than can be contained in a book of this size, lol. We all want the books to cost less and contain more. But one of the key ways I rate books is how well did the concepts of the book sink into my brain on the first read, and how often do I take the book off the shelf for 'instant refreshers'. This book is top quality on both those areas.
(FYI... by way of reference I am the author of ColdFusion 8 Developer Tutorial )

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is the popular open source object-oriented programming language used for both standalone programs and scripting applications. It is now being used by an increasing number of major organizations, including NASA and Google.

Updated for Python 2.4, The "Python Cookbook," 2nd Edition offers a wealth of useful code for all Python programmers, not just advanced practitioners. Like its predecessor, the new edition provides solutions to problems that Python programmers face everyday.

It now includes over 200 recipes that range from simple tasks, such as working with dictionaries and list comprehensions, to complex tasks, such as monitoring a network and building a templating system. This revised version also includes new chapters on topics such as time, money, and metaprogramming.

Here's a list of additional topics covered:

Manipulating text

Searching and sorting

Working with files and the filesystem

Object-oriented programming

Dealing with threads and processes

System administration

Interacting with databases

Creating user interfaces

Network and web programming

Processing XML

Distributed programming

Debugging and testing

Another advantage of The "Python Cookbook," 2nd Edition is its trio of authors--three well-known Python programming experts, who are highly visible on email lists and in newsgroups, and speak often at Python conferences.

With scores of practical examples and pertinent background information, The "Python Cookbook," 2nd Edition is the one source you need if you're looking to build efficient, flexible, scalable, and well-integrated systems.

and I find great recipes in this book almost everyday to make my code cleaner and faster.

I like this book for two reasons. 1) If I need to get an idea on how to do something that is not necessarily obvious then it is a good place to look 2) If I have done something and want to see how others may have approached something similar then it is a good gauge on my own 'sanity check' - did I convolute some simple (or complex) logic into a working python script that could be handled in half the space and more elegantly (it has been known to happen) or did I come up with a comparable, better, or unique solution than presented (it has also been known to happen - just not as much as the former). In truth, I often find that I view a solution as 'better' because of the particulars of the application I am working on in which case some subjectivity of usefulness and elegance is based on an inherited aspect of my code and not on the abstract usefulness and elegance which much of the code snippets and explanation presents.

Good idea book, keeping in mind that the authors are trying to encapsulate some wisdom to be applied to a very wide set of problems.

This is the only Python book I've seen to date which provides detailed and practical examples of metaprogramming idioms, and it gets five stars for that chapter way in the back alone. The chapter on sockets programming also made me laugh since Guido seems to be incredibly proud of what I personally consider to be one of the worst sockets libraries I've ever used, but the Twisted guys have already sorted all of that nonsense out for us, so what the hey. Lots of cool stuff in here you probably haven't even thought of trying--like accessing the result of a list comprehension from inside the comprehension itself.

This edition (2) is significantly expanded -- and modified where Python advances warrant it -- from the previous version.

If you want a book that shows best Python programming practices and gets you going for virtually any programming task this is the book for you

I purchased this for my son as he requested it. It was an older version so he would not be able to use it. He ordered the newer one out. It not say what the published date was when I order it.

So you're ready to make the leap from writing HTML and CSS web pages to creating dynamic web applications. You want to take your web skills to the next level. And you're finally ready to add "programmer" to the resume. It sounds like you're ready to learn the Web's hottest programming language: JavaScript. Head First JavaScript is your ticket to going beyond copying and pasting the code from someone else's web site, and writing your own interactive web pages.

With Head First JavaScript, you learn:

• The basics of programming, from variables to types to looping
• How the web browser runs your code, and how you can talk to the browser with your code
• Why you'll never have to worry about casting, overloading, or polymorphism when you're writing JavaScript code
• How to use the Document Object Model to change your web pages without making your users click buttons

If you've ever read a Head First book, you know what to expect -- a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works. Head First JavaScript is no exception. It starts where HTML and CSS leave off, and takes you through your first program into more complex programming concepts -- like working directly with the web browser's object model and writing code that works on all modern browsers.

Don't be intimidated if you've never written a line of code before! In typical Head First style, Head First JavaScript doesn't skip steps, and we're not interested in having you cut and paste code. You'll learn JavaScript, understand it, and have a blast along the way. So get ready... dynamic and exciting web pages are just pages away.

If you are expecting the same detailed, coherent, basics-to-details approach that has been so successful in other Head First publications, forget it. It's as if this book's authorship was outsourced to someone who is unaware of what has made Head First one of the premier names in technical education. Poor overview of basic concepts, rambling examples, confusing diagrams, etc. I own at least five other Head First publications and this one it not even close to them. Spend you money elsewhere.

This is a good "first book" on JavaScript. It's not nearly as good as the HF Java books, which clearly are the forte of the whole series. I have moved on to a more advanced JS book, but I felt this one really was a useful introduction that definitely made me feel better about wading in deeper. If you are looking for a decent kickboard and doggy paddle type of book that will keep you interested (and the rhino book can induce a coma), it's a good one. You'll get some DOM manipulation examples, basic form validation, and a handy introduction to object oriented JavaScript. I'm only giving it three stars because it's not one stop shopping, you will want to follow up with a more advanced book immediately after.

For the JavaScript beginner this was an easy to follow book with good exercises and explanations relating to things us non-computer geeks will recognize. The book also arrived on time and in excellent condition.

This is the best series of How To books that I have seen in a while. Great Book for those just beginning to learn HTML.

Having seen the Head First series in stores before and being superficially attracted to all of the promotional blurb about this style of learning being more suited to how the brain "really works", I have to say I really wanted this book to be good. However, after reading through the first few chapters of HFJS I'm inclined to believe that the style is not a good way to learn at all, to the extent that I've decided not to buy any more books in the series (I was planning on getting the C# and Ajax books if all went well with this one).

The whole affair brings to mind the state of education in general today, if I may digress. "Progressive" teaching methods are based on the idea that the formal, "stuffy" way of learning is inferior and that kids learn better sat around octagonal tables partaking collectively in interactive lessons that are crammed with bright colors, jokes and cartoons. Well, for all of the so-called "theory" that says this way of learning is better for kids, what are the results? I'm sorry, but the proof is in the pudding - kids are leaving school without the most basic intellectual skills, with a fuzzy idea of everything, with little structure or discipline, with the idea that accuracy and "getting it right" are not that important. In short, kids are getting dumber. So much for the hailed "progressive" method of learning.

And to be quite frank, this is the way I feel about this book. I'm not a complete beginner, being well versed in HTML, CSS and Python and with a basic understanding of C and LISP - so I was prepared to be a little "patronized" by the softly-softly approach. As it happens, throughout the book I was given to wondering just how on Earth a beginner was going to get a solid foundation in the basic concepts without being confused to the point where they would be inspired to give up altogether.

There are many examples I could give - a good one comes on page 79 when they introduce the "parseDonuts" function. They could have done a lot more to set down the basic structure and purpose of functions - for instance explaining the difference between formal and actual parameters - but they don't. The parseDonuts function is the first in the book to introduce the concept of returning a value, yet they make no reference to this at all here and just presume that the reader will work it out on their own. Of course to anyone who's familiar with another language, "return numDonuts;" will make perfect sense, but I'm not sure that this would not confuse a complete beginner to whom the basic concepts of coding have not yet solidified. A more formal text would also have outlined the concept of substitution to this end.

I turned over the page expecting a mention of the "return" statement at least in brief, but alas there were just more goofy pictures, a crossword, and then on to the next chapter.

Having read my fair share of programming manuals I feel that the most important qualities are accuracy, clarity, unambiguity, structure and readability. Sadly, this book falls short in those areas on a number of occasions. There is nothing worse when learning a programming language, in my opinion, than being confused in the early stages to the point where you're never confident about the foundations you're piling new material onto as you progress. Unfortunately in this book there are many opportunities for confusion, especially for the observant student who notices inconsistency and ambiguity in the text.

For example, on page 93 the author introduces the timer syntax. There are slanted code snippets to illustrate, one of which gives "refresh();" with a pointer indicating that it's purpose is to "refresh the web page". Yet on page 97 in the Q&A section, they reveal that the function to refresh a page is actually "reload()". Not only that, in using "refresh" as an example of an argument of "setTimeout()", not only do they not use parenthesis, as in "refresh()", but they also fail to pass the code in quotes, so what the reader sees is "setTimeout(refresh, 120000);". On the next page, they mention that the code must be passed as text in quotes. OK, so maybe they used "refresh" in the spirit of pseudocode, but the beginner is not going to know this and is liable to feel very unsure of what they're learning if they're observant enough to notice this stuff.

Another hugely important element of learning to program from a book is the act of following, and typing, examples on your own computer. You simply cannot expect to absorb the syntax, style and structure of programming without feeling it "under your own fingers" so to speak. This seems like a no-brainer. The problem with this book is, you're never actually sure when you're supposed to be entering code yourself, and the author gives you no clear indication of a hands-on "plot" to follow. In the chapter on the iRock for example, you're reminded on a number of occasions where to download the iRock graphic from the publishers website - but not within a solid context of actually typing the examples in yourself. This is hard to explain in a review but is something you'll see for yourself if you try the book. I contrasted this fuzzy approach with my experience with the excellent "Missing Manual" guide to CSS for example, in which half of every chapter is a "follow along at your computer" exercise which really does make you absorb and understand what's going on. Also, a vital part of learning is to complete practical exercises yourself. The best example I have come across is John Zelle's "Learning Python - and Introduction to Computer Science", a fantastic example of a book which teaches solid concepts formally while managing to be friendly and interesting. HFJS unfortunately limits itself to crosswords and "fill in the blanks" quizzes which fall far short of the kind of exercises needed to make a student confident about what they're learning.

While I understand the series' basic premise that the brain remembers material that is presented in an interesting way, I think they really do go too far in trying to be wacky and exciting. They've crossed the line from "interesting" into a murky territory in which structure and direction are sacrificed in favor of style. Sure, a picture of a tiger next to some code may help you remember that particular page - but is this really what we look back on when we try to recall later? When I think back to programming concepts I've learned, I picture them in the abstract state in which they exist in my head, and not on the page I originally learned them from. For this reason, I think the purpose of the book should be to make sure the information enters the brain in a structured, logical, accurate fashion - not to serve as a visual "reference" from which to recall things later. It's quite possible to be colorful and humorous and interesting without mixing things up all over the page, in my opinion.

Maybe I'm just too old for this style of learning at 35. Maybe the Head First series is really geared toward high school and college students with low attention spans, I don't know. But what I do know is that to me, programming is not a subject you can learn thoroughly by skimming through a fuzzy maze of vague, hinted at, non-concretes. I gave up on this book half way through because I felt it would actually do more harm than good to my understanding of JavaScript in the long run. I understand that not everyone is the same and that other people think these books are the bees knees, but they are not for me.

Ajax is no longer an experimental approach to website development, but the key to building browser-based applications that form the cornerstone of Web 2.0. Head First Ajax gives you an up-to-date perspective that lets you see exactly what you can do -- and has been done -- with Ajax. With it, you get a highly practical, in-depth, and mature view of what is now a mature development approach.

Using the unique and highly effective visual format that has turned Head First titles into runaway bestsellers, this book offers a big picture overview to introduce Ajax, and then explores the use of individual Ajax components -- including the JavaScript event model, DOM, XML, JSON, and more -- as it progresses. You'll find plenty of sample applications that illustrate the concepts, along with exercises, quizzes, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

Head First Ajax covers:

• The JavaScript event model
• Making Ajax requests with XMLHTTPREQUEST objects
• The asynchronous application model
• The Document Object Model (DOM)
• Manipulating the DOM in JavaScript
• Controlling the browser with the Browser Object Model
• XHTML Forms
• POST Requests
• XML Syntax and the XML DOM tree
• XML Requests & Responses
• JSON -- an alternative to XML
• Ajax architecture & patterns
• The Prototype Library

The book also discusses the server-side implications of building Ajax applications, and uses a "black box" approach to server-side components.

Head First Ajax is the ideal guide for experienced web developers comfortable with scripting -- particularly those who have completed the exercises in Head First JavaScript -- and for experienced programmers in Java, PHP, and C# who want to learn client-side programming.

I could not put this book down. I have a decent amount of experience with JavaScript and the DOM, etc., but I always thought of AJAX as something alien that would be difficult to understand. It turns out that this is just a different way of using what I already know. The book is very well organized and helps to make the concepts very understandable.

This was a well organized book to learn from. It presented the ideas in easily understood format with good examples and excercises. The book did a great job of explaining the concepts of .Net and OOPs in general so you can really understand what you are doing and wwhy. It didn't spend half time time (like most do) telling you it's like this in C or it's like this in Java. I would recommend this to anybody wanting to learn C#.

In a few minutes, Head First Ajax let you understand the basics of this technology without any trouble. It is a must have for anyone involved on the web development and programming

This book is for people who already know HTML very well and are familiar - but not necessarily experts - with CSS and Javascript. If you are not in that category you should probably check out "Head First HTML and CSS" first. This is not a reference book, but a book for understanding and, more importantly remembering Ajax via an unusual presentation style. That unusual presentation style includes fake interviews, lots of illustrations, and question and answer sessions. You are also presented several designs and shown the right and wrong ways to approach problems. Ajax requires a non-traditional approach to web application design, and head first books are always good at adjusting your thought process as painlessly as possible.

The topics covered include designing Ajax applications, Javascript events, multiple event handlers, asynchronous applications, the document object model and its manipulation, frameworks and toolkits, XML requests and responses, Javascript Standard Object Notation, forms and validations, post requests, leftovers, and utility functions.

I liked this book not only for its casual and fun presentation style, but because it starts explaining Ajax at the beginning and does not get confusing as you go forward. The author knows how to ramp up the difficulty level without you really noticing. Plus, you don't feel like you need half a dozen other books to understand what's going on. The author is clear in her explanation of what the book's limitations are.

Excellent product. Head First is a different type of technical writing. If you are looking for books with a lot of code examples this is not the one. But if you are looking for a book that will help you learn the actually concept, how AJAX works, then this is the one. I own multiple titles. They helped me learn C# when I was having trouble. Excellent in teaching. There are code examples such not a ton like other publishers.