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Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

eloquentjavascript.net

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Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#211

Post by iwsk »

Daltzn wrote: post #198
iwsk wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is a good book for someone who wants to learn programming for the first time.

Why do you feel that way? What books would you recommend instead?

Eloquent Javascript is better suited for someone who already has some experience with basic programming and wants to learn javascript while also exploring more advanced concepts in programming in general.

Javascript was not my first language, but I have refered to javascript.info from time to time and it seems to have a gentle introduction.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#212

Post by auggierose »

chrisweekly wrote: post #210
anthomtb wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with all your bulleted points. Especially the "at most an hour". Maybe its age or outside responsibilities, but mental fatigue is a real thing for me, and spending more time than that on technically-challenging materially brings rapidly diminishing returns. > Very few of these work as ebook (Kobo) for me. The formatting of code is poor and diagrams unreadable. Prefer paper or PDF (but read on a computer or ta…

I find my ReMarkable 2 e-ink tablet provides fantastic UX for technical PDFs. Zero distractions, handwritten (or typed!) annotations, etc.

It's not large enough, in my opinion. For PDFs, personally I think that an iPad 12.9 inch is the best choice.

Adding this just in case someone is tempted to get a Remarkable for reading PDFs.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#213

Post by cultofmetatron »

deprecative wrote: post #125
kabes wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for "You don't know js", it's a must read for any js programmer IMO. I haven't read eloquent JS though, you say it's a different level of learner. Can you expand a bit? Is Eloquent for after "you don't know js" or vice-versa? Edit: nevermind, reading the TOC of eloquent JS gave me a good enough idea

I get so jealous that people can absorb information via books as an adult. I can read the same chapter a hundred times and nothing sinks in. I know this is off topic but do you, or anyone passing, have a system or tips for how y'all do this? I've got so many programming books but they only collect dust after I read through them without benefit.

heres how I learn programming languages.

read a page, keep a notebook next to you and rewrite each paragraph in your own words. it forces you to engage more deeply with the material

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#214

Post by pletnes »

preommr wrote: post #72
OmarShehata wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much concur that it is better NOT to introduce TS when explaining JS fundamentals. I've seen smart engineers with a C++ background get tripped up on and very confused working with TS, because it's not clear to them what concepts are "language fundamentals" and what concepts are "the TS transpiler". (Like expecting that just because you declared something as type X, that it guarantees at runtime it will always…

> I've seen smart engineers with a C++ background get tripped up on and very confused working with TS, The idea that someone is good at another language so they'll automatically be good at another is a common misconception. In fact, they're likely to be worse because they're less likely to spend time trying to learn things from the ground up and less likely to write idiomatic code. It's especially bad with js/ts beca…

NaN doesn’t equal itself in any language I’m aware of, fwiw.

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#217

Post by noname120 »

My go-to JavaScript book will always remain “JavaScript for impatient programmers”[1], a 639-page book written by Dr. Axel, PhD.

It's quite complete and detailed. But as if it wasn't enough the author wrote a second (smaller book) named “Deep JavaScript: Theory and techniques”[2].

Both are free to read online!

[1] https://exploringjs.com/impatient-js/

[2] https://exploringjs.com/deep-js/index.html

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#218

Post by culturedsystems »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #106
svat wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's not how variables work in JavaScript/Python etc (though it may be fine for say C++ in the case of value types and copy constructors). For example: I'm typing on phone so for a quick example: let a = []; let b = a; a.push(1); and consider the value of b now (or the fact that we could write "const" above because the binding is constant, even though we mutate the value). Or see the equivalent for Python b…

I knew that in Python all variables are really references to objects (even when we're using a number) - is JavaScript the same way? Also, does anyone have a link/reference to the place in the spec where it specifies this? I briefly skimmed through parts of [1] but couldn't find anything that says that JavaScript treats numbers this way. [1] https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/#sec-intro

I don't think there's an explicit reference in the JavaScript spec to numbers being treated this way, because this is how all variables are treated in JavaScript - the relevant part of the specification is probably the definition of the "PutValue" abstract operation[1], which doesn't include any special cases for numbers (or other primitive types) vs. objects.

[1] https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/ecmascript-data-types-and-...

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#219

Post by marijn »

boringuser2 wrote: post #207

This book took me from having nothing -- literally being a political science major grocery store employee -- to making 2xx,xxx YOY. It was challenging and made me question whether or not I had it in me to code. Turns out, I could, and, vis-a-vis my peers, exceptionally well. Well, I took me, but this book was my first real introduction to computer science. Funnily enough, I didn't then and don't now personally care f…

You're welcome

Re: Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

#220

Post by ayuhito »

OmarShehata wrote: post #5
dcre wrote: post #4

This is my favorite book about JS, and I always recommend it to people. It occurs to me for the first time that the lack of TypeScript might be a problem, because if I’m making recommendations to someone learning, I am definitely going to recommend they write TS instead of JS. On the other hand it may actually be helpful to learn the concepts in this book without the additional syntax overhead of type annotations, pl…

I very much concur that it is better NOT to introduce TS when explaining JS fundamentals. I've seen smart engineers with a C++ background get tripped up on and very confused working with TS, because it's not clear to them what concepts are "language fundamentals" and what concepts are "the TS transpiler". (Like expecting that just because you declared something as type X, that it guarantees at runtime it will always…

I wholeheartedly agree. At most, I introduce JSDoc[1] to newer developers as standardising how parameters and whatnot are commented at least gets you better documentation and some safety without adding any TS knowledge overhead.

[1] https://jsdoc.app/

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