Pro Drupal 7 Development Review

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Pro Drupal 7 Development ReviewI've always been a huge fan of the Pro Drupal Development series of books. I referred to my battered copies of the D5 and D6 editions as my "bibles". I had the same expectations for the Drupal 7 version but after reading felt it lacking compared to the previous editions. My guess is there was a rush to push out the book before D7 was ready but by doing so the authors left out some key functionality available in Drupal 7. It felt more like a rehash of the D6 version with some D7 functionality thrown in. Below is a rundown of some of my "issues"
Entities: Every data element in Drupal is now an Entity (Nodes, taxonomy, users, comments). This was huge shift and probably could get its own chapter. Found barely a mention of this.
Database: I was glad to see some mention of the OOP aspects of the database API. One major absence was EntityFieldQuery. This is a huge D7 feature that developers will need and I don't recall seeing it mentioned.
RDF: Resource Description Framework is in core. This needs a chapter (or a book). Enough said.
Renderable Content: All content in D7 is treated similar to FAPI (form API), via a renderable array. This new feature didn't get nearly enough of the attention it deserves.
Javascript/AJAX: Missing about 2 chapters here. The ajax functionality for D7 is all new. I don't recall a mention of the Ajax commands API. Also missing was any mention of Drupal.behaviors. The Javascript examples don't follow the best practices.
I respect the authors work and gave them my $[...] bucks for the book. That being said, I'd really wait for (hopefully) the next edition of this book as it is missing too many key features of D7 for me to fully recommend. If you are already hardcore into D7 development definitely hold out.Pro Drupal 7 Development Overview
Pro Drupal 7 Development updates the most popular development reference for therelease of Drupal 7. With several new and completely-rewritten essential APIs and improvements in Drupal 7, this book will not only teach developers how to write modules ranging from simple to complex, but also how Drupal itself works.
Learn the Drupal APIs and major changes in Drupal 7
Learn how to write Drupal modules using the APIs
Learn proper development practices and how to become a contributing community member


What you'll learn

How to get started with writing basic modules
The flexible Drupal APIs and how they interact with modules
How new features in Drupal 7 make modules even more powerful and sophisticated
Best practices when developing in Drupal (coding standards, help developer modules)
How to write safe, secure, and tested code
How to contribute modules back to the Drupal community and maintain their modules using the Concurrent Versions System (CVS)

Who this book is for
This book is for existing Drupal module developers wanting to learn about Drupal 7 and people already knowledgeable in PHP who are interested in developing for Drupal. Simply put, if you are working with Drupal, then you need this book.

Table of Contents
How Drupal Works
Writing a Module
Hooks, Actions, and Triggers
The Menu System
Working with Databases
Working with Users
Working with Nodes
Working with Fields
The Theme System
Working with Blocks
The Form API
Manipulating User Input: The Filter System
Searching and Indexing Content
Working with Files
Working with Taxonomy
Caching
Sessions
Using jQuery
Localization and Translation
XML-RPC
Writing Secure Code
Development Best Practices
Optimizing Drupal
Installation Profiles
Testing
Database Table Reference
Resources


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JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Review

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JavaScript: The Definitive Guide ReviewThe previous edition of this book, 4th edition, remained at arm's length at all times at work and rescued me repeatedly from various day-to-day JavaScript challenges. It has become tattered from rigorous use. I always loved how the book was organized, with the first half as a walk through the entire gamut of JavaScript's workings -- tutorials, walk-thrus, code samples, cross-browser issues, and practical solutions -- and the second half of the book as a complete JavaScript language and DOM reference. That already very useful format has actually been improved upon. David has combined the DOM API reference and client-side JavaScript reference into a single alphabetized section. Now that I think about it, I did find myself flipping back and forth a lot in the previous edition, so this is a welcome improvement. Each object, property, and method contains a helpful "availability" of that item. This may be the standards spec it came from [DOM Level 2 HTML, ECMAScript v1], the JavaScript version in which it emerged [JavaScript 1.0], or a list of browser versions, if it is a proprietary feature. This is critical info to have at-a-glance - could perhaps save you 2 days of work implementing a non-standard, IE-specific JavaScript feature, when you could have been coding the standards-compliant equivalent. David has removed a lot of the deprecated, not-widely-adopted DOM interfaces that no longer apply to modern browsers. David has also moved focus away from some of the more oddball DOM interfaces that have been replaced by more sensible JavaScript objects that implement those interfaces, for example, window.getComputedStyle() rather than AbstractView.getComputedStyle(). In other words, David has removed all of the "stuff that still exists, but you no longer need to worry about". This makes for a more focused, less cluttered, "on topic", useful tome. I don't need to know about the 10 different methods that browser manufacturers fought over 7 years ago. Tell me what I need to know NOW to write practical, functioning, modern, cross-browser JavaScript. That's exactly what Mr. Flanagan has accomplished.
What else is new in the 5th edition?
1. Nested functions and closures.
2. A dedicated "Classes, Constructors, and Prototypes" chapter, with much more coverage on object-oriented programming in JavaScript.
3. A new chapter on Modules and Namespaces.
4. New chapter on scripting Java with JavaScript.
5. Coverage of the legacy (Level 0) DOM has been combined with the W3C standard DOM. More consolidation. Less flipping back and forth.
6. Cookies and Client-Side Persistence. Updated coverage on cookies, and brand new coverage of other client-side persistence techniques, like IE userData persistence, and Flash Shared Object Persistence.
7. AJAX - Coverage of scripted HTTP calls using the now famous XMLHttpRequest object.
8. XML - Demonstrates how to create, load, transform, query, serialize, and extract info from XML docs.
9. Client-Side Graphics - JavaScript's graphics capabilities. The cutting edge tag, SVG, VML, and communicating with the Flash plug-in.
10. Scripting Java Apps and Flash Movies - Another brand new chapter.
So, is the 5th edition worth the purchase? Absolutely. This book is a must-have for any web development library. I turn to it repeatedly. Here's an example.
Last week, I overheard a developer on my team proclaim to someone, "We can't do that. JavaScript can't control stuff in another frame." They went and informed my boss how monumental their task was becoming as they proposed a hacky, inelegant server-side workaround.
I managed to grab the one developer and said, "JavaScript certainly can talk across frames."
"Really?!", he asked, astonished. I opened "The Definitive Guide" to the part on cross-frame scripting and bookmarked it for them.
"Oh, wow! GREAT!", he exclaimed, "That completely solves our problem. Totally cool!" and zipped away book in hand. Hours later, they had it worked out, rather than days with the server-side solution.
I've seen some one-star, complaint-type reviews posted that this isn't a beginner book. Exactly right, but I'm confused as to how a quality rating [of 1 to 5 stars] equates, in any way, to skill level of the book, or its ability to meet someone's self-conceived personal notions of what the book is supposed to contain. There are some overview-type chapters that go over syntax, operators, scope, expressions, and the usual array of language basics, but these reviewers are correct in that this book is not a beginner's tutorial on JavaScript. It is a meat and potatoes, soup to nuts definitive guide and reference on all of the important and practical aspects of JavaScript programming. It is not a cookbook of cute-but-useless cut-n-paste recipes [although there are plenty of USEFUL code examples]. It is not the quick-and-dirty example of how to slap the hottest AJAX library into your site to attempt to make it behave like a Windows app. The chapter on AJAX shows you how to use the XML HTTP object directly, wrapped up in some nice reusable routines, so you can WRITE YOUR OWN AJAX-based features [which I prefer over using someone else's complicated, obfuscated framework].
Great job, again, David! If you develop websites in any capacity, you need this book. It should be on every developer's shelf.
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Overview
This Fifth Edition is completely revised and expanded to cover JavaScript as it is used in today's Web 2.0 applications. This book is both an example-driven programmer's guide and a keep-on-your-desk reference, with new chapters that explain everything you need to know to get the most out of JavaScript, including:

Scripted HTTP and Ajax
XML processing
Client-side graphics using the canvas tag
Namespaces in JavaScript--essential when writing complex programs
Classes, closures, persistence, Flash, and JavaScript embedded in Java applications

Part I explains the core JavaScript language in detail. If you are new to JavaScript, it will teach you the language. If you are already a JavaScript programmer, Part I will sharpen your skills and deepen your understanding of the language.

Part II explains the scripting environment provided by web browsers, with a focus on DOM scripting with unobtrusive JavaScript. The broad and deep coverage of client-side JavaScript is illustrated with many sophisticated examples that demonstrate how to:

Generate a table of contents for an HTML document
Display DHTML animations
Automate form validation
Draw dynamic pie charts
Make HTML elements draggable
Define keyboard shortcuts for web applications
Create Ajax-enabled tool tips
Use XPath and XSLT on XML documents loaded with Ajax
And much more

Part III is a complete reference for core JavaScript. It documents every class, object, constructor, method, function, property, and constant defined by JavaScript 1.5 and ECMAScript Version 3.

Part IV is a reference for client-side JavaScript, covering legacy web browser APIs, the standard Level 2 DOM API, and emerging standards such as the XMLHttpRequest object and the canvas tag.

More than 300,000 JavaScript programmers around the world have made this their indispensable reference book for building JavaScript applications.

"A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers...well-organized and detailed." -- Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript


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jQuery Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library Review

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jQuery Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library ReviewI just finished reading the jQuery Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library, by PACKT publishing, co-authored by Jonathan Chaffer and Karl Swedberg. This book is fantastic! It's a bit strange to review a reference manual because it's really just listing out all the features of the API. But, it's the way in which this is done that makes this reference guide so effective. Almost every single method and selector is explained in depth with both clear, concise code snippets as well as rendered displays when necessary. Not only did I come away with a wonderful understanding of jQUery API, I also learned more about JavaScript in general (specifically event handling and the XMLHTTPRequest object).
This book is a must have for anyone that is serious about effectively leveraging jQuery in their applications. While the API is very simple, it is also extremely robust and powerful. Even when you think you have a good grasp on how things work, reading a manual like this points out all the little facets that you didn't know existed; whether it be optional method arguments or miscellaneous selectors, you probably aren't writing code as effectively as you could be, and you can't do that until you have at least a general understanding of all the features that jQuery makes available.
One of the great things that this book does, which is rare for an API-style book, is to explain, when possible, what the jQuery API is using behind the scenes to access and traverse the document object model. For instance, it explains that the getElementsByTagName() is used to filter tag-based selectors and that getElementById() is used to filter id-based selectors. While this might not seem important to understand, and after all, the whole point of encapsulation is so that you don't NEED to understand, it can become very useful in terms of optimization. For example, $( "#pagetitle" ) is going to be faster than $( "h1#pagetitle" ) since it can use the direct ID access rather than tag-based filtering. Also, $( "h2.title" ) is going to be faster than $( ".title" ) since it can use the tag-based filtering and not have to iterate over every DOM element looking for a particular class.
In addition to covering the full jQuery API, this book also contains a cursory exploration of the architecture and authoring of custom plug-ins. While the book thoroughly covers basic plug-in authoring, I wish that they had covered some more complex stuff; but, at the same time I think that that probably would be more appropriate for a plug-in based book rather than a general reference manual such as this one.
After discussing plug-in architecture, this book also explores two popular jQuery plug-ins: Dimensions and Form. The dimensions plug-in enhances the built-in height() and width() object methods that already exist. It also introduces a host of other methods that allow developers to find the dimensions and position of elements with the conditional incorporation of various CSS box model properties. The Form plug-in contains many methods that make it super easy to submit a form using AJAX, including many utility methods that assist in the serialization and accessing of form data.
The book does a good job of explaining how the individual Dimensions methods work, especially the height and width related calculations. The position related methods, while explained in depth, left me confused; the demo HTML used in the chapter is explicitly incomplete and this makes it difficult to visualize where the calculated numbers are coming from. It wasn't until I went to the demo site (http://book.learningjquery.com) that the calculations became clear. Even then, however, you can see that as much as the jQuery plug-ins try to encapsulate the cross-browser issues, there are still problems to be found. For example, calling $('div.dim-outer').offset() returned a LEFT value of 580 in FireFox 2.0 and a LEFT value of 1116 in Internet Explorer 6.0.
The book does a good job of explaining how the individual Form plug-in methods work. And, while I am not one who does a lot of AJAX form submission, I can see how using this plug-in would make that a painless process. Regardless, this plug-in also contains some great utility functions that allow you to grab form data at any given time. This can be useful for partial form updates such as the common two-selected-related scenario. My one gripe with this section is the same issue I have throughout the reference manual: callback arguments are not explained very well. With the form submission process, there are two callbacks available - beforeSubmit and success. Both methods are explained in natural language terms, but only the beforeSubmit method gets a code sample explanation (seven pages after it was explained in english). I don't know about you, but seeing a snippet of code is 10 times more clear than the equivalent natural language description.
This is very nit-picky, but as much as I loved this book, there were a few things that were not perfect; while the majority of the selectors are thoroughly explained, the big exception is the Form selectors. I have gone over this section several times and I just can't quite figure out what it means. The big problem is that unlike the rest of the book, the form selectors have no code samples; it's just be a list of input types, but not listed in any meaningful way. This section feels like an afterthought in the book.
I also felt that some of the callback methods could have been better explained. Most of the jQuery callback methods have arguments passed to them, but unless they were used in the examples, they were not defined as part of the callback function definition. I would rather have seen every argument explicitly defined, whether it was used or not, so that we as developers could see what our options were.
The only other problem with this book is that the jQuery technology is evolving so fast that the most recent release of jQuery (v.1.2.1 at the time of this writing) already has things that are not covered in this book. Not only that, a few of the things that are covered in this book, namely the XPath style selectors, are no longer supported by the core jQuery API (but rather though small plug-ins).
Overall though, this book is excellent and I highly recommend it to all web developers, especially those not yet using jQuery so that they can see just how amazing this Javascript library really is. Not only will it teach you all about jQuery, it will probably instill a better understanding of Javascript in general. From me, it gets two thumbs us.jQuery Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library OverviewIn this book, the creators of the popular jQuery learning resource, learningquery.com, share their knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to bring you a comprehensive reference to the popular JavaScript library. This book is for web developers who want a broad, organized view of all the jQuery library has to offer or a quick reference on their desks to refer to for particular details. The reader needs the basics of HTML and CSS, and should be comfortable with the syntax of JavaScript, but no knowledge of jQuery is assumed. This is not an introductory title and if you are looking to get started with jQuery (or JavaScript libraries in general) then you are looking for Learning jQuery.

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