Product Overview
The Art & Science of JavaScript
Seven of the world's premier JavaScript experts have joined forces to bring you this inspirational full-color book.
- Learn the secrets of modern day JavaScript wizardry
- Create user experiences that you never thought possible
- Learn why JavaScript is limited only by your imagination
- Be inspired to create your own cutting-edge JavaScript
Overview

We’ve assembled seven of the greatest minds in modern JavaScript to teach you the most inspirational techniques you’ll ever use. From creating impressive mashups and stunning, dynamic graphics, to more subtle user-experience enhancements, you’re about to be amazed by the true potential of this powerful language.
Who Are the Authors?
You won’t find a better line-up of JavaScript experts. Between the seven authors you’ll already find loads of books, a huge list of achievements and years upon years of dedication to JavaScript. If your wondering how they program JavaScript in heaven, you’ve just found the stairway…
The Celebrity Crew
Above: James Edwards, Michael Mahemoff, Ara Pehlivanian, Cameron Adams, Dan Webb, Christian Heilmann and Simon Willison
What will you learn?
Among its many treasures, this book will show you how to:
- Create a slick Google Maps and Flickr mashup.
- Build your own fully accessible 3D maze.
- Have some fun with draggable and sortable table columns.
- Give your site some extra personality with client-side badges.
- Write better code faster using metaprogramming techniques.
- Create stunning vector graphics using the canvas element.
- Become a debugging expert using pro-level Firebug tricks.
Chapter 1: Fun with Tables
HTML tables get a bad rap among web developers, either because of their years of misuse in page layouts, or because they can be just plain boring. In this chapter, Ara Pehlivanian sets out to prove that not only are properly used tables not boring, but they can, in fact, be a lot of fun
Chapter 2: Creating Client-side Badges
Badges are snippets of third-party data (image thumbnails, links, and so on) that you can add to your blog to give it some extra personality. Christian Heilmann walks us through the task of creating one for your own site from scratch, using JSON and allowing for a plan B if the connection to the third-party server dies.
Chapter 3: Creating Vector Graphics with canvas
In this chapter, Cameron Adams introduces the canvas element, and shows how you can use it to create vector graphics—from static illustrations, to database driven graphs and pie charts—that work across all modern browsers. After you’ve read this chapter, you’ll never look at graphics on the Web the same way again!
Chapter 4: Debugging and Profiling with Firebug
Firebug is a plugin for the Firefox browser, but calling it a plugin doesn’t do it justice—Firebug is a full-blown editing, debugging, and profiling tool. It takes the traditionally awkward task of JavaScript debugging and optimization, and makes it intuitive and fun. Here, Michael Mahemoff reveals tons of pro-level tips and hidden treasures to give you new insight into this indispensable development tool.
Chapter 5: Metaprogramming with JavaScript
Here, Dan Webb takes us on a journey into the mechanics of the JavaScript language. By understanding a little about the theory of metaprogramming, he shows how we can use JavaScript to extend the language itself, improving its object oriented capabilities, improving support for older browsers, and adding methods and operators that make JavaScript development more convenient.
Chapter 6: Building a 3D Maze with CSS and JavaScript
Just when you thought you’d seen everything, James Edwards shows you how to push the technologies of CSS and JavaScript to their limits, as he creates a real game in which the player must navigate around a 3D maze! Complete with a floor-plan generator and accessibility features like keyboard navigation and captions, this chapter highlights the fact that JavaScript’s potential is limited only by one’s imagination.
Chapter 7: Flickr and Google Maps Mashups
Ever wished you could combine the Web’s best photo-management site, Flickr, with the Web’s best mapping service, Google Maps, to create your own über-application? Well, you can! Simon Willison shows that, by utilizing the power of JavaScript APIs, creating a mashup from two third-party web sites is easier than you might have thought.
Who Should Read This Book?
This book is targeted at intermediate JavaScript developers who want to take their JavaScript skills to the next level without sacrificing web accessibility or best practice. If you’ve never written a line of JavaScript before, this probably isn’t the right book for you—some of the logic in the later chapters can get a little hairy.
If you have only a small amount of experience with JavaScript, but are comfortable enough programming in another language such as PHP or Java, you’ll be just fine—we’ll hold your hand along the way, and all of the code is available for you to download and experiment with on your own.
And if you’re an experienced JavaScript developer, we would be very, very surprised if you didn’t learn a thing or two. In fact, if you only learn a thing or two, you should contact us here at SitePoint—we may have a book project for you to tackle!
No-risk Money-back Guarantee
Of course we’re so confident that you’ll treasure this book for years to come that we’re happy, as always, for you to try it risk-free for 30 days. If you purchase a copy of The Art & Science of JavaScript and you think it fails to be everything you wanted, we would like you to have your money back.
Simply contact us and we will see to it that you receive a prompt and courteous refund of the full purchase price minus shipping and handling.
What could be fairer than this?
How To Order This Book

The fastest way to get your hands on the most recent version of The Art & Science of JavaScript is by ordering it direct through us, the publisher, for $39.95.
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