LITTLE WORDS. BIG ENERGY.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

The clearest explanation of javascript I have come across.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

This is the third book I have read on javascript this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The chapters on javascript are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.