Trevor Burnham - CoffeeScript: Accelerated JavaScript Development (Pragmatic)

JavaScript is born free, but until recently, everywhere it was in chains.

JavaScript had never been a very pleasant language to work in: terribly slow, implemented with different quirks in different browsers, stuck fast in the amber of time since the late 1990s. Perhaps you used it in the past to implement a dropdown menu or a reorderable list, but you probably didnt enjoy the experience.

Fortunately for us, the JavaScript of today is enjoying a well-deserved renaissance. Thanks to the tireless efforts of browser implementers, its now the fastest mainstream dynamic language; its present everywhere, from servers to Photoshop, and its the only possible language you can use to program all angles of the web.

CoffeeScript is a little language that aims to give you easy access to the good parts of JavaScript: the first-class functions, the hash-like objects, even the much-misunderstood prototype chain. If we do our job right, youll end up writing one-third less code in order to generate much the same JavaScript you would have written in the first place.

CoffeeScript places a high value on the readability of code and the elimination of syntactic clutter. At the same time, theres a fairly one-to-one correspondence between CoffeeScript and JavaScript, which means that there should be no performance penaltyin fact, many JavaScript libraries end up running faster after being ported to CoffeeScript due to some of the optimizations the compiler can perform.

Youre fortunate to have picked up this book, because Trevor has been an enthusiastic contributor to CoffeeScript since the early days. Few people know more about the ins and outs of the language or the history of the debate behind language features and omissions than he does. This book is a gentle introduction to CoffeeScript led by an expert guide.

Im looking forward to hearing about all of the exciting projects that Im sure will come out of it, andwho knowsperhaps youll be inspired to create a little language of your very own.

CoffeeScript is a young language. But from the start, its drawn an exceptionally diverse and spirited crowd. That wonderful energyon IRC, GitHub, Hacker News, blogs, Twitter, and elsewhereis what inspired me to write this book. To everyone who greeted CoffeeScript with enthusiasm in its infancy, I thank you.

Thanks, of course, to Jeremy Ashkenas for creating the language and contributing a generous foreword to this book; CoffeeScript could not have asked for a better BDFL. Thanks also to CoffeeScripts other contributors, who are too numerous to name here.

Thanks to the technical reviewersany remaining errors are completely and utterly my bad. I received helpful feedback from Javier Collado, Kevin Gisi, Darcy Laycock, Scott Leberknight, Sam Stephenson, Travis Swicegood, Federico Tomassetti, Stefan Turalski, and Dr. Nic Williams. Special shout-outs to Jeremy Ashkenas (again) and Michael Ficarra, core contributors to the CoffeeScript project who took time from their busy schedules to set me straight on many of the languages finer points. Thanks also to Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, who graciously clarified several points.

Thanks to the Pragmatic Bookshelf crowd. First and foremost to Michael Swaine, whom Im proud to call my editor. Thanks also to managing editor Susannah Pfalzer and to bigwigs Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt for taking a chance on a book on a lesser-known language from an even less-known author.

Thanks, finally, to Scott and Teresa Burnham, more commonly referred to by me and at least two other people as Dad and Mom. Their support, and their example, has been valuable beyond measure.