Books about Javascript offer a great way of learning how to program Javascript and at a much lower price than taking, for example, a specialist Javascript Course. By reading a book, you consume a huge amount of research in a relatively short amount of time, and it is one of the best ways to improve your Javascript knowledge and skills.
The only problem is that there are lot’s of Javascript Books on the market and there are much more to come. For instance, just doing a search for “Javascript Books” in Amazon results in more than 6,000 books only about Javascript, so how do you make up your mind about what to read?
You can do a google search and search for the Best Javascript Books, but then you get hundreds of “Best of Lists” in front of you, so that doesn’t help a lot either unless you want to spend a full day going through all those lists. Well, that is exactly what we did! We searched for 50 “Best of Lists” highlighting the most recommended Books about Javascript by various authority sites. Then we selected and combined the 20 most valuable “Best of Lists” and earmarked and ranked what Javascript Books keep up appearing on most of those recently published lists. From a total of 135 Javascript Books compared, reviewed and ranked, here are the Top 20 of Most Recommended Javascript Books that appear on most of the Best Javascript Books lists!
As we are a small business ourselves, we use this list as well for educating and inspiring our minds and for optimizing our Consultants 500 platform. And in case you didn’t know yet, on our platform you can search for all types of Web Development Services all over the world, including Javascript Services, local Javascript Freelancers or around the globe, Javascript Experts, and Web Development Firms that specialize in Javascript. Finally, if you are a Java Expert yourself, you can always register for free if you want to, it’s all up to you. See here how it works.
Top 20 of Best Javascript Books
Recommended Most Times
#1. JavaScript: The Good Parts | by Douglas Crockford
Listed 11 out of 20 times. Douglas Crockford is a Senior JavaScript Architect at Yahoo!, well known for introducing and maintaining the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. He’s a regular speaker at conferences on advanced JavaScript topics, and serves on the ECMAScript committee.
Most programming languages contain good and bad parts, but JavaScript has more than its share of the bad, having been developed and released in a hurry before it could be refined. This authoritative book scrapes away these bad features to reveal a subset of JavaScript that’s more reliable, readable, and maintainable than the language as a whole—a subset you can use to create truly extensible and efficient code. (From the Back Cover)
This Javascript Book Gives a Detailed Look at:
– Syntax / Objects / Functions
– Inheritance / Arrays / Regular expressions
– Methods / Style / Beautiful features
#2. Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming | by Marijn Haverbeke
Listed 16 out of 20 times. Marijn Haverbeke is a programming language enthusiast and polyglot. He’s worked his way from trivial BASIC games on the Commodore, through a C++ phase, to the present where he mostly hacks on database systems and web APIs in dynamic languages. He created and maintains several popular open source projects.
Eloquent Java Script dives into this flourishing language and teaches you to write code that’s beautiful and effective. By immersing you in example code and encouraging experimentation right from the start, the author quickly gives you the tools you need to build your own programs. (From the Back Cover)
Reading this Javascript Book You Will Learn:
– Understand the essential elements of programming
– To use object-oriented and functional programming techniques
– Script the browser and make basic Web applications
– To work with tools like regular expressions and XMLHttpRequest objects
#3. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide | by David Flanagan
Listed 16 out of 20 times. David Flanagan is a programmer and writer with a website at http://davidflanagan .com. His other O’Reilly books include JavaScript Pocket Reference, The Ruby Programming Language, and Java in a Nutshell. David has a degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his wife and children in the Pacific Northwest between the cities of Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
“A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers…well-organized and detailed.” (Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript, CTO of Mozilla)
Recommended by:
– Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript, CTO of Mozilla
– Andrew Hedges, Tapulous
#4. JavaScript Patterns: Build Better Applications with Coding and Design Patterns | by Stoyan Stefanov
Listed 7 out of 20 times. Stoyan Stefanov is a Yahoo! web developer, book author (Object-Oriented JavaScript), book contributor (Even Faster Web Sites, High Performance JavaScript), and technical reviewer (JavaScript: The Good Parts, PHP Mashups). He speaks regularly about JavaScript, PHP, and other web development topics at conferences and on his blog (http://www.phpied.com). Stoyan is the creator of the smush.it image optimization tool and architect of Yahoo’s performance optimization tool YSlow 2.0.
“Stoyan has written the go-to guide for JavaScript developers working on large-scale web applications.” (Ryan Grove, YUI engineer, Yahoo!)
Reading this Javascript Book You Will Learn:
– Practical advice for implementing many patterns
– About anti-patterns
– How to write high-quality Javascript code
– How to reuse Javascript code
#5. Beginning JavaScript And CSS Development with jQuery | by Richard York
Listed 4 out of 20 times. Richard York (Indianapolis, IN) is a web application developer. He wrote his first book, Beginning CSS: Cascading Sheets for Web Design, with Wrox in 2004 following that success with the 2nd edition in 2007. Richard began his web development career taking courses at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Since college, he has continued a self-imposed curriculum, mastering various technologies used in web development including HTML/XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL.
“With this unique, project-oriented book, author Richard York teaches even the most novice of JavaScript users how to quickly get started utilizing the JavaScript jQuery Library to decrease the amount of code that needs to be written and tested. A fourcolor code syntax highlighting system provides a visual reinforcement and allows you to see the nuts and bolts that comprise each line and section of code.” (From the Back Cover)
Reading this more Advanced Javascript Book You Will Learn:
– The jQuery JavaScript framework
– The jQuery UI JavaScript framework
– How to simulate events
– Make graphically driven UI widgets and much more
#6. JavaScript Programmer’s Reference | by Alexei White
Listed 4 out of 20 times. Alexei White is a programmer, designer, and speaker. He is the inventor of RobotReplay, a web session tracking technology acquired by Foresee Results, and an author of the book Enterprise Ajax, as well as the DVD training series Enterprise Ajax LiveLessons. He has contributed to major Web projects for Microsoft and Nintendo.
“JavaScript is one of today’s most widely used scripting languages, and is an essential ingredient for building standards-based dynamic web sites and applications. While JavaScript has long enjoyed support within all major web browsers, a recent wave of browsers specifically boast significant improvement in JavaScript support and performance. This improvement, combined with new web standards such as HTML 5, makes learning JavaScript more important now than ever.” (From the Back Cover)
#7. Effective JavaScript: 68 Specific Ways to Harness the Power of JavaScript | by David Herman
Listed 10 out of 20 times. David Herman is a principal researcher at Mozilla Research. He holds a BA in computer science from Grinnell College and an MS and PhD in computer science from Northeastern University. David serves on Ecma TC39, the committee responsible for the standardization of JavaScript.
“This is not a book for those looking for shortcuts; rather it is hard-won experience distilled into a guided tour. It’s one of the few books on JS that I’ll recommend without hesitation.” (Alex Russell, TC39 member, software engineer, Google)
#8. You Don’t Know JS Book Series | by Kyle Simpson
Listed 12 out of 20 times. Kyle Simpson is an evangelist of the Open Web, passionate about all things JavaScript. He’s an author, trainer, speaker, and OSS contributor.
“The series’ first book, Up & Going, provides the necessary background for those of you with limited programming experience. By learning the basic building blocks of programming, as well as JavaScript’s core mechanisms, you’ll be prepared to dive into the other, more in-depth books in the series—and be well on your way toward true JavaScript.” (From the Back Cover)
#9. Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja | by John Resig and Bear Bibeault
Listed 8 out of 20 times. John Resig is an acknowledged JavaScript authority and the creator of the jQuery library. Bear Bibeault is a web developer and co-author of Ajax in Practice, Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action, and jQuery in Action from Manning.
“Consistent with the jQuery motto, “Write less, do more”.” (Andre Roberge, Universite Sainte-Anne)
#10. JavaScript Allongé | by Reginald Braithwaite
Listed 4 out of 20 times. When he’s not shipping JavaScript, Ruby, CoffeeScript and Java applications scaling out to millions of users, Reg “Raganwald” Braithwaite has authored libraries221 for JavaScript, CoffeeScript, and Ruby programming such as Allong.es, Method Combinators, Katy, JQuery Combinators, YouAreDaChef, andand, and others. He writes about programming on “Raganwald222,” as well as general-purpose ruminations on “Braythwayt Dot Com223”.
“JavaScript Allongé is a first and foremost, a book about programming with functions. It’s written in JavaScript, because JavaScript hits the perfect sweet spot of being both widely used, and of having proper first-class functions with lexical scope. If those terms seem unfamiliar, don’t worry: JavaScript Allongé takes great delight in explaining what they mean and why they matter.” (From the Book)
#11. Beginning JavaScript | by Paul Wilton and Jeremy McPeak
Listed 5 out of 20 times. Paul Wilton owns his own company, providing online booking systems to vacation property owners, which is largely developed using JavaScript.
Jeremy McPeak is a self-taught programmer who began his career by tinkering with web sites in 1998. He is the coauthor ofProfessional Ajax, 2nd Edition and several online articles covering topics such as XSLT, ASP.NET Web Forms, and C#. He is currently employed at an energy-based company building in-house conventional and web applications.
“JavaScript allows you to enhance your web pages and web applications by providing dynamic, personalized, and interactive content. Serving as a great introduction to JavaScript, this book offers all you need to start using JavaScript on your web pages right away. It’s fully updated and covers utilizing JavaScript with the latest versions of the Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, and Safari® browsers.” (From the Back Cover)
#12. The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript | by Nicholas C. Zakas
Listed 6 out of 20 times. Nicholas C. Zakas is a software engineer at Box and is known for writing on and speaking about the latest in JavaScript best practices. He honed his experience during his five years at Yahoo!, websites he was principal frontend engineer for the Yahoo! home page. He is the author of several books, including Maintainable JavaScript (O’Reilly Media, 2012) and Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (Wrox, 2012).
“An exciting foray into JavaScript. Not only did it shed light on some long-existing features that I had never fully considered… it also helped bring me up-to-date on how the JavaScript language is evolving” (Ben Nadel, CTO at InVision App, Inc)
#13. JavaScript Enlightenment | by Cody Lindley
Listed 4 out of 20 times. Cody Lindley, a principal front-end architect with TandemSeven, has 13 years professional experience with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and client-side performance techniques. When he’s not wielding client-side code, he’s toying with interface/interaction design and speaking at various conferences.
“If you’re an advanced beginner or intermediate JavaScript developer, JavaScript Enlightenment will solidify your understanding of the language-especially if you use a JavaScript library. In this concise book, JavaScript expert Cody Lindeley (jQuery Cookbook) provides an accurate view of the language by examining its objects and supporting nuances.” (From the Back Cover)
#14. Learning Javascript Design Patterns | by Addy Osmani
Listed 5 out of 20 times. Addy Osmani, a Developer Programs Engineer on the Chrome team at Google, has a passion for JavaScript application architecture. He’s created popular projects like TodoMVC and contributed to other open source projects such as Modernizr and jQuery. A prolific blogger, (http://addyosmani.com/blog/), Addy’s articles are frequently featured in JavaScript Weekly, Smashing Magazine, and many other publications.
“With this book, Addy Osmani makes JavaScripit design patterns accessible to a larger number of developers. The sections on MV* and Modern Modular patterns will help developers solidify their understanding of the techniques and libraries they are probably already using to create client-heavy web apps.”
#15. High Performance Browser Networking | by Ilya Grigorik.
Listed 4 out of 20 times. Ilya Grigorik is a web performance engineer and developer advocate at Google where he works to make the Web faster by building and driving adoption of performance best practices at Google and beyond.
“This book is required reading for anyone who cares about web performance; it’s already established as the go-to reference on the topic.” (Mark Nottingham, IETF HTTPbis Working Group Chair)
#16. Programming JavaScript Applications: Robust Web Architecture with Node, HTML5, and Moderns JS Libraries | by Eric Elliott
Listed 5 out of 20 times. Eric Elliott is a veteran of JavaScript application development. He has served as computer scientist for the Adobe Creative Cloud team, JavaScript lead at Tout (social video), head of client-side architecture at Zumba Fitness (a leading global fitness brand), author, public speaker, UX consultant, and viral-application consultant.
„Eric not only covers important details of the JavaScript language in a clear and concise way, but also explores the surrounding ecosystem of tools and techniques that are so critical in building robust applications. It’s simple: don’ build JS apps without reading this book!“ (Kyle Simpson, Open Web Evangelist)
#17. JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development | by Jon Duckett
Listed 5 out of 20 times. Jon Duckett has been designing and building web sites for over a decade, working with global brands, and has authored and co-authored over a dozen books on web design, programming, usability, and accessibility. He has curated conferences about web programming and has been a web strategy consultant, often coding front ends for projects and designing architectures for back end programming.
“Are you new to JavaScript, or have you added scripts to your web page but want a better idea of how they work? Then this book is for you. We’ll not only show you how to read and write JavaScript, but we’ll also teach you the basics of computer programming in a simple, visual way. All you need is an understanding of HTML and CSS. (From the Back Cover)
#18. JavaScript for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming | by Nick Morgan
Nick Morgan is a front-end engineer at Twitter. He loves all programming languages but has a particular soft spot for JavaScript. Nick lives in San Francisco (the foggy part) with his girlfriend and their fluffy dog, Pancake. He occasionally blogs at skilldrick.co.uk.
“JavaScript for Kids is a lighthearted introduction that teaches programming essentials through patient, step-by-step examples paired with funny illustrations. You’ll begin with the basics, like working with strings, arrays, and loops, and then move on to more advanced topics, like building interactivity with jQuery and drawing graphics with Canvas.” (From the Back Cover)
#19. High Performance JavaScript | by Nicholas C. Zakas
Nicholas C. Zakas, principal frontend engineer for the Yahoo! Home page and contributor to the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) library, is a software engineer specializing in web interface design and implementation using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, XML, and XSLT.
„High Performance JavaScript is an impressive collection of JavaScript topics, tips, and tricks – written by subject-matter experts – all in one place. It is a valuable read for anyone wanting to write high-quality JavaScript.“ (Venkat Udayasankar, Search Performance Guru, Yahoo!Search)
#20. JavaScript Step by Step | by Steve Suehring
Steve Suehring is a technology architect who’s written about programming, security, network and system administration, operating systems, and other topics for several industry publications. He is also the author of Start Here!™ Learn JavaScript, which is designed for those with no previous programming experience.
„Expand your expertise—and teach yourself the fundamentals of JavaScript. If you have previous programming experience but are new to JavaScript, this tutorial delivers the step-by-step guidance and coding exercises you need to master core topics and techniques.“ (From the Back Cover)
Best Java Books
to Read
These Java Books might also interest you as we did another research for books about Java in the same way as we did for Best Javascript Books. Here are the top 5 Java Books that keep up appearing on all the lists of Best Java Books that resulted in The 20 Best Java Books Recommended Most Times by Java Pros:
#1. Effective Java Programming Language Guide | by Joshua Bloch
Listed 18 out of 20 times. Joshua J. Bloch (born August 28, 1961) is a software engineer and a technology author, formerly employed at Sun Microsystems and Google. He led the design and implementation of numerous Java platform features, including the Java Collections Framework, the java math package, and the assert mechanism. He is the author of the programming guide Effective Java (2001), which won the 2001 Jolt Award, and is a co-author of two other Java books, Java Puzzlers (2005) and Java Concurrency in Practice (2006).
„Are you looking for a concise book packed with insight and wisdom not found elsewhere? Need to really understand the Java programming language; that is, really understand it? Do you want to write code that is clear, correct, robust, and reusable? Look no further! The book you are holding will provide you with this and many other benefits you may not even know you were looking for. Become a more effective programmer.“ (James Gosling, Fellow and Vice President, Sun Microsystems, Inc., and inventor of the Java™ programming language)
Recommended by:
– James Gosling, Fellow and Vice President, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
– Professor at Carnegie Mellow University
– Chief Java architect at Google
#2. Head First Java | by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates
Listed 17 out of 20 times. Kathy Sierra has been interested in learning theory since her days as a game developer (Virgin, MGM, Amblin’). More recently, she’s been a master trainer for Sun Microsystems, teaching Sun’s Java instructors how to teach the latest technologies to customers, and a lead developer of several Sun certification exams. Along with her partner Bert Bates, Kathy created the Head First series. She’s also the original founder of the Software Development/Jolt Productivity Award-winning javaranch.com, the largest (and friendliest) all-volunteer Java community.
Bert Bates is a 20-year software developer, a Java instructor, and a co-developer of Sun’s upcoming EJB exam (Sun Certified Business Component Developer). His background features a long stint in artificial intelligence, with clients like the Weather Channel, A&E Network, Rockwell, and Timken.
It’s definitely time to dive in–Head First.” (Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems, Chairman, President, and CEO)
Recommended by:
– Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems, Chairman, President, and CEO
– Douglas Rowe, Columbia Java Users Group
– Software Development Magazine
– Dr. Dan Russell, Director of User Sciences and Experience Research IBM Almaden Research Center
#3. Java Concurrency in Practice | by Brian Goetz, Tim Peierls, Joshua Bloch, Joseph Bowbeer, David Holmes, Doug Lea
Listed 11 out of 20 times. Brian Goetz is a software consultant with twenty years of industry experience, with over 75 articles on Java development. Tim Peierls is the very model of a modern multiprocessor, with BoxPop.biz, recording arts, and goings on theatrical. Joseph Bowbeer is a Java ME specialist whose fascination with concurrent programming began in his days at Apollo Computer. David Holmes is a coauthor of The Java Programming Language and works at Sun Microsystems. Joshua Bloch is a chief Java engineer at Google, author of Effective Java and coauthor of Java Puzzlers, and never codes like his brother – well, hardly ever. Doug Lea is the author of Concurrent Programming in Java and Professor of Computer Science at SUNY Oswego.
For the past thirty years, computer performance has been driven by Moore’s Law; from now on, it will be driven by Amdahl’s Law. Writing code that effectively exploits multiple processors can be very challenging. Java Concurrency in Practice provides you with the concepts and techniques needed to write safe and scalable Java programs for today’s–and tomorrow’s–systems.” (Doron Rajwan, Research Scientist, Intel Corp.)
Recommended by:
– Martin Buchholz, JDK Concurrency Czar, Sun Microsystems
– Doron Rajwan, Research Scientist, Intel Corp
– Ted Neward, Author of Effective Enterprise Java
– Kirk Pepperdine, CTO, JavaPerformanceTuning.com
#4. Java: A Beginner’s Guide | by Herbert Schildt
Listed 14 out of 20 times. Best-selling author Herbert Schildt has written extensively about programming for nearly three decades and is a leading authority on the Java language is books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into all major foreign languages. He is the author of numerous books on Java, including Java: The Complete Reference, Herb Schildt’s Java Programming Cookbook, and Swing: A Beginner’s Guide. He has also written extensively about C, C++, and C#. Although interested in all facets of computing, his primary focus is computer languages, including compilers, interpreters, and robotic control languages.
“Fully updated for Java Platform, Standard Edition 9 (Java SE 9), Java: A Beginner’s Guide, Seventh Edition, gets you started programming in Java right away. Bestselling programming author Herb Schildt begins with the basics, such as how to create, compile, and run a Java program. He then moves on to the keywords, syntax, and constructs that form the core of the Java language. The book also covers some of Java’s more advanced features, including multithreaded programming, generics, lambda expressions, Swing, and JavaFX.” (From the Back Cover)
Recommended by:
– International Developer Magazine
#5. Core Java Volume I–Fundamentals | by Cay S. Horstmann
Listed 13 out of 20 times. Cay S. Horstmann is a professor of computer science at San Jose State University and a Java Champion. He is also the author of Core Java®, Volumes I and II, Eleventh Edition (forthcoming from Pearson in 2018), Core Java SE 9 for the Impatient, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2018), and Scala for the Impatient, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2017). He has written more than a dozen other books for professional programmers and computer science students.
“Core Java® has long been recognized as the leading, no-nonsense tutorial and reference for experienced programmers who want to write robust Java code for real-world applications. Now, Core Java®, Volume I–Fundamentals, Tenth Edition, has been extensively updated to reflect the most eagerly awaited and innovative version of Java in years: Java SE 8. Rewritten and reorganized to illuminate new Java SE 8 features, idioms, and best practices, it contains hundreds of example programs–all carefully crafted for easy understanding and practical applicability.“ (Amazon review)
Best Web Development Blogs
for Further Learning
Blogs about Web Development are another great resource for staying up to date on the latest trends and developments about all sorts of Java topics. These Web Development Blogs keep up appearing on all the “Best of Lists” resulting in the 20 Best Web Development Blogs Recommended most Times, and here are the top 5:
- Smashing Magazine / Twitter
- Tutsplus.com / Twitter
- CSS-Tricks / Twitter
- A list Apart / Twitter
- CoDrops / Twitter
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How we Established the
Final Top 20 of Best Javascript Books
- We made a list of 50 posts that were recently published about “Best Javascript Books” to read.
- From this list of 50 posts, we selected the top 20 that seem most valuable to our readers and users.
- We combined the 20 lists of “Best Javascript Books” and earmarked all individual books that were on those lists.
- When a book was ranked as number 1, it got 1 point, and when it was ranked 2nd, it got 2 points, etc.
- When no particular ranking was applied to a certain list, then each listed book got the same points.
- To be included in the final list a book should be listed for a minimal number of times.
- More weight was assigned to books which were explicitly listed more times than other books.
- All lists were summed up, and the Javascript Books with the lowest number were ranked 1, 2, 3, etc.
- This resulted in the final “Top 20 of Best Javascript Books” that have been recommended most times by all types of Javascript Experts.
Sources Used for Best JavaScript Books
The 20 “Best of Lists” used for researching what the Best Javascript Books are:
- 12 Books Every JavaScript Developer Should Read
- Best Sellers in JavaScript Programming
- 20 Best JavaScript Books To Go From Beginner to Advanced
- Learn JavaScript: Best JavaScript courses, tutorials, & books 2019
- Best JavaScript Books
- Best JavaScript Books Recommended by Railsware
- JavaScript Books
- Top 27 JavaScript Books for Web Developers 2017
- Top 15 Best Books for JavaScript Beginners
- Top 10 Best JavaScript and jQuery Books that Beginners should Read
- 15 Books Every JavaScript Developer Should Read
- Best JavaScript Books In 2017 – Level Up! – Medium
- Top 10 JavaScript Books
- Top 10 Best JavaScript Books That Beginners Should Read
- Best JavaScript Books
- The JavaScript Learning Landscape in 2018
- JavaScript (Computer program language): Books
- MASTER JAVASCRIPT PROGRAMMING WITH 18 FREE OPEN-SOURCE BOOKS
- 15 Awesome And Free JavaScript Books
- These Are 13 Books That Every JavaScript Developer Should Read
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