jQuery in Action Book Review

jQuery is without a doubt one of the most widely used JavaScript libraries available today, and for good reason. It’s very good at what it does, but with the great power it offers comes great responsibility. Someone using jQuery incorrectly can wreak havoc across the internet (or at least on their own site). You must learn how to use jQuery properly. This is where a great book comes in very handy, and jQuery In Action is one of those great books.

jQuery in Action, 2nd Edition
Written by Bear Bibeault and Yehuda Katz
Published by Manning Publications
Buy on Amazon

jQuery in Action was the first book about JavaScript programming I ever read and it was the book that got me hooked on JavaScript. I knew little to nothing about JavaScript, but surprisingly, a jQuery book is what got me in to writing JavaScript the right way. Normally a book about jQuery will show you almost exclusively how to program using jQuery and at the start this book is no different. But later on Bibeault and Katz – some of the best JavaScript programmers out there, with Katz actually being on the jQuery Core Team – show you what real JavaScript programming is. If you are a novice JavaScript programmer, make sure you read the appendices because they teach you some very important concepts – such as closures – back there.

This book was the textbook for a front end web development class in college and I loved the book so much that I was several chapters ahead of the class (and the teacher since this was his first time teaching jQuery). Programming books are often dry and boring, but as indicated in my last sentence, I could hardly bring myself to put this book down. I can honestly say that if I hadn’t read this book, I don’t think this website would exist.

Final Recommendation

If you’re not already a JavaScript or jQuery expert, then you are missing out one of the greatest ways to learn jQuery if you don’t read this book. If you are an expert, then you already missed out. Reading a book that teaches you a lot of things you already know is pretty boring, even when it’s one of the most exciting programming books you’ll ever read, but I guess you can always try to prove me wrong. Anyway, 5 out of 5 stars for this one.