Pragmatic Forums | Posts in topic 'Praise and suggestion'

Praise and suggestion posted by Bharat Ruparel @ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:34:33 +0000

Bharat Ruparel — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:34:33 +0000

Hello Matt,
I can see where you are coming from. Like you, I am an experienced Java programmer, and have dabbled in Ruby for awhile. The Javascript/Prototype syntax does take some getting used to.
To get around that, I bought two books on Javascript alone. Both from SitePoint. The first one titled “Simply Javascript” preps you for understanding this kind of syntax and the second one titled “The Art and Science of Javascript” takes you a step further.
If I was coming to Christophe’s Prototype book without this preparation, I would have had the same problems. Having said that, I think that the suggestion to put this as a separate appendix in the next version of this book an excellent one. It would make it more self-contained and useful. It is very good already.
Bharat

Praise and suggestion posted by Christophe Porteneuve @ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:46:27 +0000

Christophe Porteneuve — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:46:27 +0000

Hey Matt,

Well, thanks for the praise! I’m delighted the book is helpful to you.

As for your suggestion, it’s a pretty good idea. I’ll keep it around for the second edition, and tuck it somewhere between the intro and the Prototype part (or, at worst, put it up as first appendix and reference it throughout the book).

Praise and suggestion posted by Matthew Grdinic @ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:07:45 +0000

Matthew Grdinic — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:07:45 +0000

First, some praise for your book. It’s very well written, and much like the libraries it features, concise and to the point. It’s been a joy to read, and the more I get into it, the more beautiful and exciting the Prototype library becomes. Your book has taken what for me is a fairly advanced topic and made it fun to learn.

That said, I do have a suggestion for any future versions that would in my opinion, make it even better:

First, as a seasoned programmer with Java, .NET, and Object Oriented PHP experience, the syntax of Javascript/Prototype with all its anonymous functions, chained calls, and higher-order functions is quite simply bizarre to me.

I imagine many other programmers without serious Javascript/dynamic language experience feel the same way. Thus, I would love to see a quick introduction chapter on ‘Syntax conventions you’ll need to know’, that goes into how javascript/protoype syntax differs from many standard, non-dynamic languages.

For example, on page 13 you create a Person ‘class’, then create instance methods getFullName() et al using:
Class({ },
member:(){
},
member:(){
}
});
etc.

That syntax with it’s commas, parentheses, and colons is so totally different from what I’m used to that it took way longer to sink in than I wanted. Please understand, it’s not so much the technique that was overwhelming, it was the lack of syntax explination. I think at one point you say they’re name=value pairs, but the fact that I still don’t know why methods and classes are arranged this way speaks to my concern.

The same can be said of some of the other features listed above such as higher-order functions. Yes you explain them, but it’s in the context of an example within a short tutorial.

Bottom line, I stumbled around a fair bit the first day or two with the book becuase the syntax and features were so very forign to me. If I had a single location that laid out all of these quirks with very generic /here is what you may know->this is how it’s different/, I could have gotten up to speed even faster!

That said, after only 6 days with this book (including working a 50 hour work week), I feel confident enough to start writing my own applications. That makes me one happy developer : )