I tried the book from the missing manual series, but I gave up on it as it only present, never explains.

I'm not a programmer and I need to know why those lines of code are written in a certain way so I can get the syntax.

I found this book on JQuery:

http://www.amazon.com/jQuery-Action-...5934538&sr=1-2

...but when I found the "onload handler" mentioned as something you wake up with, it might not be a book for a beginner.

I know what an onload handler is, but I'd have to copy it out of a book.

I really don't have the time to read Pollocks 440 pages Javascript introduction.

But: would it be necessary? What's the best way to get an handle on this?

I just want to add a few Javascript effects and a slide show to my web pages, I don't aim at becoming a programmer. I'm very busy doing other things, and only have little time for web development.

You could try just starting at the jQuery documentation website: http://docs.jquery.com/Main_Page

Originally Posted by World

I tried the book from the missing manual series, but I gave up on it as it only present, never explains.

I'm not a programmer and I need to know why those lines of code are written in a certain way so I can get the syntax.

I found this book on JQuery:

http://www.amazon.com/jQuery-Action-...5934538&sr=1-2

...but when I found the "onload handler" mentioned as something you wake up with, it might not be a book for a beginner.

I know what an onload handler is, but I'd have to copy it out of a book.

I really don't have the time to read Pollocks 440 pages Javascript introduction.

But: would it be necessary? What's the best way to get an handle on this?

I just want to add a few Javascript effects and a slide show to my web pages, I don't aim at becoming a programmer. I'm very busy doing other things, and only have little time for web development.

wonderful! thanks for the info..
However I think you should vary more examples to your writing much more interesting !

Originally Posted by wayfarer07

You could try just starting at the jQuery documentation website: http://docs.jquery.com/Main_Page

I took a look at it.

For these tutorials you have to already know Javascript.

I don't know yet what a "callback" is, and even though it's being explained, I have to see it in a context to see what it does and why it's important to have it.

Maybe I should have asked:

How did you learn Javascript?

What would you do different if starting again?



I'm regularly checking the source codes of web pages I like. Almost all of them use Javascript. I've got to learn this.

I once had this book in my shopping cart, but, unfortunately, bought the missing manual book.

This seems to be catering to non-programmers:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

Does anybody know this book?

jQuery is unfortunately a poor way to learn programming, though it is often used by non-programmers in the form of plugins. If you don't have any prior programming experience, and no time to learn it, you may want to just start by figuring out what your needs are, then seeing if there are plugins built that fit those needs.

Any way you look at it, jQuery is a library/framework built for a programming language. I personally learned as much as I could about JavaScript before I started jQuery, then in turn learned a lot about JavaScript by studying jQuery. But my case is one in which I had a considerable amount of programming knowledge already before I started either.

I agree with everything Abel said. I started out learning JavaScript before there was such a thing as jQuery. I read the O'Reilly book and started coding. Then I read another book and coded some more.

It didn't come overnight, but going back and forth between learning and trying and it starts to come. Find a book on JavaScript that also teaches programming in general. That's probably a good place to start.

jQuery is popular in part, because you can use it without really understanding how the underlying JavaScript works. That's great for many, but some like yourself want to understand the underlying stuff.

Originally Posted by wayfarer07

jQuery is unfortunately a poor way to learn programming, though it is often used by non-programmers in the form of plugins. If you don't have any prior programming experience, and no time to learn it, you may want to just start by figuring out what your needs are, then seeing if there are plugins built that fit those needs.

Any way you look at it, jQuery is a library/framework built for a programming language. I personally learned as much as I could about JavaScript before I started jQuery, then in turn learned a lot about JavaScript by studying jQuery. But my case is one in which I had a considerable amount of programming knowledge already before I started either.

Originally Posted by vangogh

I agree with everything Abel said. I started out learning JavaScript before there was such a thing as jQuery. I read the O'Reilly book and started coding. Then I read another book and coded some more.

It didn't come overnight, but going back and forth between learning and trying and it starts to come. Find a book on JavaScript that also teaches programming in general. That's probably a good place to start.

jQuery is popular in part, because you can use it without really understanding how the underlying JavaScript works. That's great for many, but some like yourself want to understand the underlying stuff.

Thanks, guys.

I guess my gut feeling told me the right thing.

And from your posts I see, that the feeling I can find a middle way (get basic programming knowledge, but not go all the way towards programming) is a doable way.

So I guess I'll get Pollock's basic Javascript book, where he explains all the necessary things to programming.

I checked out Javascript books at Barnes & Noble, and almost all of them suck big time as they are just throwing some code at you.

Pollock is supposed to be an English major and really gets into laying out the basics of programming.

I'm usually not an imitative learner. I need to understand what I'm doing. So I guess this is the way to go.

This is the book I started with. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide. All good programming books should have some code in them since you need to see the code to really understand the text. Ideally you'll be typing your own code along with the book.

The code also provides good examples of how to program in general.

You don't need to become an advanced programmer at all, especially if you're goal is to use jQuery.

+Thanks for the tip.

I'll have a look at it.

I second the book Steven mentioned. I own the same title, and it has been an invaluable resource.

I often turn to the O'Reilly books first. They generally cover things well and still serve as a nice reference later.

I saw a good book about jQuery from Wrox. Those Wrox books look pretty good to me, too.

It's new (2009) .

For now, I have to doodle some jQuery together, as I need a photo gallery now.

I'll probably use a slide show/gallery jQuery script.

That O'Reilly book is very good, but it's definitely NOT for the beginner, which I am. I opened it, and on the third page there was a "simple Javascipt" which went over a page and a half and demanded good understanding beforehand.

I guess what I need is a book not for programmers. Someone who's fluent in C++ (I'm fluent in German and French, but this doesn't count) can probably hop in right away.

Rick Strahl and Matt Berseth's blogs both tipped me into JQuery and man am I glad they did. JQuery completely changes a) your client programming perspective, b) the grief it causes it you, and c) how much fun it can be!
http://www.west-wind.com/weblog/
http://mattberseth.com/
I used the book JQuery in Action http://www.amazon.com/jQuery-Action-Bear-Bibeault/dp/1933988355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219716122&sr=1-1 (I bought it used at Amazon for about $22). It has been a big help into bootstrapping me into JQuery. The docs at jquery.com are also very helpful.
A place where JQuery falls a little flat is with its UI components. Those don't seem to be quite ready for primetime just yet.
It could be that Prototype or MooTools or ExtJS are as good as JQuery. But for me, JQuery seems to have a little more momentum behind it right now and that counts for something for me.
Check JQuery out. It is very cool!

I've got hundreds of dollars and dozens of pounds worth of books that, while helpful in their own way, in no way compare to the wealth of information i've gained by simply Googling. Which of course means you have to come at it from a goals-based perspective. Where you develop to the point where you either get wonky behaviour in the browsers that wont sit down, or you simply dont know enough about the syntax to write it yourself. In well over 3/4 of these instances, someone on the internets has asked the same question before. Its an exception case where i've been able to solve my particular issue or hurdle via book.

Basically: my advice is to save your money. If books is where & how you learn though, i'd still recommend getting a cup of coffee and sitting in a bookstore for 1-2 hours and really start to digest what the books are, what they're not, how they're structured.

Another good way to curate which books are better is to use the Amazon user ratings of the books. Not just the star system either. I mean: READ peoples reviews of the books. Read the good & the bad.

Good luck

Originally Posted by seannarae

I've got hundreds of dollars and dozens of pounds worth of books that, while helpful in their own way, in no way compare to the wealth of information i've gained by simply Googling. Which of course means you have to come at it from a goals-based perspective. Where you develop to the point where you either get wonky behaviour in the browsers that wont sit down, or you simply dont know enough about the syntax to write it yourself. In well over 3/4 of these instances, someone on the internets has asked the same question before. Its an exception case where i've been able to solve my particular issue or hurdle via book.

Basically: my advice is to save your money. If books is where & how you learn though, i'd still recommend getting a cup of coffee and sitting in a bookstore for 1-2 hours and really start to digest what the books are, what they're not, how they're structured.

Another good way to curate which books are better is to use the Amazon user ratings of the books. Not just the star system either. I mean: READ peoples reviews of the books. Read the good & the bad.

Good luck

I'm not aiming at writing Javascript code, just at using the libraries.

A few basic things I have yet to master (see my thread on onload handlers).

Regarding the ratings at Amazon, those are always pampered by friends of the author with raving, but empty star reviews.

I'm very particular when reading those reviews, and a good, critical review often tells more about its qualities than most of the thoughtlessly yelled 5-star reviews.

But if you're not really familiar with a topic, it's hard to guess how good a book is even from looking at it in a bookstore. Impossible by fielding reviews from amateur and often biased reviewers.

The upside to getting your information from the internets is that you may obtain your information as a response to a forum topic you post. Your question & answer becomes a learning opportunity to the next person who meets similar coding hurdles. I know thats an elementary statement. But its an easy way to share collectively what is gained by the collective. Much gratitude to the Webmaster-Talk forum(s) in particular.