What are good resources for a backend developer wanting to learn client-side programming in the browser?

views:

137

answers:

+1 Q:

What are good resources for a backend developer wanting to learn client-side programming in the browser?

I want to learn how to write the Javascript/CSS/HTML side of my applications but I want to skip the CSS kludges, bad Javascript, and non-semanitic HTML of the past and jump directly to HTML 5, CSS 3, clean Javascript libraries. I've been reading Mark Pilgrim's Dive In HTML 5 which I think is awesome and now I'd like the equivilent books (or blog posts) for Javascript and CSS.

Any suggestions?

+4 A:

Douglas Crockford's JavaScript: The Good Parts is a classic.

Jacob Relkin 2010-02-23 02:36:12

+1 A:

Learn jQuery :o)

jwwishart 2010-02-23 02:36:47

That wasn't quite the answer I was looking for. :-) I know of JQuery and the various other javascript libraries, but (out of ignorance) I assume that JQuery is part of that past that I want to skip. I really don't want to do a lot of stuff in the browser, I just want to do enough to make my site have teh snappy. I really just want an book titled: "How to add teh snappy to your website with HTML 5, CSS 3 and, a little itty bit of cleanly written Javascript".

guidoism 2010-02-23 03:05:48

No, you really want to use jQuery for that. It takes the pain out or writing small bits of JS that work cross-browser.

Devin Ceartas 2010-02-23 04:09:28

I agree with Devin; jQuery takes a terrible API (the DOM) with inconsistent implementations (browsers) and makes it fun to work with. Additionally, you may want to look at Prototype, a framework with a different approach than jQuery: it extends JavaScript's scripting-type functionality rather than it's implementation of the DOM.

cpharmston 2010-02-23 13:13:42

W3Schools is an excellent site for a quick and simple start.

aip.cd.aish 2010-02-23 02:37:16

I've been there many times in the past but I can't get over how horribly designed the site is. There's so much going on on each page and so little actual information that I tend to give up. I expect a lot more from a site that is supposedly to teach me web development. Somebody should send those guys a Tufte book. Sorry for my snarky reply.

guidoism 2010-02-23 02:59:32

Also, the quality of code and advice on w3schools is quite variable, ranging from passable down to outright bad.

Tim Down 2010-02-23 10:28:09

Do a search for object oriented javascript. Douglas Crockford is a good author on the subject, but there are others.

Gabriel McAdams 2010-02-23 03:07:25

+2 A:

These are my recommendations exactly in the same order. The first 3 books are very light reads & are sufficient enough to get started with client side programming. However, learning JQuery will make your Javascript development much easier. It is similar to learning to use regular expressions (but JQuery offers more than regex).

naivnomore 2010-02-23 04:07:49

I have to say learn JQuery and use Wordpress

Wordpress is way more than just a blog tool now and being able to code great XHTML / JQuery and be a wizard in CSS should cover everything.

Good luck :)

Tristan Botly 2010-02-23 04:19:59

If you can stomach the sometimes abrasive tone, try the comp.lang.javascript Usenet group. The archive is full of every JavaScript question or discussion you could imagine, and there are some seriously knowledgeable people on there.

Tim Down 2010-02-23 12:38:05

Don't forget the spam. There is a hell of that to stomach on Usenet these days.

David Dorward 2010-02-23 12:44:18

Yes, good point.

Tim Down 2010-02-23 15:01:36

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

What are good resources for a backend developer wanting to learn client-side programming in the browser?

related questions