The JavaScript ecosystem can be tough to hack through, even for experienced programmers. There are so many extensive JavaScript reference books and competing libraries to choose from-Prototype, jQuery, MooTools, YUI, Dojo, ExtJS, and so on.

Christophe Porteneuve is here to help: he gives you fundamentals, the most handy techniques, and the insider's best practices. If you're reasonably comfortable programming in any widely known language, you'll be able to jump into JavaScript in no time.

Divided into six Parts, the book starts with JavaScript code patterns that are too often ignored by JavaScript coders. Part 2 presents several essential JavaScript tasks-DOM and CSS manipulations, plus event handling and timers-in a framework-agnostic way, using syntax from all the major flavors. Parts 3 and 4, respectively, hit JavaScript's best features for user interface functionality-tooltips, lightboxes, image processing, infinite scrolling, and more-and forms for receiving and validating input. Part 5 explores the client/server relationship, touching on cookies, JSON, and Ajax (same- and cross-domain). Part 6 uses JavaScript in mashups with Twitter, Flickr, and geo-related APIs.

The appendices feature Christophe's two-page JavaScript cheat sheet, followed by hard-won tips on debugging even the most maddening JavaScript errors. Next is an even-handed assessment of the major frameworks used in the book and in most JavaScript shops today. Last, Christophe presents an extensive group of resources for using and learning JavaScript and the major frameworks.

This Pragmatic Guide is strictly focused on the techniques that will get you started in JavaScript. It's where you come to get the full scope of JavaScript in your head--fast! You'll quickly understand its core syntax, capabilities, and related frameworks. Start here first.