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The Best Books for Learning JavaScript Programming

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Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming

Eloquent JavaScript is a great book for introduction to JavaScript.

It’s a book that starts with the basics by introducing us to expressions and statements.

Then it goes into the data types and syntax of the language.

Next, it discusses the object-oriented parts of JavaScript.

Also, it outlines how to do DOM manipulation to make JavaScript programs that manipulate web pages dynamically.

It also has a brief introduction to the HTML canvas.

And it touches on how to make requests so that we can make apps that can communicate over the Internet.

Moreover, it touches on async programming so that we can write speedy apps that can do a lot.

It does a great job explaining all of those topics with easy to understand examples and many practice exercises to do of the work on to master JavaScript.

JavaScript: The Good Parts

This book highlights the good parts of JavaScript.

It goes through the best syntax of JavaScript. Then it discusses the best object-oriented features of JavaScript.

Also, it outlines the best features of JavaScript functions, arrays, and regular expressions.

It also provides plenty of guidance on how to write good JavaScript code.

It’s concise and easy to understand, and it’s a good book to learn how to write good code with JavaScript.

JavaScript: Best Practice

JavaScript: Best Practice is a good that explains how to use the best syntax of JavaScript.

It includes the most up to date features of JavaScript, like destructuring, spread and rest, async and await, and more.

Also, it shows us good design patterns that we should adopt in to build JavaScript programs in an maintainable manner.

It has a section on how to improve performance in our JavaScript apps, which not every book covers.

Essential TypeScript: From Beginner to Pro

Essential TypeScript: From Beginner to Pro by Adam Freeman starts from the basics of JavaScript and TypeScript and how to use various features with them.

It starts with basic syntax of JavaScript and the JavaScript features that TypeScript enhances.

Then it goes through how to set up a TypeScript project from scratch with the TypeScript compiler.

Also, it has a dedicated section on how to tesrt and debug TypeScript projects.

Then it goes into how to define and use basic data types with TypeScript.

It then show us how to use object-oriented features like classes, interfaces, generic types, object types, and more.

It also has several chapters to show us how to build apps with various frameworks with TypeScript.

Freeman shows us how to build apps with TypeScript and React, Angular or Vue.

The practical examples in those chapters are practical and will help you a lot with building high quality front end apps.

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship is a book by Robert C. Martin, also known as Uncle Bob that outlines the principles of agile software development and how to write clean code.

Clean code is source code that people understand and change easily.

He goes through the basics like naming, functions, classes, SOLID, and more to show us how to write code well.

In addition, he goes over how to make code neat and easy to read.

The proper use of comments are also emphasized. He suggests that good code is better than comments.

Then he goes over the proper ways to handle errors and good designs for object-oriented programs.

Also, he places great emphasis on automated testing to reduce the burden of manual testing and make software changes easier.

The books go over the principles in Java but they apply to many other programming languages.

It’s a book that outlines all the good practices that we need to know to write high-quality programs.

The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition, 2nd Edition: Your Journey to Mastery

This is another book that shows us how to write code that’s easy for us to read and maintain.

Like Clean Code, it starts from the basics and also discuss more advanced concepts.

It’s aimed at both entry level and experienced programmers.

This book has emphasis of making modular code, reducing duplication not only in code but also in everything else involved in building software.

Also, it goes over ways to test ideas and make them reality faster.

Refactoring and testing are also discussed in great details.

This the follow up to the original edition that is more than 20 years old.

They are both classics and both editions still have useful concepts that we can apply today.

The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

This is another book by Robert C. Martin, which also written Clean Code.

It’s a book that shows us how to be a professional programmer.

It’s the definitive guide that explains how to be a good programmer from a nontechnical perspective.

This book focuses on making commitments, taking responsibility, improving speed.

Furthermore, it talks about testing, time management, estimation, dealing with pressure, and collaboration.

These are all the things that we have to deal with and Robert shares his wisdom with us so that we don’t have to go through the difficulties he went through.

It’s a good book that will make our lives easier if we’re programming software for a living.

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code

This is another time-tested book that shows us how to create high-quality software.

The angle is different from the others in that this one shows us how to make incremental changes to our code to improve its quality.

First it emphasizes the importance of tests, which are needed before refactoring.

Then it goes over common refactoring techniques with examples in Java.

However, it applies to many other programming languages, since they’re general things that many object-oriented languages can do.

Refactoring including functions, classes, big and small changes, abstraction and more are discussed in this book.

JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world.

Therefore, if you want to be a software developer, mastering JavaScript will definitely help a lot.

Here are 3 books that are great for learning JavaScript.

JavaScript Patterns: Build Better Applications with Coding and Design Patterns

This book provides us with basic program design principles to let us organize our JavaScript code for maintainability and readability.

Common patterns are covered and they apply to many other programming languages as well.

It comes with many examples to help us learn program design in an easy to understand way.

If you want to improve your JavaScript programming skills, this is a must read book.

JavaScript for impatient programmers

This is a great book for learning the basics of JavaScript. It covers all versions of JavaScript to date from version 1 to the 2019 edition.

Therefore, it covers the latest features.

The concepts are explained simply in an easy to understand way.

Also, the examples are also very simple. Many books have examples that are hard to follow, but this book have examples that are written clearly and concisely.

If you want to learn JavaScript fast, this book is for you.

If you want to get up to date on the latest features of JavaScript, this is also a book for you.

DOM Enlightenment: Exploring JavaScript and the Modern DOM

If you want to be a front end developer, then you must read this book.

It goes the basics of DOM manipulation, which is must-learn knowledge for front end development.

We can learn how to manipulate web pages dynamically with JavaScript with this book.

This book is very concise and it’s organized better than other resources like the Mozilla Developer Network website.

The examples are also concise so that we can follow and understand them easily.

It goes from the basics to the nitty-gritty details.

Therefore, this is a great book for getting the basics of creating dynamic web pages and web apps.

Fundamental Concepts for Web Development: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and much more!

This is a good book to introduce us to basic concepts in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

It’s very simple and concise. The examples are easy to understand.

This book allows us to understand the most basic building blocks of web development in a flash.

Also, it gives us lots of tips and tricks so that we won’t fall into traps that most beginners fall into.

It also provides us with lots of exercises so that we can master web development quickly.

HTML & CSS, and JavaScript & JQuery

This is another good book on the basics of web development.

It also has chapters on jQuery as a bonus. This is great since jQuery allows us to do more than just JavaScript alone.

Many web apps still use jQuery so we might as well learn it.

This book provides us with all the explanation and examples we need to learn the basics of web development.

It uses a visual approach, which means lots of diagrams, infographics, and photographs to help us learn the ropes.

You Don’t Know JS Series

This is a series of books that we can use to learn the basic and advanced concepts in JavaScript.

If we learn JavaScript thoroughly, we’ll be much better developers as we write better code and work faster.

This book explains the concepts, and also emphasizes how we can avoid the pitfalls of JavaScript.

It has sections about scopes, which is important for writing bug-free code.

Functions are also a topic that this book covers a lot.

Another thing that this book covers are synchronous and asynchronous tasks, which are used everywhere in JavaScript.

Object-oriented programming is also discussed in great detail.

These books are very affordable and will pay for itself many times over if you become proficient developers.

The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript by Nicholas C. Zakas

This is a short book that’s focused on the ins and outs of the object oriented parts of JavaScript.

It focuses on data types, objects, constructors, and classes.

These are all the things that can trick even the most experienced developers.

This book makes learning these parts of JavaScript easy by giving us focus and explaining the concepts concisely and with simple examples.

JavaScript for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming

Programming is useful for anyone. We can get a job with prorgramming skills or we can use the skill to program our own computers.

JavaScript for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming provides us with a gentle introduction to programming that kids can understand.

Explanation of the concepts are easy to understand and simple.

The examples that are included are easy to follow and fun to try.

It’s a good book to learn JavaScript even for adults.

Testing Vue.js Applications

This book covers everything we need to know about testing Vue apps, from creating the first test to testing Vuex and server side rendering.

It’s a very comprehensive book that goes through testing everything that we can think of in a Vue app.

This book provides us with many examples and provides clear explanations of everything that it covers.

Vue.js in Action

This book provides us with a gentle introduction of Vue.

It introduces us from the most basic concepts to concepts that let us build a whole app.

This book goes from introducing us to the most basic part of a Vue app to animations to Vuex and Vue Router.

It’s pretty much the guide that will let us master Vue in no time.

Practical examples are sprinkled throughout the book to help us understand the concepts outlined.

Fullstack Vue: The Complete Guide to Vue.js

Fullstack Vue: The Complete Guide to Vue.js is a book that introduces us to Vue.

In addition, it goes through examples that integrates with other apps like a back end app to provide us with an introduction to integrate Vue apps with other modules to build a complete system.

The book has lots of runnable code to let us poke around with to help us learn.

It covers the latest features.

It covers everything from the basics, to communicating with server APIs, and testing.

By John Au-Yeung

Web developer specializing in React, Vue, and front end development.

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