Eric T. Freeman - Head First JavaScript Programming

Head First JavaScript Programming

Eric T. Freeman

Elisabeth Robson

Beijing Cambridge Farnham Kln Sebastopol Tokyo

To JavaScriptyou werent born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but youve outclassed every language thats challenged you in the browser.

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Praise for Head First JavaScript Programming

Warning: Do not read Head First JavaScript Programming unless you want to learn the fundamentals of programming with JavaScript in an entertaining and meaningful fashion. There may be an additional side effect that you may actually recall more about JavaScript than after reading typical technical books.

Jesse Palmer, Senior Software Developer, Gannett Digital

If every elementary and middle school student studied Elisabeth and Erics Head First HTML and CSS, and if Head First JavaScript Programming and Head First HTML5 Programming were part of the high school math and science curriculum, then our country would never lose its competitive edge.

Michael Murphy, senior systems consultant, The History Tree

The Head First series utilizes elements of modern learning theory, including constructivism, to bring readers up to speed quickly. The authors have proven with this book that expert-level content can be taught quickly and efficiently. Make no mistake here, this is a serious JavaScript book, and yet, fun reading!

Frank Moore, Web designer and developer

Looking for a book that will keep you interested (and laughing) but teach you some serious programming skills? Head First JavaScript Programming is it!

Tim Williams, software entrepreneur

Add this book to your library regardless of your programming skill level!

Chris Fuselier, engineering consultant

Robson and Freeman have done it again! Using the same fun and information-packed style as their previous books in the Head First series, Head First JavaScript Programming leads you through entertaining and useful projects that, chapter-by-chapter, allow programmerseven nonspecialists like myselfto develop a solid foundation in modern JavaScript programming that we can use to solve real problems.

Russell Alleen-Willems, digital archeologist, DiachronicDesign.com

Freeman and Robson continue to use innovative teaching methods for communicating complex concepts to basic principles.

Mark Arana, Strategy & Innovation, The Walt Disney Studios

This books admirable clarity, humor and substantial doses of clever make it the sort of book that helps even non-programmers think well about problem-solving.

Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing, Science Fiction author

I feel like a thousand pounds of books have just been lifted off of my head.

Ward Cunningham, inventor of the Wiki

One of the very few software books Ive ever read that strikes me as indispensable. (Id put maybe 10 books in this category, at the outside.)

David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University

I laughed, I cried, it moved me.

Daniel Steinberg, Editor-in-Chief, java.net

I can think of no better tour guides than Eric and Elisabeth.

Miko Matsumura, VP of Marketing and Developer Relations at Hazelcast Former Chief Java Evangelist, Sun Microsystems

I literally love this book. In fact, I kissed this book in front of my wife.

Satish Kumar

The highly graphic and incremental approach precisely mimics the best way to learn this stuff...

Danny Goodman, author of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Guide

Eric and Elisabeth clearly know their stuff. As the Internet becomes more complex, inspired construction of web pages becomes increasingly critical. Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of pragmatism and wit.

Ken Goldstein, former CEO of Shop.com and author of This is Rage: A Novel of Silicon Valley and Other Madness

Other OReilly books by Eric T. Freeman and Elisabeth Robson

Head First Design Patterns

Head First HTML and CSS

Head First HTML5 Programming

Other related books from OReilly

Head First HTML5 Programming

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

JavaScript Enlightenment

Other books in OReillys Head First series

Head First HTML and CSS

Head First HTML5 Programming

Head First Design Patterns

Head First Servlets and JSP

Head First SQL

Head First Software Development

Head First C#

Head First Java

Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOA&D)

Head First Ajax

Head First Rails

Head First PHP & MySQL

Head First Web Design

Head First Networking

Head First iPhone and iPad Development

Head First jQuery

Authors of Head First JavaScript Programming

Eric is described by Head First series co-creator Kathy Sierra as one of those rare individuals fluent in the language, practice, and culture of multiple domains from hipster hacker, corporate VP, engineer, think tank.

Professionally, Eric recently ended nearly a decade as a media company executivehaving held the position of CTO of Disney Online & Disney.com at The Walt Disney Company. Eric is now devoting his time to WickedlySmart, a startup he co-created with Elisabeth.

By training, Eric is a computer scientist, having studied with industry luminary David Gelernter during his Ph.D. work at Yale University. His dissertation is credited as the seminal work in alternatives to the desktop metaphor, and also as the first implementation of activity streams, a concept he and Dr. Gelernter developed.

In his spare time, Eric is deeply involved with music; youll find Erics latest project, a collaboration with ambient music pioneer Steve Roach, available on the iPhone app store under the name Immersion Station.

Eric lives with his wife and young daughter on Bainbridge Island. His daughter is a frequent vistor to Erics studio, where she loves to turn the knobs of his synths and audio effects.