Eloquent JavaScript
A book that teaches programming through JavaScript rather than JavaScript through examples, with real projects and exercises you can run in the page. Free online, and better written than most paid material.
Book
Web Development
Marijn Haverbeke
6 to 10 weeks
Intermediate
Free
What it is
A programming book, free to read online with runnable code in the browser, that uses JavaScript as its vehicle. It covers the language, then the browser, then Node, with project chapters building a robot simulation, a programming language and a platform game.
What sets it apart
It is about programming, not about syntax. The chapters on higher order functions, abstraction and program structure teach ways of thinking that transfer to every language you use afterwards, which is not something most language books attempt.
Fair warning
The exercises are harder than the prose suggests and the pace is brisk. That difficulty is where the value is, but it makes this a poor first ever programming book.
Best for: developers who can already write some code and want to write better code.
Ready to start?
Opens on Marijn Haverbeke in a new tab.
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