The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript

JS has come a long way since this book was written. Unfortunately, all examples presented in this book are very simplistic , similar to the ones found in various basic tutorials freely available on the internet. Object-oriented programming (OOP) in JS has changed quite a bit for the past six years, making this slim book rather obsolete. These days most introductory JS books include this stuff and much more (new syntax for working with classes, etc). The author also misses the point that JS is a programming language for the browser, and without showing how JS OOP is actually integrated in some examples involving the browser, the book remains an ego-stroking exercise. If you want to write better JS code look elsewhere.

Very well written and to the point, this book is oblivious to ES6 class syntax by virtue of its release date. This is a good thing, as it reveals JavaScript object mechanics under the hood, diving deep into ‘prototypical inheritance’, it should answer any questions you may have about the inner workings of JavaScript objects and how they delegate to one another.Interestingly, what this book also reveals are the ‘coping strategies’ of the JavaScript community in its attempt to mimic class-based languages through constructs such as ‘mixins’ and parent-child class relationships. These ideas are not baked into the language, and the solutions that are used in practise (and documented in the final chapter) are approximations more than anything, with conceptual gotchas hiding beneath the surface.This is not to say that JS object patterns are without merit (the Revealing Module pattern for example is a personal favourite), just that they appear to act as ‘workarounds’ making up for perceived lack of native features in the language. This attitude has manifested concretely in ES6 classes, which provide a consistent syntax for what the community had already been doing on their own.What I was really hoping for, though it’s not the fault of this book, was some insight into how to leverage JavaScript’s fairly unique prototypical and object characteristics in software design, rather than how to bend them to the will of object oriented constructs from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the book represents the general community attitude in this way.Nonetheless, the book was extremely informative and invaluable in its distillation of how JS objects (and functions) work, it’s up to the reader how they wish to use that information.

I've always been a fan of Zakas, so I had faith in this book before I got it. I am a proficient JS developer and I bought this to help cement some of the knowledge that is a bit sketchy for me. After ready this I now completely understand inheritance using the prototype object, and finally how to get the most out of JS constructors. Also, understanding the different between == and === is crystal clear as is closures! If these were areas that you had not quite got to grips with then you should have this book on your shelf.

This book is pure awesomeness. Read it, learn it and read it again!Helped me understand the ugly prototypal inheritance and much more.Seriously, this is one of the best book on JavaScript objects and it's also a very easy read.

great detail