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I'll be teaching a Javascript course at a community college this spring and and wondering what some good textbook options are.

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"Best" is a tad subjective. Also, this has been covered to death on Stack Overflow: stackoverflow.com/questions/3655530/… stackoverflow.com/questions/1594159/… stackoverflow.com/questions/1139780/… Though, those aren't textbooks. – George Marian Feb 21 '11 at 1:37
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@George P.SE is for "subjective" Qs – Gaurav Feb 21 '11 at 8:02
@gaurav That's a bit of an oversimplification. My only issue is with the word "best." – George Marian Feb 21 '11 at 8:58
@George Fair enough. Apologies for snark, it's just I think there are too many closes on P.SE. – Gaurav Feb 21 '11 at 9:09
When I saw the title. I wanted to answer: Internet Explorer's 'Object Expected' Errors – Nivas Feb 21 '11 at 10:11

8 Answers

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Head First Javascript is a very good resource, it's approach as being "brain-friendly" is suitable for a classroom environment when you don't want people to be frustrated while learning new concepts or languages

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HF Javascript is quite good (I was a tech reviewer on it) – Zachary K Feb 21 '11 at 4:40
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All head first books are very good, they might be a bit extensive, but they cover a lot of ground – Mahmoud Hossam Feb 21 '11 at 5:05
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I sat in a coffee shop and read JavaScript, The Definitive Guide from cover to cover. It introduced me to a lot of concepts. Reading this book then gave me the foundation to study those concepts in depth on the Internet and grow my skills over time. I would highly recommend this as an introductory book.

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I own this book and love it; not sure if it's appropriate for novice programmers though. – bestattendance Feb 28 '11 at 22:07
I learned Javascript from this book, and loved it. – kevin cline Apr 30 '11 at 0:33
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JavaScript: the Good Parts is basically legendary. However, it is not recommended for beginners, per se. It gives incredibly good information about correct practices and form for writing in JS, but is not a guide.

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The companion talks are absolutely amazing. – user16764 Apr 29 '11 at 22:23
Definitely not for beginners. – davidk01 Apr 30 '11 at 5:26
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I'm as biased as can be, but I'll put in my 2¢ anyway.

Answer 1:

I recommend JavaScript & Ajax for the Web: Visual QuickStart Guide, 7th edition (Peachpit Press, 2009) by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith (who is… ahem… me…).

I'm not just flogging our book here for the sake of flogging it—I've seen it used extensively and successfully in community colleges and JCs. I used an earlier edition when I taught JavaScript at Cal State Long Beach (Extension), and took what I learned from that experience to improve later editions.

There's also a companion web site at javascriptworld.com, where you can download a zip file of all the scripts in the book.

Answer 2:

Something I haven't heard anyone else ask yet: what background do you expect your students to have? In the JC and community college systems, I've mostly seen people sign up for JavaScript classes after they've taken HTML and CSS; that is, they start the class with no previous programming experience.

Many of the people answering here are expert programmers, and what works for them isn't what works for those who need a gentle introduction to programming concepts. My own opinion is that SitePoint and O'Reilly books (esp. the latter) are not suitable for programming novices. That doesn't mean they aren't good, solid books; just that they assume a technical background that many (most?) community college students don't have.

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up vote 2 down vote

MDC's Javascript Guide is as good as any book.

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up vote 0 down vote

First look for some online resources.

As a student I'm tired of paying way too much for a textbook I read once (if at all). JavaScript is the kind of thing where there are no end of free online resources that you can point your students to.

SitePoint has a couple good books that are not too expensive.
Simply JavaScript is more for beginners.
The Art & Science of JavaScript is a bit more practical.

My personal favorite is The JavaScript Pocket Guide. I highly recommend this last one just because it makes for a nice reference book that I actually keep around.

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Eloquent Javascript is another good free book. – user16764 Apr 29 '11 at 22:20
up vote 0 down vote

I would recommend Object-oriented Javascript by Stoyan Stefanov over anythig else. And possibly a look at his following book.

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up vote 0 down vote

Im learning it from

DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model

Very good book for beginners in Javascript, and then moves onto DOM in a very easy to understand manner with practical Image Gallery example

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