5 Best Books on JavaScript for Beginners 2021
Pavan Sargar
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JavaScript, the most used programming language in the world. It's quite a headache while learning it though. Unlike other programming languages, JavaScript can take a little while for beginner to understand it.
JS is amazing language, as of 2021, it's used in each and every field. You can create, websites, web servers, mobile apps, desktop apps, even in embedded systems.
If you are learning JS by just watching online course or tutorials, then you are going to be facing many issues with the language. To learn JavaScript, it's the best choice to have at least one hand book, which covers all the topics and in detail, which your online course doesn't.
So, here's the list of Top 5 Best Books on JavaScript for Beginners that you should have!
[#5 JavaScript & JQuery by Jon Duckett](#5 JavaScript & JQuery by Jon Duckett "https://amzn.to/3uLdq5e")
This book has been called a Modern Classic book for learning JavaScript or the front-end. Yeah I know you might say, Jquery in 2021? seriously? I know but Jquery is still important and is used on many platforms.
But, this book is not just about Jquery, it has covered almost all of the concepts that are required for front-end dev as a newbie.
Pros -
- The organization and the layout of this book are top-notch and which makes it different from the other books.
- The colors, code snippets, font size, fonts, and quality of the page, keep readers engaged and don't make you bore.
- Beginner friendly, if you are a beginner in the web dev world, or you are a backend dev who wants to get a grip in the front-end. You should just go for it.
#4 Eloquent JavaScript: 3rd Edition by Marijn Haverbeke
If you are learning JavaScript, you might've been recommended this book or you might have its E-book which is free on the web. This book is not beginner-friendly (if you are new to the programming), this is an advanced book that covers almost everything about JS that you need to know. This book even covers the node.
Pros -
- There are many good projects, tests that make this book stand out.
- There's check your knowledge section at the end of every chapter which makes you revise the chapter that you've studied.
- Good code snippets, navigation, and explanation. They have used diagrams, images to explain the complex stuff.
#3 You don't Know JS Series 6 books by Kyle Simpson -
This series consists of 6 books as follows,
- Up & Going
- Scope & Closures
- this & Object Prototypes
- Types & Grammar
- Async & Performance
- ES6 & Beyond
The good thing about these books is, they don't overwhelm you, books are small, Up & Going is like just 70 pages. Each book covers the topic amazingly, I bet you if you read all of the series books in order then you are going to become from newbie to pro in JS.
Pros -
- The way the author has described every topic and divided it into small chunks really helps readers to grasp the knowledge pretty quickly.
- Books don't overwhelm you, if you just want to check out, what is JavaScript? or what is programming?, get Up & Going and you'll get a brief idea about it.
- Beginner friendly, if you follow books chronologically, these books go from the beginner level to the advanced level.
- The last book, ES6 and Beyond touches every new feature which was introduced in ES6 and also the Web Assembly, SIMD, etc.
#2 JavaScript: The Definitive Guide 7th Edition by David Flanagan
Indeed JavaScript is the most used programming language. This book has been the best-selling JavaScript book for almost 25 years. You don't have to worry, this book is not 25 years old. The newest edition which is 7th is fully updated to cover the 2020 version of JavaScript and all of the new topics are covered.
As the name suggests, it is indeed the Definitive Guide, It even has covered Datastuctures, Nodejs, professional JavaScript tools, etc.
Pros -
- Anyone can read this book, if you know JavaScript or you don't doesn't matter. If you want to master JS or if you want to learn JS from scratch, just go for this book.
- This book is recommended by MDN web docs which also make it a must-have book if you are a JavaScript developer.
- Navigation, Explanation, and Code snippets are structured pretty well.
#1 JavaScript: The Good Parts
I know what you might say, this book is pretty old and antique as this book is from 2008. But because this book is based on JavaScript theory, it explores the core of JS, and it's what never going to change in JS.
That's what makes this book timeless. The author has admitted that JavaScript has some bad parts, however in this book he removes those bad parts and shows you the good parts.
And also, how you can use those good parts as an advantage as a developer and as a problem solver.
Pros -
- Deep dive into the never-changing JS core.
- Pretty amazing explanation as the author is old school, the explanations are really detailed.
- Lots of flow charts and code snippets and just exposing the good parts of JavaScript. If you want to take JS seriously, go for it.
So, that was it. You don't have to purchase and read all of the 5 books, just pick one as per your convenience, and start learning. Make sure you also code along.
I hope this post was helpful, if it was, share this post with your friends who wants to learn JS and stuck with a bug for long time.