why am I frustrated?

[orkko]

I long to become a kickazs js scripter like some guys who assist others here in these forums with their invaluable knowledge.

I would apreciate if you could recommend good literature for acquiring the skills I need to fully understand and apply js.

The reason I am frustrated is that from most js literature I find out there, they're filled with silly jokes, and will force you to read 2 and 3 pages long of non-sense to find one line of usefull js information.
Since wasting time is not an option, I need concrete material that'll assist the newbie here learn js, and well, (e.g. like a js dictionary, would that help?)...

Thanks a lot, and hopefully with your information I can join you in helping the js community as soon as I am more capable...

edit: * you can name a book or whatever you like :)

[AdamGundry]

For a reference document, you might try Netscape Devedge (http://devedge.netscape.com/library/manuals/). The W3Schools Javascript Tutorial (http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp) is not bad (note that W3Schools is not affiliated with the W3C).

If you're looking for a dead tree, apparently "Javascript, The Definitive Guide (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596000480/qid=1065342145/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-7682605-5087862?v=glance&s=books)" by David Flanhgan is good, though I have not read it.

Adam

[S1L3NC3]

I have recently purchased Javascript: The Definitive Guide And it was worth every cent of the Forty some odd dollars i paid for it. It is a wonderful teaching tool as well as the best reference ive ever found.

[Charles]

Allow me to also suggest that you learn Perl along side of JavaScript. It's very helpful, sometimes, to think of a JavaScript object as if it were a Perl hash.

[orkko]

I want to thank all of you for contributing with what you know.
I'll buy the forth edition of the book Adam proposed tomorrow that covers JS v1.5, and about learning perl aside with js is quite a bit too much for me right now since I am already studying php, xml and js. I'll consider it after I have completed the JS book. Thanks all for helping me find what I need...

[pyro]

PHP and Perl have very similar uses, as far as the internet goes. I'll stick out my neck here, though, and say that PHP is better suitable for web programming. PHP is easier to learn than Perl (not that that makes it better...), interfaces very well with MySQL and other databases, and the code gets embedded in the HTML, making it code management simple, and interfacing with the current page easy. PHP is also marginally faster than Perl, in most, if not all regards. The problem with Perl, is that it was not written as an internet language, while PHP was.

[Charles]

I didn't mean to suggest Perl because of its application but rather to suggest that a study of the language is an aid to understanding JavaScript. The two are very different, but there is something about the differences that sheds light on each.

[pyro]

My mistake. I just wanted to point out that if they are currently learning PHP, to stick with that (if they need it for internet purposes) rather than switch to Perl. I do, however, see you point entirely, and agree with it (or it's message). I don't know much Perl, so I can't say whether the syntaxes are complimentary of each other (I'll take your word for it, though), but will say that I learned PHP after learning JavaScript, and found that transition quite easy.

[orkko]

yeah, I am studying to be a good webmaster, so I need to learn the most common things first, such php, js, and xml... then I'll move on to the more complicated stuff...
All I read needed was a good book refferal to acquire the knowledge I need.