Product Description
Updated to cover ASP 3.0 and IIS 5.0, ASP in a Nutshell provides the high-qualityreference documentation that web application developers really need to create effective Active Server Pages. It focuses on how features areused in a real application and highlights little-known orundocumented features.The main components covered in this book are:

Active Server Pages IntroductionObject ReferenceComponent ReferenceAppendixes

Topics covered:

ASP overview Application of ASP objects ASPError ObjectContext Request Response Server Session Global.ASA Installable components (ActiveX Data Objects 2.6) Ad Rotator Browser capabilities CDO for Windows NT

Content linking Content Rotator Counters File access Logging utility MyInfo Page counter Permission checking Tools Converting CGI/WinCGI applications ASP on other platforms Configuring IIS

... Read more

Customer Reviews (61)

Excellent ASP reference book
This is an excellent companion book to 'Professional Active Server Pages'. Like most O'Reilly Nutshell texts, this book is designed more as a reference aid, rather than a learning text. If you buy both the Professional ASP tome, and this reference guide, you've bought everything you need for ASP.

Excellent book!
As a student in college, I want to learn some advanced web programming language. I found this book is very helpful for beginner. I also get a discount from couponsky.com when buying this book. This book is not only useful for beginner's studying, you also can take it as reference after you finish the studying. I recommend this book to the beginners in ASP.

Good reference and code samples, but...
Somewhat in a rush and while trying to learn ASP I purchased this book.I thought it was aweful and it collected dust for nearly 6 months while I searched elsehwere to boot myself up on ASP.However, now that I'm fairly proficient at ASP, this book has been helpful as a reference.No so much for the actual reference value but becasue the sample code helps put things in perspective.

Best book to brush up ASP concepts before moving to ASP.NET
I was an ASP programmer several years ago after which I moved to a different technology. Now, I need to come to speed on .NET, but unfortunately all the ASP.NET books make innumerous references to the old ASP which I have almost forgotten.

The book helped me *VERY* quickly go through ASP 3.0 and now I feel very comfortable reading the .NET books and can now truly appreciate ASP.NET.

A GREAT reference book!

Needs a VBScript/JScript book to complement it...
Be warned, if like I did, you think that this is the only book you'll need to be able to build ASP scripts; you're very much mistaken. Whenever I recommend this book, I always recommend it alongside VBScript in a Nutshell as you really need knowledge of an ASP supported scripting language before you can use ASP in a Nutshell to it's full potential!

This is yet another reference book that I've owned both editions of because I thought it was useful enough to update; but then, my site is developed using ASP, so I'm probably biased in this respect. Ok, so I got the 1st Edition late on in the game and was a little reluctant to part with cash for the new edition - but as IIS 5 started to become standard for Windows hosting, and I had access to it after getting Windows XP Pro... I thought it was about time I updated it.

ASP in a Nutshell is my first point of reference when I'm looking up the properties of a particular ASP object. I've also found it an invaluable guide for connecting and manipulating ASP scripts that used ADO for data storage and manipulation. For a while it was the only book I owned that covered the issue of connecting ASP scripts to databases.

Most of the installable components I'd never heard of before getting the book, just as well really because few are of much use - even if they aren't available on your system, a lot can be easily reproduced. The areas I find myself most frequently refering to are the main set of ASP objects, the FileSystem Object and the ActiveX Data Objects. These go into enough detail to keep all but the experienced programmers happy.

For those new to the Windows scene, there is a brief but detailed guide to setting up ASP to work with your IIS server; but it's hardly rocket science since a clean install of IIS will set up most (if not all) of what you need anyway! If you use ASP regularly, or you intend to, then ASP in a Nutshell should be on your desktop... but please remember it won't fulfill all your ASP development needs without another book to fill in the language gaps. What book you choose to accompany it depends on your language and experience... I personally like VBScript in a Nutshell. ... Read more

Product Description
"Bruce is a walking encyclopedia of every good, bad, solid, and wacky language idea that has been tried... This is a book that only Bruce could have written."
--Jeffrey Snover, from the Foreword

"The nuances of PowerShell from the lead language designer himself! Excellent content and easy readability!
--Keith Hill, Software Architect

"I love this book!"
--Scott Hanselman ComputerZen.com

PowerShell replaces cobbled-together assemblies of third-party management tools with an elegant programming language and a powerful scripting shell for the Windows environment. In the tradition of Manning's ground breaking "In Action" series, this book comes from right from the source. Windows PowerShell in Action shows you how to build scripts and utilities to automate system tasks or create powerful system management tools to handle the day-to-day tasks that drive a Windows administrator's life. Because it's based on the .NET platform, PowerShell is also a powerful tool for developers and power users.

Windows PowerShell in Action was written by Bruce Payette, one of the founding members of the Windows PowerShell team, co-designer of the PowerShell language and the principal author of the PowerShell language implementation. The book enables you to get the most out of the PowerShell environment. Using many examples, both small and large, this book illustrates the features of the language and environment and shows how to compose those features into solutions, quickly and effectively.

This book is designed for anyone who wants to learn PowerShell and use it well. Rather than simply being a book of recipes to read and apply, this book gives you the deep knowledge about how PowerShell works and how to apply it ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Excellent coverage of the spirit of PowerShell, good examples, falls short as reference.
Because the book is written by a core member of the PowerShell team, it has a lot of nice insights as to why PS works as it does and plenty of practical examples to jump start your use of it.The writing is clear and witty for a tech book.I would give it 5 stars but it is not a great reference as it is not written to be one and the index falls a little short.

The Index Needs Work
Overall, I was happy with this book.The text is approachable yet fairly complete.One thing that drives me crazy, though, is the terrible index.I hope it's improved in the second edition.

Example: Suppose you want to look up the Get-Member cmdlet. The index has an entry for "get-member" (page 221), then for "Get-Member cmdlet" (pages 253, 299, 305), and finally "Get-Members cmdlet" (page 133).

Powershell is not case-sensitive, so "get-member" and "Get-Member" are identical.Meanwhile there is no "Get-Members" (with an 's') cmdlet.All of these should be a single index entry for "Get-Members cmdlet."I'm not positive, but I suspect the index creation was partially automated, and not carefully proofread.

Great Book
PowerShell is a language that tries to be everything to everybody, so
it's full of both cool features and dark corners. But you can write a
good book about any language, and "Windows PowerShell In Action" is
pretty good. It does suffer from a minor glitch: like the language,
the book tries to be everything to everybody. This is perhaps not
surprising, since the book was written by one of the key designers of
the language.

In the end, the book is great for someone who wants to become an
expert PowerShell user. If you, like me, are interested more in the
design of the language and its innovative features than in
practicalities, you may be somewhat disappointed. That information is
in the book, but the wonderful tidbits are hidden in unexpected
places, so you really have to read the whole thing cover-to-cover,
which involves skimming over a lot of stuff you probably don't care
about.

But let me repeat: as a way to learn PowerShell, this book is
well-organized and presents just the right level of detail. Once you
read it, you will know what you are doing.

One of my more used books
I bought this book back in 2007, as I was curious about powershell - which was version 1 at the time and this book was a key book to understanding it.

I got a few books on powershell, and the style of this book at first seemed very choppy, but as I learned more about the language it became more understandable the way things were done in this book. The author has so much information about the way that the language was developed that it made certain things distracting.

I have seen the author on the MSDN Channel 9 video's and that also probably helped me understand how the author voices things in a certain way.

The book is very useful, and the most dogeared of my powershell books. There are better style books out there (for version 1).
Now with Powershell 2.0 there will be a new batch of books, and I understand that the author is working on a 2nd edition for Powershell 2.0.

There is a lot to powershell, and it presents a learning curve, but you will find that the time invested will bring a payoff. It feels like a swiss army knife for admins and developers. This book may give nuances to the language you might not find in other books. So I definitely would recommend this book, more so if it is a 2nd edition - for Powershell 2.0.

Learning Powershell
I am new to Powershell and I found the book easy to understand and follow. Great work! ... Read more

Product Description
This book, for advanced Access users or keen intermediate users, detailsthe two Access object models, with code samples to use in VBA and/orVBScript. It will be *the* reference guide VB developers reach for whenworking with data in Access tables or when manipulating componentsof the Access interface from other Office applications. An understanding of object models is essential for developers when workng with data in Access tables or when manipulating components ofthe Access interface from other Office applications. The Data AccessObjects (DAO) model is used to write and read data in Access tables.The Access object model is used to manipulate forms, reports, queries,macros, and other components of the Access interface, including most ofthe commands by means of the DoCmd object. This book includes an introduction and a brief description of thedifferences between VBA (used in most Office apps) and VBScript(used in Outlook). The rest of the book is divided into two parts, one on the Access Object Model, the other on the Data Access Objects(DAO). Each section includes a description of what the object represents;listings of properties, events, and methods; and one or more code samplesillustrating its use in VBA and/or VBScript code. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Helen fails to REFRESH an old topic
This book does not serve its purpose as a definitive reference.I was able to read it cover to cover in an hour or so while sitting in an airport and found nothing remarkable - the striking part is that the book dismissesobjects, methods and properties which the author does not understand orhave experience with.REFRESH, for example (which is treated dismissivelyin the book) must be used in order to refresh a changed collection in amulti-user environment or update a collection in a rapidly changingsingle-user environment, or the field that you expected to be gone willstill appear; or the table that you just built using DAO won't be in thecollection.

I was disappointed that Oreilly allowed such a book to bepublished.I had concerns about the author's technical ability before thebook was published.Oreilly should have had these same reservations.

It is a little late for a book on DAO, is it not?
We are certainly at a point where Microsoft would prefer for people to believe the DAO is in fact DOA (dead on arrival). While it is naive to believe every marketing nugget that comes out of Microsoft, a referencebook on DAO at this point seems a little late, doesn't it? Sort of like ifO'Reilly put out an OS/2 reference book tomorrow.

Once you get past theskepticism about the timing, the book itself has some issues. I perused itat the bookstore using my "10 minute rule" (browse the book forten minutes, refuse to buy it if you find ten mistakes in that time). Iwill not give the exact count of mistakes I found, but I'll go so far as tosay that it failed the test, and failed worse than any book in recentmemory. I won't get into specifics since I am not Ms. Feddema's technicaleditor, but I'll tell you that if you decide to purchase the book, makesure you skip anything related to replication or security. Online help forDAO is far from perfect, but in this case help has fewer mistakes!

Movingpast what is there that is wrong, there is much that is not covered thatone would expect in anything titled a "definitive guide" such asthis. None of the sort-of hidden methods that have been documented inplaces like the Jet Engine programmer's Guide and elsewhere (PrivDBEngine,ISAMStats, etc.) are even mentioned. It does not talk about any high endissues such as thread safety. It does not really discuss security in anyusable way (and security is the one thing you will need DAO for if youstill use it since ADO/ADOx don't do the job right now!). Transactionprocessing is not discussed in depth. VBScript is "covered" butsince VBScript's best host is ASP, where DAO is not safe to use since it isnot thread safe, this discussion is incomplete to say the least (I assumethis discussion comes from Ms. Feddema's Outlook experience,but ingeneral ADO is definitely the preferred VBScript data access method). Myfavorite Jet topic (replication) is "covered" but in an incorrectmanner that will keep it from being useful.

The book ends up being amediocre reiteration of basic DAO knowledge, and that is something that isin my opinion at least 30 months too late.

An excellent resource and reference book
To say that this book is useful is an understatement. It combines in one compact volume a complete and understandable reference to DAO which now never leaves my side (even a bedside read!). Most of the references are punctuated with code samples written in such a neat way that it makes myown coding look cumbersome and tortuous. The book is worth buying for thecode examples alone. Helen's book is enabling me to write succinct, directcode and to expand my knowledge and use of the DAO object

I have yet to go wrong with an O'Reilly book.
O'Reilly needs to have a color of book for those books which fit between Nutshell books, and what I like to call the "learning books" (ie. "Access Database programming and design").This book would beone of those books.

I don't think I could learn DAO from this book.Ifirst realized DAO's potential from reading Steven Roman's Access DatabaseDesign & Programming.However, if you realize the capabilities of DAOand are ready to move on to the next level, then this is the book that youneed.While the nutshell books are good "ticklers" (you justneed to know the syntax), they don't go into a whole lot of depth.This isthe book you need when you are thinking "there IS a way to programthis, but what is it?". After you have mastered DAO, and just need a"tickler", then you can graduate to DAO in a Nutshell... wheneverthat comes out.

I have used this book many times when I knew that DAOcould do the job, but, I needed a little bit more background info than justthe syntax.

More Reference than How-to Book
This book covered the most I've seen on DAO.It does not cover ADO at all, but mentions that another book covering ADO is in the works.The book is really a reference book, listing out each and every command.It worksbest as a lookup for specific commands.If you need to learn DAO getanother book, but once your into it and get into trouble, this book mightjust help. ... Read more

Product Description
In Programming ASP.NET, Jesse Liberty and Dan Hurwitz teach you everything you need to know to write web applications and web service applications using both C# and Visual Basic .NET.With a detailed tutorial on Web Forms, it allows you to apply Rapid Application Development techniques (including drag-and-drop control placement) to web development. This book includes extensive coverage of each type of server control, including web server controls, HTML server controls, and custom controls.Programming ASP.NET also offers extensive coverage of data access issues, including topics such as using ASP.NET's list-bound controls; accessing data using the ADO.NET object model, and updating data with or without transaction support.Programming ASP.NET then goes on to discuss such advanced topics as caching and performance, security, and configuration and deployment. The ASP.NET technologies are so complete and flexible; your main difficulty may lie simply in weaving the pieces together for maximum efficiency. Programming ASP.NET shows you how to do just that.Amazon.com Review
Suitable for most any programmer who wants to master ASP.NET with an eye toward real-world development, Programming ASP.NET is an excellent resource that mixes good coverage of APIs with actual programming techniques and advice using Visual Basic .NET and C#. The combination places it in the forefront of currently available titles on ASP.NET.

Written in part by veteran computer author Jesse Liberty, this book offers an excellent mix of coverage of important ASP.NET features that you will absolutely need to use for real-world programming. Readers with previous ASP experience will appreciate early sections that compare an older ASP sample with the new ASP.NET to highlight what's new and improved, with good explanation of the ASP.NET event model. The pace of this book is just excellent. The authors first move through the essentials, like basic ASP Web controls and data binding, before delving into data-driven applications using the (slightly complicated) ASP.NET database APIs. It also helps that the authors let you use Notepad (or another text editor) to create your ASP.NET programs first. (Later, they cover the details of Visual Studio .NET, pointing out how this tool can sometimes make it difficult to see where your code is generated.) There's also coverage of debugging and tracing techniques.

Standout sections on the calendar, Repeater, DataList, and DataGrid controls (all presented in good detail) will help you master these important controls. Coverage of techniques and support for validating user input in Web pages will also help you use these essential features.

The author's well-measured tutorial on Web services (much touted by Microsoft) is as good as any. Their demos (using a well-traveled example of a stock ticker server) will show you what all the fuss is about. They cut through the hype here and manage to show why Web services are a potentially better way toward distributed computing. Later sections look at deployment, configuration, and performance (as well as caching) options that you'll need to deploy and run your ASP.NET programs successfully. Coverage of security options in .NET rounds out the tour of what you'll need to create real applications.

Illustrated throughout with samples from VB .NET and C#, Programming ASP.NET is a worthy addition to the O'Reilly lineup and one of the best available titles for learning ASP.NET. The authors have achieved an excellent balance of practical, hands-on examples and essential programming techniques with the most important APIs and features, all without getting bogged down in the richness and complexity of .NET itself. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to the .NET platform and ASP.NET; basic programs in HTML; ASP and ASP.NET compared; events in ASP.NET (application, session, page, and control events); HTML and ASP controls compared; basic ASP controls APIs (including in-depth coverage of calendar support); code behind forms; using the Visual Studio .NET IDE; tracing, debugging, and error handling; validation controls in ASP.NET (including built-in and custom validators, plus regular expression support); basic data-binding techniques; list and DataGrid controls; ADO.NET tutorial (basic APIs and programming techniques); calling stored procedures; updating database records; Repeater and DataList controls used with ADO.NET; custom ASP.NET controls (including derived, composite, and full custom controls); overview of Web services (including SOAP, WSDL, and other standards); creating and consuming a sample Web service for a stock ticker; ASP.NET caching techniques explained (including fragment and object caching); security options in ASP.NET for authentication, authorization, and impersonation; configuration and deployment options in ASP.NET (including XCOPY deployment); and an appendix with a quick tutorial on database design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (84)

Good books with detail information
I am new to ASP.NET and this book is good start with all the details required by a starter.

NO SOURCE CODE SUPPORT
Good Content, 3rd Edition lacks Example Source Code on his website (Only 2nd Edition and new ASP.NET 3.5 is available).

If you want to learn ASP.NET 2.0 using this book seriously you probably need to do lots of typing.

Illustrations and pictures are not that straightforward, you need to imagine a lot before getting your hands dirty in VS 2005.

Great Reference and Learning Title
Just as any good large technical book should do, this gives a pretty good reference of all the basic controls and how to perform basic operations.This is also it's only fault, as it spends a lot of time on the simple controls, and not enough time on the more complex concepts.

It's good for reference though, as it does contain a good amount of content to do most anything in ASP.This title is good for the beginner ASP as it covers simple to complex tasks fairly thoroughly.After you've absorbed most of this book, you might find yourself looking for more, and I've mostly found Google useful to add-in the pieces missing from this book.Overall I recommend this for any ASP guru who needs a refresher every now and then.

Subpar Liberty book
I am a big fan of Jesse Liberty books and rate him as one of the best and more experienced tech writers around, but this book is definitely not up to his excellent standard. To be more precise, the book starts out very well, with and introduction to the basic control of ASP.NET illustrated by many clear examples, and the only complaint I have about the first part of the book is that I would have loved to see the two chapters that he devote to webapp structure and configuration right at the start of the book. I think it would have given a clear picture of what one is doing with all those pages and controls and why things are the way they are. The second part of the book is where I was expecting to find more complete and advanced examples on how to build and configure a "real - life " web application, but here is where the book fails miserably. The chapters on ADO can be defined as confusing at best, and the remaining chapters are either a sequence of instructions fitter more to a "build a website visually for dummies" title, or missing crucial information. I have been also very annoyed by the organization of the example code. Every, and I say every example is in the format of a single website, and to make things worse these websites are not organized by chapter number but just by name.
It really looks like the kind of book a smart and experienced tech author could write after studying the documentation throughly but having no real experience with the subject in practice. I think I understand why.. even I find myself more interested in the foundations of a technology on language structure and on general CS subjects than in the structure of the Nth API or Framwork, but still I don't go about writing books on them!
So, a somewhat decent book, especially considering the low general quality standard of ASP books, but nothing to be enthusiastic about.

Clearing up misconceptions
This book is a C# book.The reviews here, along with Amazon's own review, are referring to one of the previous editions where VB.NET code samples were included.

When deciding to buy this book, or not, be wary of the reviews that were posted before the publication date.I can see that this situation has already caused others some grief. ... Read more

Product Description
Developers of Active Server Pages often reinvent the wheel, creating a distinct ASP page each time they think they need one. Often times, these pages are functionally similar. With intelligent planning, an ASP developer stands to save a great deal of time by creating reusable ASP pages. Designing Active Server Pages is tailor-made for these developers.There is currently a plethora of Active Server Pages books. However, the vast majority of these books are either technical references or how-to books for beginners. Our book is designed for the intermediate to advanced user. Furthermore, nearly every other book on ASP focuses on using VBScript, even though ASP supports an array of scripting languages, including JScript and PerlScript. Designing Active Server Pages shows how to start using these other languages.Designing Active Server Pages is for developers who have already mastered the basics of ASP application development and are ready to take the next logical step. It is sure to become an indispensable part of every web developer's library.Amazon.com Review
Designing Active Server Pages provides an important tool for often-overworked ASP programmers: a set of techniques for making the wisest use of the technology in a production environment. Targeting an audience of readers who already are seasoned in ASP, author Scott Mitchell explores techniques for producing "reusable and robust ASP applications."

Presentation and example compose the approach here, with concise tables of information and descriptions that make the book a fast read. Mitchell explores the benefits of the VBScript 5.0 scripting engine, and illustrates how to exploit the new RegExp object fully and build object-oriented code by using VBScript classes--another welcome addition to the coding platform. ASP programmers will find techniques for which they've been longing, such as centralized error-handling pages and reusable database administration forms.

Creation of and best practices for implementing COM components, useful standard components (like the Content Linker and AdRotator), and third-party components (such as ASPEncrypt and SA-FileUp) are discussed. Designing Active Server Pages doesn't stop with mere descriptions of these components, but also provides solutions for common needs, such as uploading files to binary fields in Microsoft SQL Server and sending encrypted e-mail.

With its advanced techniques and practical perspective, this book is perfect for those who look to stay on the cutting edge of ASP programming. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

• Choosing a server-side scripting language
• Exception handling
• Regular expressions
• Building reusable forms
• Reusable database administration pages
• COM overview
• Lesser-known Microsoft COM components
• Important third-party COM components

Customer Reviews (33)

Excellent Book
This book is very helpful if you want to learn advanced ASP programming techniques. After I bought a basic ASP programming book with discount through couponsky.com, I also bought this book. I found this book teach reader a lot of ASP programming tricks. It is very useful if you want to learn some advanced ASP techniques. I recommend this book to people who already has some basic ASP knowledge.

Disappointing
I am sorry. In my opinion this book is a waste of paper. I have
tried to find some answers to simple questions
about ASP in this book. Things concerning little
things one might forget and you want to look up.
After a few times using the book in this way it's clear this book tells us little useful things. Even free (digital/psd) manuals on ASP are a lot more useful. After
buying this book from amazon it went quite quickly to a dump shop, sorry...

Excellent Book
Scott Mitchell is an excellent author. I love his articeles on 4GuysFromRolla.com. I am freelance internet consultant and have used most of the examples in this book in one form or another.

Highly recommended for up and coming "Advanced" ASP developers.

Excellent work, but please organize the sample code
This VERY young author has done something seasoned technical writers twice his age have not often done: written an extremely useful, information and well thought out book, with plenty of implementable examples, and all in a book of less than 350 pages. It so often seems that these kinds of books suffer from "mission creep", and hence bloat into the 1500-page monsters we so often see. Because he was able to keep the scope of his task clearly in mind, he also provides a thorough "Further Reading" section at the end of each chapter, where he provides links to a number of on-line articles. (Yes, you could find these yourself, but how great that a professional in the field has taken the time to find them seek them out for you -- and I was glad all that extra stuff wasn't in the book itself.)

The one complaint I have is that the source code for this book, which you can download from the O'Reilly site, is a chaotic, inextricable mess of files with arbitrary names that are impossible to link to any specific examples in the book (I wouldn't mind that the file names are arbitrary, if he told you in the book which file a given example was associated with -- but no luck there). Really inexcusable.

Program Design for ASP
I have around 20 titles in my personal library which focus directly or indirectly on ASP.This is simply the best.It isn't an introduction to the language -- there are several good ones for that -- it is more about using sound program design methodology to accomplish some of the more complex tasks facing ASP programmers, such as content management systems, reusable forms, and eCommerce.

If you have any programming experience in other languages and are moving to ASP, get this book.If you are just learning what an Active Server Page is, then it is not for you, but if you plan to do anything more than fairly simple pages in ASP, get it, even if you don't think you're ready for advanced stuff.

Scott gives good examples, clear explanations, and lays out methodology that will help you no matter what your level of experience. It's one of the best bargains out there in technical books. ... Read more

Product Description

Consisting of 24 one-hour lessons, Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, is divided into five sections that guide the reader through the language from the basics to advanced functions. The first section of the book teaches the fundamentals of PHP. And then, sections two through four shows the reader how to apply that knowledge in order to interact with the user by creating and managing forms, cookies and authentication. It also teaches how to access databases and how to integrate system components, e-mail, LDAP, network sockets and much more.

Customer Reviews (17)

The best PHP primer
This is not a PHP programming book. This book will teach you about the very basics of PHP syntax and structure and while it will not get you anywhere near proficiency, it will give you a very solid, albeit simple, foundation from which to continue. With literally thousands of included functions and thousands more specialized functions available for all forms of tasks, PHP is a rich and subtle language not easily learned in a hurry. This book will provide the foundation to continue exploring the language in a very straight forward and understandable presentation.

For example, the book covers arrays with 19 sections which gives a good knowledge base and allows the beginner to begin to use these incredibly useful entities but it doesn't come close to the available 77 array functions contained within the language. Or the 21 string functions covered in the book versus the 97 functions available in the language.

Anybody interested in learning PHP will also want to bookmark [...] as the definitive source of information regarding the language.

While knowledge of HTML/XHTML is not needed to learn PHP the typical usage of PHP will require a good understanding of markup languages and knowledge of HTTP will go a long way to making your life easier too. Because of PHP's versatility, the successful programmer will soon be learning SQL and XML to name only two.

I encourage any beginning PHP programmer to buy this book for the basics. To glimpse PHP programming issues, I would refer you to 'PHP Solutions: Dynamic web design made easy' by David Powers from Friends of Ed as the next step in you education.

PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy

Sam's Teach Yourself:PHP
Overall I believe the book is pretty good at teaching the language.But I must admit, I was pretty confused and still haven't resolved the problem on how to construct a server, which is instructed in Chapter 2.But when it comes to the coding itself, its very understandable, it explains what each code means and tells you your options.But I do wish it gave answers to the exercises it gives at the end of the chapters.

Great reference, ok learning tool
When i bought this book, i already knew console based C++, so this isn't my first plunge into programming.I didn't, however, have a lick of PHP knowledge.

As a learning tool, it is ok.The first few chapters are very easy to learn.However, about 1/3-1/2 the way through the book, the learning curve steepens.The concepts become harder to grasp, but if you have had some programming in the past, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Now that i have learned PHP, mostly from this book, but also from the php.net website as well as some forums (forums.devshed.com has a great developer forum), this book is a great reference.It is well indexed, and if I happen to forget something, i can look it up very quickly.If the book doesn't have it, i can usually find it on the php website or on forums.

I'd also like to comment on another review before this one,
on T. Sagert "whambulance"'s post.This isn't a ""no programming needed" beginner MySQL" as this ISN'T A MYSQL BOOK!

Teaches authors they can publish a book (only)
Well, after reading the reviews on EVERY "no programming needed" beginner MySQL book available on Amazon.com, I am convinced NONE of them teach a "beginner" anything. Commodore language was my "beginner" programming, but decided to pick it up again.

One thing this book and ALL of these books dont tell you is WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE CODE ONCE YOU WRITE IT? WHERE THE HELL DOES IT GO?

After two years of on-and-off study, I still dont know anything, I just have a stack of books rotting in the garage ready for the next 25-cent rummage sale.

It worked for me
I have a small shelf filled with PHP books. They all helped me a little bit (perhaps I'm just a slow learner.) But it wasn't until I worked through the 24 lessons in this book that I finally began to feel that I was getting a firm grip on the fundamentals of writing solid PHP code. This is the book that turned me from a bumbling amateur to someone on a respectable intermediate level, completely comfortable with reading through more advanced books on PHP (books that go beyond the usual: "here's how to build a simple shopping cart.")

If you're starting out with PHP, I'd recommend that you start with this book of 24 lessons. By the end you'll actually feelcompetent and that you are sure-footedly headed toward the goal of mastery! ... Read more

Product Description
A hands-on journey takes you through the development process of a Web application from concept to production

ASP.NET MVC is a new Web development framework created by Microsoft as an alternative to ASP.NET web forms applications. MVC is well suited to testability, and Test Driven Development (TDD) affords you a generous level of control while also making MVC very powerful and extensible. This book takes the ASP.NET MVC and combines it with a testing methodology and tools and guides you through the process of taking Web application from concept to production.

Using a complete working sample application that demonstrates all the tools needed to build an e-commerce Web application, the popular Problem – Design – Solution format gradually introduces you to new alternative tools, frameworks, and methodologies to get you started creating cutting-edge Web applications.

• ASP.NET MVC is Microsoft's hot new Web development framework to use as an alternative to ASP.NET Web forms applications
• Use the popular Problem – Design – Solution recipe and encourages you to get involved with developing a Web application from concept to production
• Introduces new alternative tools, frameworks, and methodologies, such as nUnit and Inversion of Control containers
• Shows you how to use open source JavaScript libraries and work with a mocking framework

As you work with all facets of Web application development-requirements, design, testing, deployment, beta releases, refactoring, tool, and framework selection-you will have developed a live Web application by the time the book is finished.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Far, far too many errors in the code
I had to give up on this book because it contains far, far too many errors in the code.

Great way to learn ASP.NET MVC
What I liked most about this book was the "documentary" format.I was able to learn quite a bit about [...], TDD, Inversion of Control and even some jQuery by building the book's EvenContact project chapter by chapter.Having the downloaded source code available for comparison was key.There were some differences between the printed code blocks and the downloaded code.While some readers might see this an issue, I found that the process of figuring out these differences contributed greatly to my understanding of how all the pieces fit together.Great job Emad and thank you for saving me so much time coming up the [...] MVC and TDD learning curves!

problem - design - solution
Not a book for a novice or someone not familiarity with ASP.NET development.Found it hard to get through the book.Although the book isn't hard in itself, I just didn't find the style interesting.This is all personal and someone else might have a completely different reaction to the book.

The author chooses to use MbUnit, Ninject, Moq, and jQuery.Having not use MbUnit, Ninject and Moq before it did add to the learning curve.If you like these tools, or want to become more familiar with them this would be a good book.Preferring to use other tools I did not get as much out of the book as could be gotten.

If the reader likes the tools the author uses this could be a very good book for them.Although MVC 2.0 was just release, so the reader might want to wait for an undated book.

A nice hands-on lesson on MVC and TDD.
This book is a nice way to become familiar with Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC Framework and Test Driven Development (TDD) all at once. The author weaves TDD concepts and other development best practices into the MVC development process.

The author's writing style is easy to digest and follow and the book is short and to the point. Background concepts are not discuessed in too much depth, just enough to provide a enough understanding to 'get' what is being built (and why). Recent .NET Framework features such as LINQ to SQL and Extension Methods are used throughout the book, as are many core ASP.NET features including Master Pages and the Membership provider. JavaScript libraries discussed in the book are jQuery and Yahoo's YUI.

If you want to expand your web development knowledge and learn ASP.NET MVC and TDD along the way, I recommend picking up a copy.

TDD (Test Driven Development) introduction

The author seems to be well versed with TDD and explains the concept very well. He starts off with a high level design and slowly introduces us to different layers like Service layer, Validation layer, Repository layer as we go along from one chapter to another. In between the author introduces the MVC way of programming and how it differs from the WebForms way of programming - but assumes the reader already is aware of MVC as not much time is spent explaining MVC as this is a book more about TDD than MVC. (You can read different books which do a much better job of introducing to MVC than this one)

The book shows enough coding to make the reader understand what is going on (kind of gives the big picture) - but I would recommend that the reader download the sources (the author provides a link where you can download the source) and look to get finer details. The author makes sure that he is using MbUnit which is freely available for his unit test - though he briefly explains the other choices one could use.

The system the author is trying to develop is a message creation web site which has contact management and the ability to send emails to multiple contacts. The system has both client side validation (using Javascript library JQuery) and server side validation (using validation layer). The author explains how even if the client side validation is disabled the server side takes care of validation.

I would recommend this book if you don't know what TDD is and how to get started on it.

PROS : Flow is simple to understand what is happening.

CONS : A separate appendix explaining about the individual tools used would have given a much better reader experience.

... Read more

Product Description
Guides you through all aspects of JavaScript, details the construction of the language and shows how to implement JavaScript on your Web pages. Teaches expert techniques for writing Java applets that can be used with JavaScript. Paper. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Horrible reference.
This book's coverage of JavaScript is spotty at best.Not even close to being worth the trees it took to print this thing.

This is philosophy not code!
This book is a total waste of money if you are seriouly thinking about programming in JavaScript.It doesn't have good examples in fact not once in the book does it even give an example of how to do a roll-over. Ithought complete meant complete.This is a waste of money look toward WROXPress or O'Reily.

This is philosophy not code!
This book is a total waste of money if you are seriouly thinking about programming in JavaScript.It doesn't have good examples in fact not once in the book does it even give an example of how to do a roll-over. Ithought complete meant complete.This is a waste of money look toward WROXPress or O'Reily.

Great book for novice, intermediate or advanced user!
This is definately a great choice for anyone trying to learn, continue to learn, or master JavaScript.This book can be considered a tool.With several examples in every chapter and definitions, this book has been realuseful to me. As a webmaster on the net, and a person who has learned theprogramming on his own, I strongly would reccommend this book to all!

A very scattered introduction to JavaScript
It is apparent by looking at the cover of this book how many topics (19 in all) it attempts to cover. However, even a book as lengthy as this one (~ 950 pgs.) simply cannot thoroughly cover all of these subjects. If the book is about JavaScript, it should focus on JavaScript, why is there a Java tutorial? Where did VBScript and Active X come into the picture? Granted, there are not many things the book leaves out, it all seemed extremely scattered and there were very few chapters I left feeling that I had a solid understanding of the JavaScript within them. For instance, in the stylesheets chapter (why there even is one, I'm not sure) there are the two approaches, CSS and JSSS presented. It then proceeds to waste 80% of the chapter on CSS when this is a JavaScript book and the focus should have been on JavaScript stylesheets. It also said very little about how JavaScript can interact with stylesheets. In short, if you are a web beginner looking to get an introduction to a variety of web design topics, I recommend this book. If you are a serious web designer who wants to learn JavaScript basics and advanced functions, keep looking. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete guide to creating interactive Web pages using the Perl CGI.pm library from its creator.

Official Guide to Programming with CGI.pm contains all the information about CGI.pm found in Perl's online manual, but in a completely reorganized and greatly expanded format. It also includes valuable labor-saving tips and hints you won't find anywhere else. Featuring step-by-step instructions and complete source code, it shows you how to:
* Download, install, and configure CGI.pm
* Generate HTML documents on the fly
* Process fill-out forms and create multipage documents
* Perform script debugging and state maintenance
* Design interactive clickable image maps
* Store and process cookies
* Attach JavaScript and cascading style sheets to your documents
* Write state-maintaining scripts
* Modify and extend CGI.pm
* Tap the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN).
On the Web site you'll find:
* The most recent and all future revisions to the CGI.pm module
* All the source code examples from the book
* Online documentation for CGI.pm
* Links to CPAN and other Web-related software written by the author.Amazon.com Review
CGI.pm, a Perl library for writing CGI scripts, delivers elegant solutions for using and updating Web forms. The author, Lincoln Stein, realized the need for a clean and simple way to manage forms and--as a columnist for the Perl Journal, a scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and a Web-based software author--created that solution. He's (refreshingly) humble about this creative process, explaining that it took him a few steps until he realized the key to this HTML/Perl hybrid: simplicity.

The CGI.pm standard allows the site manager to separate data from its HTML markup for use in CGI forms. For example, all the elements in a short drop-down menu of vegetables can be placed in one array, changing this:

The use of CGI.pm requires a mind shift for Web site managers, but it's one worth making. Instead of tags for 'input' and 'select', CGI.pm uses statements such as "checkbox ()" and "textfield ()," allowing documents to be read easily and updated quickly.--Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Dated look at the CGI.pm module
If you want to pick up and start using CGI.pm this book will certainly help you out. It does a decent job explaining what the module is and what it can do. The problem is, the CGI.pm module is not that hard to understand. The book is also kind of thin in that there are only really 2-3 architectural examples of using server side CGI for page state and transition management.

So whats there in the book is ok, but hardly worth the full price. This should be a more budget priced book simply because it just covers the very basics of CGI coding. Any skilled programmer who understands the basics of CGI won't get that much out of this book.

That being said, it beats reading through the CGI.pm online documentation. It just should not cost as much as it does.

Another problem is that the perl and html in the examples is out of date and I was not a fan of the style of coding in general. A few too many times, convoluted (but efficient) coding was used. While this is fine for your own code, when you are writing code for training and demonstration the code should be a bit more clear.

So, the book does work as a quick overview of the CGI.pm module and its written by the modules author so there is that :)

It should have been a lot more detailed with better examples, to justify its price, or a but shorter at a bargain price. The bottom line is, there is not much you are going to get out of this book that you would not gleen from reading the online CGI.pl doc and a few decent examples.

Straight From The Creator of CGI.pm
This is one of my favorite computer books of all time. I enjoyed it as a way to learn to use the CGI perl module, several years ago, and I use it from time to time now as a reference. The author presented his material with a fair amount of humor, especially in the examples, and with great clarity. Of all the perl modules out there, I probably use CGI.pm more than any other, with DBI.pm coming in a close second. So, if you're planning on using perl to generate web pages, this book will be very useful. While learning to use the CGI.pm I also read two other books and this book by Lincoln Stein was the most useful and informative of the ones I read.

Disappointing
I gave up on this book after 185 pages. Admittedly, I learned a lot about using Lincoln Stein's CGI module using this book, but it was not always easy. On the upside most of his explanations are clear. However the examples are replete with errors and the typography used for the code listings make it easy to introduce new errors.

Wow, incredible high-level power in this module.
The author has done a wonderful job of explaining how to use the CGIpm module. If you understand the basics of perl, you should be able to go through the bulk of this book. And with just a slight acquaintance with Perl references and anonmous list, you'll be surprised how quick and easy this is to master. This book puts other CGI books to shame because other books shy away from discussing all the cool functions in CGI.pm.

Great Book!
This book helped me make the transition to object oriented perl. Oh yeah, and it's filled with all the CGI you'll need. Thank you Lincoln Stein!! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Programmer
Easy to follow and understand. Tells you how to donwload free software and walks you through programming examples.

Outstanding ASP.NET AJAX Learning Guide!!
'Learning ASP.NET 2.0 with AJAX: A Practical Hands-on Guide' is another gem of a book by heavy technology author Jesse Liberty et al..If you know about recent web advances over the last couple of years you know about AJAX which has revolutionized the Web 2.0 world, allowing for real apps to be made on the web.The user doesn't have to wait wait wait any more, as they can make decision/choices and get the feedback that they are expecting right away.AJAX technology basically splits pages up into "virtual divs" where instead of displayed content being control, handshakes and communication behind the scenes is what is modified.Early AJAX code was a bit flaky but Microsoft has made things easier with their ASP.NET AJAX set of controls and classes.In order to learn how to use these tools the user needed a book that laid things out in a logical fashion and did so in a tight, useful package, this book is the result!!

This ~500 page book is broken up in the following way:

01. Intro
02. Web Apps
03. AJAX Web Apps
04. Saving/Getting Data
05. Validation
06. Style sheets, Master Pages, Navigation
07. State & Life Cycle
08. Errors, Exceptions, Bugs
09. Security & Personalization
10. Epilogue

If you have a read a Jesse Liberty book in the past you know that you are getting a top notch quality product.He's so good at writing tech friendly books it's like sitting down with him.Examples are spaced out well and content is described in a VERY user-friendly manner.

If you develop with ASP.NET and want to implement AJAX on your site, PICK UP THIS BOOK.The only disclaimer is the code is written in VB but if you are a savvy programmer it shouldn't be very difficult to make the switch to C# if that is your flavor of the month.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Gentle but Complete Getting Started
§
I am impressed at how well-paced and explanatory this book is. Usually the big problems I see in coding books have very little to do with the quality of the code and very much to do with care (or its lack) in pacing and organization. The result here is a book that thinks through and accounts for the questions beginners will have.

The authors direct themselves to developers asking the question "What is the quickest way for me to build real Web applications with the least handcoding?" They stick to that so closely, anyone worrying about the VB versus C# thing should not feel any hesitation on that account in getting this book.

The examples use Visual Studio or its free counterpart, Visual Web Developer. An appendix guides you through their installation and configuration, as well as that of SQL Express.

The book has a nice addition for the serious student: each chapter has a quiz and exercises -- with the answers provided in the back of the book.
§ ... Read more

Product Description
Microsoft .NET Framework is a key component used for development of both online and desktop applications under Windows platform. .NET Interview Questions You'll Most Likely Be Asked is a perfect companion to stand a head above the rest in today’s competitive job market. Rather than going through comprehensive, textbook-sized reference guides, this book includes only the information required immediately for job search to build a career as a .NET programmer. It covers four key topics viz: ASP.net, VB.net, C# & .NET Framework. This book puts the interviewee in the driver's seat and helps them steer their way to impress the interviewer.

Includes:

1) 175 .NET Interview Questions, Answers and Proven Strategies for getting hired as a .NET Programmer

2) Dozens of examples to respond to interview questions

3) 51 HR Questions with Answers and Proven strategies to give specific, impressive, answers that help nail the interviews ... Read more

Product Description
This book is similar to all other By Example books in that it provides a jump-start to the Perl language for both new programmers and experienced programmers alike. It concentrates heavily on showing readers how to program similar to existing programs that are cited throughout the book as examples.Amazon.com Review
Perl 5 by Example offers a reasonably-pacedintroduction to programming in Perl at a level accessible to readerswith no prior programming experience. Especially valuable for readerswho learned HTML on their own and now want to try more sophisticatedWeb programming, Perl 5 by Example starts with the basics--whatare literals, variables, functions, and so forth--and advances throughusing Perl with CGI, to process Web-based forms, for instance. DavidMedinets includes numerous notes, tips, and cross-references that canhelp novice programmers avoid getting tripped up by common mistakes ormisunderstandings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Good service
Nice service. Received in 3 weeks for an international shipment which was expected for two months! Thank you!

I bet this review gets buried
I agree with fellow reviewer, James Tolley from NYC, I honestly don't understand how this book got such high ratings. I read with amazement other reviews by people who claim to be programmers, they must be pals of the author. I will itemize in detail where I find problems with this book:

1)
This book is riddled with typos and errors. Not a good thing when you are trying to learn something new. The book leads you astray. To the authors credit, he has published his book on a web site and it seems to be much better than the printed book. But then, why would you BUY the book? The good news is that the book provides nice wide margins so you can note the typos and make corrections.

2)
Examples of perl scripts (hence, Perl 5 by EXAMPLE) are all through the book and at first glance it looks like a great way to learn. Problem is, I've just found 2 examples (one right after the other) that don't even work as examples for what was taught. In chapter 5 we are learning about the "my" and "local" functions. I took the examples provided (from the Web site, mind you) and ran them with the "my" and with the "local" operators in them and they ran great. But then I removed them and the script produced the same result. So what was the point?

3)
This book offers review questions at the end of each chapter. The answers to the review questions are provided at the end of the book in Appendix A. That's good. However, in my opinion, the review questions aren't nearly as important as the review exercises that follow the questions at the end of every chapter. The exercises are where you are asked to write perl programs to reinforce what you learned in the chapter you just read. There are no answers to these all important exercises. Not in the book, not on the CD-ROM not on the author's web site. When I wrote to the author he offered to review my work as time permits. Nice offer, but not what I had in mind.

I have several books on perl and the O'Reilly books (i.e. Learning Perl) are far better. Learning Perl has exercises at the end of each chapter and the answers are provided in the back.

This book will only serve to confuse beginners with misinformation and force them to extra unnecessary effort in order to combat the lax attitude in which this book was produced. A proofreader that knows how to write perl might have helped on this account.

The concept for the book and the approach are terrific ideas. But do you want to have to read the book and then check the Web site and run every script to make sure you weren't given misinformation? This is a book that depends on you to allow for a "fudge factor." Expect more for your hard earned money.

Excellent book for both beginners and pros. Tons of examples
If you are thinking about learning how to program in PERL then by all means get a copy of this book. You'll also find it as a useful reference even after you master the basics.

I used to program in C/C++ and then use UNIX shell scripts to automate all the programs and processes on the server. Of course, that's until i discovered the power and advantages of PERL over scripting languages (ksh, bsh, etc) and decided to learn it. I picked up this book during the end of year holiday and learned all that i need to know to get started. I returned to my job two weeks later with enough knowledge to start writing programs in PERL and automating all our processes under UNIX.

Even after a year experience with PERL, i still come back to this book whenever i need to lookup a function or use regular expressions. Lots and lots of examples that will definitely speed up the learning curve.

Excellent book for a beginner
Very good book for someone starting from Scratch. Have given it to a couple of my employees and within a week they were productive and had already done a few programs.

As a new Perl user myself, don't know how good it is for advanced users, but for beginners it is very good.

The topics on hand are clearly explained and the examples for each topic are usefull and easy to use.

A superior PERL book
I am a professional PERL programmer and I find that this book is still very usefull as a reference. It is an excellent primer for people who don't have formal training in programming. I have recommended it several times to non-programmers and have gotten many thanks for the referal.

Typically I'm an O'Reilly fan but if you are trying to decide between "Learning PERL" or this book... buy THIS BOOK. Inside it's intended scope this book is the best reference you can currently buy.

Even if you don't need the programming introduction you can still reference the excellant Regular Expressions Chapters and the amazing Appendicies and Index.

This book will take you from a novice to an intermediate PERL programmer. For that I give this book 5 stars. If you need to do advanced PERL programming this book is still a good reference... but you are looking for another book then. ... Read more

Product Description

A comprehensive introduction to web programming, requiring no prior programming experience, this book begins with HTML and moves to progressively more difficult programming languages—JavaScript, Perl, and Java. It emphasizes a hands-on approach, and contains clear instructions for carefully chosen visual examples from a wide variety of topics that will appeal to most individuals—encouraging them to find ways to capture their interests in creative web pages. Chapter topics include fonts and colors; lists; tables; anchors and images; frames and image maps; cascading style sheets; arithmetic, selection, and iteration statements; functions and objects; arrays; forms and form elements; elementary data types; and graphics. For Web Masters, Web Page Developers, and Graphic Designer for Web pages.

Customer Reviews (6)

Error Ridden
I used this text book in a class on HTML and Java Script. It was too riddled with errors to recommend as a good text book on programming. Previous classes have documented over a hundred errors in the text, and code samples; some minor, and some major. There are much better guides to programming than this book.
You may save money buying just this one book , but I did not find it money well spent.

Its pretty good
This book isn't horrible. The guy above obviously is an ex-lover of the author and is none to happy. The book has excellent examples and walks through the basics of HTML, JavaScript, JAVA, and perl. After you have learned the languages it is awesome for using as a reference and refresher.

Fantastic book
An absolutely amazing resource!! I took an html class, and this was the book that got me through it. The examples are interesting and clever. She's also very friendly if you ever try to e-mail her with questions.

From a former student
I'm a former student of Dr. Anderson-Freed and I am currently a professional web developer.I have seen this book in two classes on web programming, the first time in a draft form and the second time in its current form.Having seen the errors and typos in the draft, and having pointed them out during class, I had hoped that the final print of the book would contain at least some of the corrections.Unfortunately, as another reviewer has pointed out, the book still contains numerous errors, typos, and just plain incorrect programming.

I still own a copy of her book because I have penned in corrections to many of the errors in the book.It covers a little bit of everything, and the little bit of reference I need for Perl and Java are met by this book and web references.However, I also currently own and recommend the HTML 4 Bible and JavaScript Bible, both published by IDG Books.I would recommend the Bible series of computer books over Dr. Anderson-Freed's book to anyone who requires a web-related programming reference.The same goes for IWU students who are taking her classes: don't buy this book.While her book contains many examples (many of which she uses in class), a good portion of her examples have code that does not produce the desired results.You would be better off reading another text and recreating the examples on your own.

The best JavaScript out there
THis book is very very good
im in college and the webdesign teacher suggested a different book and i took a gamble and got this book instead and i love it ... Read more

Product Description
Jython is an implementation of the Python programming language written in 100% pure Java, so it runs under any compliant Java Virtual Machine. The secret to Jython's popularity lies in the combination of Java's libraries and tools with Python's rapid development capabilities. With Jython, you can write Python programs that integrate seamlessly with any Java code. And like Python, Jython can be used interactively, so you can get immediate results as you are programming.Jython Essentials provides a solid introduction to the Python language, offering a brief but thorough tour of the Python concepts you'll need to understand to use Jython effectively. The book also covers the various ways in which Jython can interact with Java classes and objects and provides numerous examples and valuable reference material for using Jython with existing Java libraries, including the Swing GUI toolkit, the JDBC database API, the Servlet API, and various XML tools. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Helpful, but poor explanations
The book is definitely helpful in understanding how Jython works, but the explanations should be made in a much more user-friendly way with more examples. Often I found myself left in the fog. The book sometimes assumes things without explaining. For instance, for simple functions like the following (p. 113):

>> import jarray
>> jarray.array(['crystal', 'ball'],java.lang.String)

you need to import java.lang.String before calling it. I didn't know that but the book doesn't explain that.

Also the book doesn't make clear that to import some java classes you have to include .jar file in the sys.path. It does mention .jar files but should make clear and emphasize that you must include it as a necessary step and also show how to do that. It took me a lot of agonizing and asking around to finally figure these out.

jython
This is a good overall guide to jython and I think it is as good as all the rest of the nutshell books are.

Good language coverage, but awkward.
This text has good coverage of the language features,but the presentation and organization is poor.If you're a Java developer looking to pick up jython quickly,I'd suggest "Jython for Java Programmers" instead.

Informative, but poorly presented
I found the book to be informative in learning JPython, but it seemed to have ignored the most practical use-cases for JPython, light scripting and unit testing, and kept suggesting JPython as an alternative for working in Java. In addition, I felt the book was poorly (or boringly) written and that the authors failed to draw on any significant amount of experience in writing the book.

I would have preferred a book that wrote of JPython as a scripting language for Java and that offered advice on how best to leverage JPython for this purpose. I recommend taking a hard look at the other titles before purchasing this one.

OK, I'm adding a paragraph to this review after owning the book for a few weeks. It IS a very helpful book and I'm raising my rating from 2 to 4 stars. Perhaps I was thrown off at first by the succinctness of the text, but I've come to find that it makes it a great reference book. I'm already a half-way experienced programmer and do not need the filler and the explanation of concepts that thicker books probably provide.

Also, there is a helpful section on unit testing which I'd missed (It wasn't placed very well in the book) and python is a flexible enough language that someone should be able to figure out different ways to unit test without the section.

Superb summary of CPython 2.2 features
For someone who's been working in Cpython 1.5 thru 2.1, the 1st 5 chapters are an excellent, succinct language refresher and intro to new features in 2.2: nested scopes, generators, etc.

This book does assume pretty solid grounding in python.If you don't have that, start with:

Chun: Core Python
Lutz: Learning Python
or Harms/McDonald: Quick Python ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

not recommended
I would not recommend this book for either a beginners or for people who already know JS. I am not sure
which audience is this book trying to target.

Best Little JavaScript Book
Christian Wenz was writing about AJAX before AJAX was invented...er, coined, so he knows a lot about JavaScript. He can succinctly differentiate the marketing of DHTML from the usability of DOM as an object model and API. He has expertise in both the Microsoft and Open Source realms. And, Wenz helped create the Phrasebook series. This is not a book for "Dummies," this is the real thing.

Lots of web sites are using AJAX libraries today, and way too many web designers have called upon JavaScript with client-side tricks downloaded over the years. What a typical developer needs are clear methods for tweaking AJAX, fixing buggy tricks, and just for making the quick hack on the client to solve a problem.

While a book this small can't begin to cover everything, it has an intelligent outline that does cover many common code techniques. Best of all, the Phrasebook format has the right balance of explanation to code. It's tighter than an O'Reilly Nutshell edition, while handier than a Pocket Guide. Let's face it, a selection from the latter series does fit in your pocket, but at the expense of no explanations nor examples.

Here's an example of a handy hack easily solved with the JavaScript Phrasebook, one that might not be so obvious to a JavaScript novice. You've got a dynamic iframe element inside of a static web page, and you want to pass a parameter from the static URL. Huh, aren't query strings for dynamic pages? Sure, but what's the hack? Wenz provides a short item on "Retrieving GET Parameters" in Chapter 2 on "Common Phrases" along with "Using Iframes" in Chapter 9 on Windows and Frames.

So, if you are a developer in need of such essentials on the fly, you'll find the JavaScript Phrasebook to be handy. Oh yeah, it does fit in a pocket.

Another food "Phrasebook" release
Sam's has done a few of these "Phrasebok" style books - small, pocketbook size, relatively short.This doesn't replaceO'Reilly's "Javascript - the Definitive Guide" (and there is some overlap), but it's a handly little thing to augment it.

It's all short code examples, with explanations.The assumption is that you already know some Javascript or will go look it up if not.

I'm impressed by how much the author packs in here.It's like admiring a well packed suitcase: how did he manage to squeeze so much into such a small space? ... Read more

Product Description
With all the different JavaScript titles available today, its pretty easy to get overwhelmed when it comes to finding the right book for you. Wouldnt it be great if there was a complete, comprehensive JavaScript guide for users of all levels? Well, there is: JavaScript™ Bible, 3rd Edition, written by leading JavaScript authority Danny Goodman.

Fully revised and updated to include JavaScript 1.2, JavaScript Bible, 3rd Edition provides in-depth coverage of such JavaScript basics as document objects, forms, multiple windows, and frames. You also get instruction on creating mouse-rollover images, integrating Java applets into Web pages, understanding how JavaScript works with Netscape and Microsoft browsers, deploying Dynamic HTML, and much more.

The CD-ROM features demo versions of Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash, and MarketWare HitList, seven bonus chapters, the code for the examples in the book, and the electronic version of JavaScript Bible, 3rd Edition.Amazon.com Review
Danny Goodman has repeatedly proven himself an excellentteacher of programming languages, and this latest edition ofJavaScript Bible reinforces his reputation. If you're familiarwith HTML and want to endow your pages with the kind of animation andinteractivity that JavaScript can provide, this book is the best oneyou can buy.

Goodman covers the JavaScript 1.2 languagecomprehensively, and focuses on developing documents that fullyexploit the capabilities of Netscape Navigator 4.0x. The author beginswith the fundamentals of the language--variables, loops, datastructures, functions, and the like. Then, he proceeds tosystematically explore the more difficult characteristics of thelanguage, including its limited object-orientation features and theextensions that apply to Dynamic HTML (DHTML). Server-side coverage issparse, but that technology isn't nearly as widely used as client-sideJavaScript.

JavaScript Bible contains both a tutorial and areference, so it's useful to advanced JavaScript programmers as wellas to beginners. Plus, the illustrative examples included in thesepages--and on the accompanying CD-ROM--are generally useful. You'llfind image-rollover routines, client-side database lookups, a DHTMLpuzzle, and many more programs that you'll be able to quickly adapt toyour own projects. JavaScript Bible is a winner. --DavidWall ... Read more

Customer Reviews (130)

Jesus says "buy this book!"
When they say it's a Bible they don't lie! If you don't buy this book you will go to HELL!!

Big Book, Poorly Written
This is another example of a "doorstop book" (which is where mine was until I sold it to a used book dealer for $5). Like so many other computer books (e.g. Special Edition Using... or XXXX Unleashed), this author tries to impress the buyer with the size of the book.

The content of the book was poorly organized as well as poorly written. It is difficult to navigate and learn the language. If this is the JavaScript Bible, shouldn't it educate the user in the development of JavaScripts for the web? A better structure of this book would have been to develop mock scripts for a functioning web site.
Furthermore, the CD that is included is worthless. The "hundreds" of free software titles are actually worthless trials from companies marketing their tools and products. So, I wonder why they (attempt) to teach JavaScript then include samples of actual software packages that they then market to the user.

Alternatively, I would recommend the O'Reilly book on JavaScript. O'Reilly has a track record of producing concise books that actually teach the topic. They are not 700+ page monsters that are filled with fluff. I would also caution against purchasing future editions as they tend to be nearly identical to the previous version with minor additions.

Ups and Downs
I had such a great time working through most of the material in the first 8 chapters of this book. The examples were clear and helped me to thoroughly implement what I was learning. During chapter 9, I started to get annoyed with the typos, poor answers to some of the Tutorial Exercises, and examples that were irrelevant to anything I wanted to accomplish.At the end of chapter 10, I decided to move on to an O'Reilly book.

This book strengthened my base in programming principles.I appreciated the explanations, when they were written thoroughly.When I get confused, I dig in stubbornly until I figure it out.Perhaps someone who breezes past the confusing parts will do better with this book.

Difficult to follow
I'm a frustrated beginner at Javascript. This book is part of what frustrated me. It's not very clear, with not enough examples and not enough details all at the same time. Much later, after I put down this book in frustration, I picked up WROX press' "Beginning Javascript," which I find much easier to follow. If only I had started with that book instead of this one!

THE BIBLE, NOT ONLY A RESOURCE MANUAL
I have been javascripting since 1996. As such, I've been through two editions of the javascript bible, including this third edition. It's only gotten better (as javascript has also improved in breadth). This is not a book for someone who simply wants an A-Z manual. If you want a book that truly spans the beginner through expert category, however, this IS it. Goodman provides in-depth explanations and examples at all stages of your development. If you are a beginner, start at the beginning. If you are an expert, use the index. Either way, this is a must- have for any web programmer's library. ... Read more

Product Description
What is this book about?

Teaching programming basics from the ground up, this book helps even those with no prior programming knowledge learn JavaScript and use this knowledge for practical purposes on their Web sites to create interesting, useful, and dynamic sites. The primary focus is on practical application of JavaScript to Web site creation. The ultimate aim is that a reader having finished the book should be able to go it alone and create their own scripts and move forward and learn more advanced techniques. They will have a very broad base of knowledge of JavaScript and its application to Web development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Very big book
Extremely huge book. Great for a blank introduction to the language. Very extremely thorough. Not so much of a quick reference book, but great for learning the basic and advanced commands of JavaScript. It is so big I've had it for a while and still have not finished reading it.. You create a JavaScript quiz throughout the book that tells you how many you got wrong and your score. Great introduction book, it does have advanced stuff at the end of it.

Its a great book for beginners and helps you grow in the field as it moves on
Its a great book one I think should always be there even when you have moved on to advanced levels of Java scripting. The language is simple great examples help you put your knowledge at work.

Beginning JavaScript- a great place to start
I have experience programming Java, C++, Q-Basic, CSS, HTML, PHP and started to learn JavaScript from free resources on the internet. The problem is that the internet is full of sales pitches and just free code. I wanted to get a good understanding to write my own code. The Beginning JavaScript gave me a great understanding of the basics. The reading was very easy- for someone with programming experience, there was too much of the basic programming info and far too many examples to help understand the basics. If you have NO programming experience, then this book is perfect for you because it will teach you everything you need to get started. After reading this book I was able to do some pretty cool dymanic website stuff on my websites.

I did want to learn more JavaScript though, so I checked out the Professional JavaScript by the same publisher. The Professional JavaScript book is great (especially if you read the Beginning JavaScript or already now programming or a little JavaScript). I was affraid that after reading the Beginning JavaScript book I would see a lot of repeat stuff in the Professional JavaScript book- that is NOT the case. There is a little over lap, but the Professional book does not spend as much time on the easy stuff. To make a long review short... I recommend the Beginning for beginners and I recommend the Professional to those who finished the Beginning book and to those that are already good at programming!

good overview
For a beginning JavaScript book, this covers a lot of topics. The trade-off naturally is that some topics aren't covered as thoroughly as they might be. As an example, it only mentions one form of commenting code, with 2 slashes:

//this comment must fit on one line

without mentioning comments surrounded by /* and */, as in

/* this comment can extend over
* many lines */

On the other hand, it also covers topics beginning books might omit, like using the free Microsoft Script Debugger, and embedding RealPlayer content.

The book is a bit dated, spending quite a bit of time discussing Netscape 4.x, when most NN users have navigated to Firefox by now. It also uses a lot of deprecated HTML, so tweaking is necessary if you want to validate the examples with the W3C Validator.

A feature I liked were the problems at the end of each chapter, with a solution provided in the appendix. Also, it explains every code example *very* thoroughly--maybe even a bit too much at times when the explanations become repetitious. However, the trivia game application it develops over the course of many chapters is too simplistic to provide much of a real world example, and while there is a support website, it doesn't seem too up to date. I've submitted several errors, but have yet to see them posted.

All in all, I'd rate this 3 1/2 stars, but since I can't do that, I rounded up to 4 stars.

Excellent Book
I learnt Javascript for the first time from this book and the experience is really great.The examples are beneficial to solve real world problems.
Highly recommended for first time Javascript users ... Read more