Authors: Bear Bibeault, Yehuda Katz
Publisher: Manning
Reviewed by: Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating: 9 horseshoes
“jQuery in Action” (second edition) was a great book. It kept almost everything I liked in the first edition while adding new stuff I liked and updating the content for the latest version of jQuery.
Cool stuff that's new in the second edition:
1)More exercises than the first edition to try in the labs
2)The second half of the book on jQuery UI
3)This is the first print book I saw with references to HTML 5
4)Mine came with a paper giving free access to the first and second edition PDF – not sure if that was because I got a review copy or they all do
5)The last sentence made me smile - “We wish you health and happiness, and may all your bugs be easily solvable!
What I continued to like:
1)Screenshots of labs and reminders to do labs
2)Emphasis on common idioms, gotchas, etc
3)Casual style and cultural references – this time caught a reference to a Jimmy Buffett song
4)The PDF is in color
5)Showing the non-jQuery way first for things like AJAX
What I didn't like:
1)Ripping out the paper with free book codes damaged the binding a bit
2)Could really use a list of tables – they are such great references
3)The function syntax boxes look the same for custom written plugins and built in. Awkward for later when flip through for reference.
4)Would have liked more on how to use plugins and which are available
5)Could really use a list of tables – wait, I said this. Maybe I should make my own.
I read this book largely on the train and didn't get the full benefit from it. I need to go back and do the labs and exercises. These aren't optional!
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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in
exchange for writing this review on behalf of JavaRanch.