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If you want to become a web developer, there are a multitude of programming languages to learn. But which language should you focus on first? Do you start with the easy ones? Or do you start with the most useful ones? With so many options today, JavaScript is the most preferred language by both entry-level and advanced developers alike. It has maintained its place as the most commonly used programming language for nine years in a row. Here are some of the best JavaScript books that should be part of any beginner to expert JavaScript developer’s library. 

🕵🏻‍♂️ Did You Know?

Some of the most-asked interview questions for JavaScript developer roles are: 

  1. What are the different data types present in Javascript?
  2. Enumerate the differences between Java and JavaScript?
  3. What are JavaScript Data Types?

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Best JavaScript Books

1. A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript

Author: Mark Myers

Cost: $19.95

This book is written for beginners to JavaScript, but also very useful for experienced developers who want to sharpen their skills. It has all the core fundamentals of JavaScript and some advanced concepts such as constructors and prototypes. Additionally, it contains a number of free, online, interactive exercises with each chapter. The book assumes no programming experience and is extremely easy to understand. 

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2. Head First JavaScript Programming: A Brain-Friendly Guide

Author: Elisabeth Robson

Cost: $52.03

Head First JavaScript Programming is designed with the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to provide readers with a multi-sensory learning experience. It teaches you everything about the fundamentals of JavaScript to advanced topics through interactive games and puzzles. Some of the key topics covered in this JavaScript book include the inner details of JavaScript, arrays, objects, prototypes, and writing and testing applications. For anyone who prefers visual learning to text-heavy formats, this book is the answer.

3. Eloquent JavaScript

Author: Marijn Haverbeke

Cost: $37.67

This latest edition of Eloquent JavaScript dives deep into the JavaScript language to help you write clean and beautiful code. It comes along with a number of exercises to test your skills and keep you on track with each chapter. The book starts with the basic structure of JavaScript as well as data structures, control structures, and functions to help you write basic programs. You will also learn about error handling and bug fixing, asynchronous programming, modularity, and lots more. In addition to this, all the source code used in the book is available online, where you can edit, run, and see its output instantly.


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4. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

Author: David Flanagan

Cost: $32.39

This classic has been the go-to JavaScript book for programmers for nearly 25 years. The latest edition is updated to cover the 2020 version of Javascript along with some newly added chapters on a range of topics. This book is ideal for programmers who want to take their understanding of JavaScript to the next level. It begins with all the basic foundations of JavaScript to advanced topics like web platforms and Node.js.

5. Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja

Author: John Resig, Bear Bibeault, and Josip Maras

Cost: $35.48

If you are serious about web development, being a decent JavaScript developer is not enough. You need to have ninja-like stealth and efficiency to be ready for anything and this book teaches you exactly how. It uses practical examples to clearly illustrate each core concept and technique. This completely revised edition shows you how to master key JavaScript concepts such as functions, closures, objects, prototypes, and promises. You’ll discover best practice techniques such as testing, and cross-browser development - all taught from the perspective of skilled JavaScript practitioners.

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6. JavaScript: The Good Parts

Author: Douglas Crockford

Cost: $7.16

JavaScript was developed and released in a hurry before it could be refined. Hence, it comes with its share of good and bad parts. This book refines these bad features to reveal a JavaScript that is more readable and maintainable. You will learn all about the elegant parts of JavaScript, including functions, inheritance, syntax objects, arrays, methods, style, and lots more. By the end of this book, you will discover an elegant, beautiful, lightweight, and highly expressive language to develop sites and applications.

7. JavaScript and jQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development

Author: Jon Duckett

Cost: $36.31

This book is one of the best guides for anyone who wants to learn JavaScript and jQuery together. It is packed with visuals and graphics to help you understand code in a more relevant and less intimidating manner. By making use of jQuery plugins, the book ensures that you will be writing your own working scripts in no time.

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8. You Don't Know JS: ES6 and Beyond

Author: Kyle Simpson

Cost: $29

Even if you may not be a complete beginner at JavaScript, there are still lots to learn about this language. This book is part of the "You Don’t Know JS" series and focuses on ES6, the latest version of the JavaScript standard. You will learn all about the new ES6 syntax, organize code, express async flow control, leverage new API helpers, and lots more. It will also teach you how to use collections to work more efficiently with data.

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9. Professional JavaScript for Web Developers

Author: Nicholas C. Zakas

Cost: $29.29

Professional JavaScript for Web Developers provides a developer-level introduction of JavaScript along with its more advanced and useful features. It covers topics like object-oriented programming, browser object models, function expressions, and lots more. This book is aimed at three groups of readers - beginner JavaScript developers, web developers looking to enhance site usability, and experienced object-oriented programming developers looking to learn JavaScript.

10. Learn JavaScript VISUALLY with Interactive Exercises: The Beautiful New Way to Learn a Programming Language

Author: Ivelin Demirov

Cost: $35.95

This is a beautifully illustrated JavaScript book that comes with a number of interactive exercises. It teaches JavaScript through metaphors, analogies, images, and many more creative ways. Although it might not be the most complete book on JavaScript, it gives you guides and online resources for a detailed explanation of each concept. If you are a visual learner, this book is for you.

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Ready to Learn More?

These are some of the best JavaScript books out there for anyone who wants to sharpen their skills in JavaScript. However, if you prefer online courses over books and want to learn in a more interactive way, there are so many courses out there for further learning. In fact, you can combine these JavaScript books with web development courses to get the best of both worlds. Simplilearn’s Full Stack Java Developer is a global online boot camp developed in collaboration with Caltech CTME which aims to help you master both front-end and back-end Java technologies. You will learn all about JSPs, Angular, Hibernate, Spring Boot, and MVC to help you launch your career as a full-stack developer. Get started with this program today and accelerate your career in web development.

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