UPDATE: Amazon currently has the book for sale at $30.47, as I write this.
I am very happy to say that my latest book, Modern JavaScript: Develop and Design, is official done. Well, not done, but close enough to blog about it. I just submitted the last chapter to be written, Chapter 13, Frameworks. In it, I quickly discuss how to choose a framework, when you should use a framework, and some common libraries (as a framework alternative). The bulk of the chapter introduces and uses jQuery and the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library. For both I explain how to perform common tasks—selecting DOM elements, DOM manipulation, event handling, and Ajax, and then walk through more advanced examples. For both, the chapter explains an autocomplete example, using a PHP script as the data source. For jQuery, I also discuss the DataTables plug-in. For YUI, I also discuss and demonstrate the Yahoo! Query Language (YQL). For it, I go through a couple of examples, including fetching a weather report and a stock quote. (For the record, I specifically target YUI3, which is an improvement over YUI1 and 2, even if some of the framework is currently in beta.)
Chapter 13 is the first chapter in Part 3 of the book, Next Steps. I already wrote Chapter 14, Advanced JavaScript, which has a heavy focus on closures. Chapter 15, A PHP and JavaScript Example, creates a pseudo-complete auction system. Auctions are set to expire on a certain date and time. Logged-in users can bid on items. All dates and times are shown using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or the user’s timezone, if the user is logged-in. Then, JavaScript used to enhance the experience. This includes using Ajax for the login and bid forms, retrieving the latest bids via Ajax (and updating the table of bids with them), and creating countdown timers that show them amount of time left in an auction, when that’s less than an hour. I think the chapter turned out well, and it emphasizes the various ways to pass data back and forth between PHP and JavaScript, a common point of confusion.
All of the initial writing is now complete. I’ve also done the rewrites on the first nine chapters. I still have to do the rewrites on the last six chapters, but that won’t take long. I will also be doing supporting videos and articles related to the book.
I believe the book will still ship, as originally planned, at the end of February. I am now going to go celebrate!
