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Dojo: The Definitive Guide | 
 enlarge | Author: Matthew A. Russell
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $6.99
You Save: $33.00 (83%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 12529
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0596516487
Dewey Decimal Number: 005
EAN: 9780596516482
ASIN: 0596516487
Publication Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Of all the Ajax-specific frameworks that have popped up in recent years, one clearly stands out as the industrial strength solution. Dojo is not just another JavaScript toolkit -- it's the JavaScript toolkit -- and Dojo: The Definitive Guide demonstrates how to tame Dojo's extensive library of utilities so that you can build rich and responsive web applications like never before. Dojo founder Alex Russell gives a foreword that explains the "why" of Dojo and of this book. Dojo provides an end-to-end solution for development in the browser, including everything from the core JavaScript library and turnkey widgets to build tools and a testing framework. Its vibrant open source community keeps adding to Dojo's arsenal, and this book provides an ideal companion to Dojo's official documentation. Dojo: the Definitive Guide gives you the most thorough overview of this toolkit available, showing you everything from how to create complex layouts and form controls closely resembling those found in the most advanced desktop applications with stock widgets, to advanced JavaScript idioms to AJAX and advanced communication transports. With this definitive reference you get: A concise introduction to Dojo that covers everything through the version 1.1 release Well-explained examples, with scores of tested code samples, that let you see Dojo in action A comprehensive reference to Dojo's standard JavaScript library (including fundamental utilities in Base, Dojo's tiny but powerful kernel) that you'll wonder how you ever lived without An extensive look at additional Core features, such as animations, drag-and-drop, back-button handling, animations like wipe and slide, and more Exhaustive coverage ofout-of-the-box Dijits (Dojo widgets) as well as definitive coverage on how to create your own, either from scratch or building on existing ones An itemized inventory of DojoX subprojects, the build tools, and the DOH, Dojo's unit-testing framework that you can use with Dojo -- or anywhere else If you're a DHTML-toting web developer, you need to read this book -- whether you're a one-person operation or part of an organization employing scores of developers. Dojo packs the standard JavaScript library you've always wanted, and Dojo: The Definitive Guide helps you transform your ideas into working applications quickly by leveraging design concepts you already know.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 A good refrence book but not a tutorial August 17, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This a is good refrence book. But if you are buying it to learn dojo then it is not a really good book to buy. There also are a lot of errors in this book as well. But other Dojo books I have read seem to suffer from this problem.
If you are looking for a tutorial then look elsewhere. This book seems like it was rewrite of the Free dojo documentation. Other books out there on dojo are better and your better off getting them.
 NOT for non-programmers August 13, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is incredibly frustrating. The introduction promises the book will address anyone "who is able to construct a very simple web page and apply a dab of JavaScript and CSS..." What a joke. I'm a web designer who prototypes in HTML, CSS, and slightly complex Javascript. But this book continually mystifies me. Instead of giving clear, plain-English, step-by-step explanations, it jumps headlong into complex code samples and advanced programming terms, leaving me completely in the dust.
And don't get me started on the typos and errors. The funniest is that in the illustration figures, different items shown top and bottom are referred to in the captions as "right" and "left." I've already stumbled on numerous typos in the code samples. I guess that's kind of standard for computer books these days, but I expect a little better from O'Reilly.
Sigh. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for help learning Dojo.
 Definitely THE definitive guide on Dojo! July 31, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Dojo has been a staple in the all-inclusive JavaScript toolkit world for a while now, providing a buffet of useful (and not so useful) features that any web developer should at least consider before tackling a Web 2.0/Ajax-based project. Dojo is actually very easy to use and can dramatically increase developer's productivity - after the steep learning curve that is.
I have been using Dojo (and many other toolkits) for quite some time, however, I fell off the wagon during the Dojo v0.4x days due to a lack of documentation and wandering completely off the path of web development. Recently, I have found the need to venture back into that realm and needed to brush up on my Dojo skills. I immediately went to dojotoolkit.org to read up on any new features and improvements, and found that the documentation was still not quite right -- and with the increased feature set available today I felt like I was back at v0.4x again and the struggle was exponential. Reflecting on how much time I wasted poking around the source only to find that the documentation didn't match the current version's code was a nightmare - *shudders* - I didn't want to do that again.
Lucky for me (and the rest of us) Matthew Russell has done a great deal of the legwork in explaining the ins and outs of Dojo's latest and greatest while dramatically reducing the learning curve. I can't say enough how important the order of learning things is when tackling a new toolkit, API, or language. Start small, learn the building blocks, and eventually you'll have something extremely useful in front of you that makes sense - something the Dojo docs could definitely use (not all of us want to read the API before starting) Russell's book accomplishes this very well by explaining the roots of Dojo upfront so when you reach more complex ground (like creating custom Dijits) you'll be well prepared.
This book points out early that it is not meant to be a primer for web development -- so don't expect any hands-on guides for HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. However, it actually does do a very good job of not overcomplicating such things. If you know what the building blocks of web development are, you're interested in all that is the Dojo goodness, and you're not afraid to get your feet wet then I urge you to take a look at this book. You won't be disappointed.
The Definitive Guide July 28, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is really the definitive guide when it comes to Dojo. This book comes recommended by Alex Russel who is one of the creators of Dojo. Need i say more?
The Dojo Mojo July 1, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Matthew Russell has captured what makes Dojo the "magic sauce" of the Ajax world. As he indicates in the book's dedication, Dojo can be your friend in combating browser idiosyncrasies. Since Russell has been an active participant in the Dojo development community for a long time, he's in an excellent position to write from an expert's viewpoint. Another Amazon reviewer has covered the book's contents thoroughly. "Dojo: The Definitive Guide" is very well-organized and covers lots of ground. I appreciate the fact that the author doesn't simply rehash online documentation; instead he provides real insight and coherent explanations. Like most O'Reilly books, the table of contents and index are invaluable in rapidly honing in on a particular subtopic.
To get the most out of this book, you do need to have some web development background (JavaScript, CSS, HTML), but then who else would be purchasing this book? While the book might have benefited from a discussion of Dojo use with YUI, Google Gear, or other toolkits, the author points out this is out of scope. I imagine this saved more than a few trees. (Check out the ongoing efforts of the OpenAjax Alliance if you need to combine multiple frameworks.) I would have preferred access to the code examples packaged in a convenient zip file; perhaps the author will add that to his O'Reilly catalog page (URL given in the preface or just search for "Dojo" at oreilly.com). However, these points do not detract from the thoroughness in which Russell has covered a difficult and rapidly changing topic.
This book is certainly worthy of the fine O'Reilly imprint. The fact that it is edited by the always discerning Simon St. Laurent is definitely a plus. If you are a web developer who needs cross-browser support, you need this book in your library.
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