So I still browse most sites with JavaScript disabled. Am I missing much besides pop-ups, annoying ads, and buggy pages? I don’t think so.
Hoffman:
To start pretty much any new web tech I always recommend W3 Schools (www.w3schools.com). But there are MANY, MANY Javascript tutorials out there (just Google javascript tutorial), and any number of them can get you started.
I highly recommend David Flanagans JavaScript: The Definitive Guide - a href=http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Definitive-Guide-David-Flanagan/dp/0596000480http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Definitive-Guide-David-Flanagan/dp/0596000480/a
try again…
a href=http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Definitive-Guide-David-Flanagan/dp/0596000480Flangan/a
i give up
Jeff, do you do any kind of automated unit testing or integration testing on your javascript? It seems like a fine language to me, but very difficult to test properly.
Thanks Jeremy for that website, it looks very dummy friendly. aaron, unfortunaly I can’t buy any books (food or books, I go for food) and there is not a copy of that one at my college library, but thanks anyway.
If every car manufacturer had to re-invent the wheel for every car they made, we’d have a lot less cars
Actually, a few less cars would not be a bad thing in my opinion. 
Humor aside, the only nit I would pick about JS frameworks is the fact that the framework, as a whole or in part, would be downloaded each time for each site, browser caching not withstanding. For example, in my browser cache currently I have two copies of Ajax libraries from TechNet and MSDN. Unfortunately, the alternative, I imagine, would be the JS version of DLL Hell. As long as the libraries are well modularized and optimized for downloading, the impact would be minimal. I realize that a fat broadband pipe makes it a moot point, but some people still use dialup; dwindling numbers of them every day, but they’re there.
What? Nobody else finds it odd that the cover of book entitled Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja instead features a samurai? - Joel F
Not to take anything away from John’s book, which I’m sure is great, but yes, I do find the cover image a bit odd considering the title.
Seriously, does anyone still write their javascript by hand? Just the thought makes me shiver. What a pain! I’d rather drive a dirty steak nife through my hand.
I’ve been messing around with jQuery lately, and I have to agree with Mr. Atwood here. It doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork.
Now that I’m actually starting to figure it out, I’m quite impressed with what they’ve accomplished.
Thanks for this post; you just made my life a lot easier.
Finally.
I’ve been feeling more and more like a leper since realizing how much fun you can have with JS a couple years ago. With Prototype I went mostly crazy, I rewrite everything to be dynamic with AJAX. I use replace any XML I can with JSON… mostly because I can, all the while my peers have been looking down their nose and scoffing.
Slowly the tide is turning, and its about damned time.
Hi Jeff,
Enjoyed reading your post (wow, you get a lot of comments!).
Since someone pointed out Dean Edwards’s base2 for a really lightweight solution, I thought I’d also recommend that you and your readers take a look at Robert Nyman’s DOMAssistant (at http://www.domassistant.com/). It’s quick and lean. Of course, I still prefer jQuery (I’m on the jQuery project team), but it’s great to have other options, too, depending on the project.
@Scott Rosenbaum:
Google Web Toolkit isn’t useful unless you’re already working in Java. It literally turns Java code into Javascript.
On another subject, we use jQuery for our projects where I work… although one of the senior developers wants to move to ExtJS instead.
There are several popular JavaScript API frameworks to choose from:
The term several here is understated… however the relevant ones used today are listed and I would agree that JavaScript is much more enjoyable because of these.
I’m sorry to say this Jeff but I’ve come to the conclusion you’re a hack.
I’m just wondering what took you so long to figure this out!
I included the book because a) Resig is awesome and b) Ninjas are awesome.
Questions?
There is no irony here
Well, to a point. We can no longer luxuriate in the – and to be clear, I mean this ironically – golden age of Internet Explorer 6.
Oooh, swing and a miss.
He says golden age, but means something different. That’s irony.
Sarcasm is in fact a form of irony, in that it means not just something different, but the exact opposite of the writer’s statement.
From http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/sarcasmandirony/
…sarcasm is a concept that utilizes irony. In many instances, sarcasm is a remark seasoned with irony. You can think of irony as a vessel to express many things in a sarcastic way…
These frameworks lull people into thinking they know javascript, when the truth is they really don’t.
In the same way that C compilers lull people into thinking that they know assembly language?
Surely the whole point is that libraries/frameworks provide a level of abstraction that allows you to not have to worry about the low level stuff?
Personally, I’ve found jquery a joy to use, as I don’t have to spend so much time battling against the browser implementation of Javascript/DOM - I can just get on with the task at hand. It’s almost like writing in a high level language, but with the ability to drop to low level stuff as and when it becomes necessary.