Murach's JavaScript and jQuery: Training & Reference

There is a newer edition of this book titled Murach's jQuery (2nd Edition).

JQuery is one of the technologies that every web developer should master. The trouble is that jQuery is difficult to learn, especially for programming novices. Now, this new book makes it easier than ever to learn jQuery, jQuery UI (User Interface), and jQuery Mobile.

In essence, sections 2 and 3 of this book present all of the jQuery and jQuery UI skills that you need for developing professional jQuery applications. With those skills, you'll be able to add all of the popular jQuery applications to your web pages: image swaps, image rollovers, collapsible panels, slide shows, accordions, tabs, carousels, and more. Beyond that, though, you'll have all the skills that you need for developing unique jQuery applications of your own.

But that's just two of the five sections in the book. Because you need to know JavaScript in order to use jQuery, section 1 presents the least you need to know about JavaScript to get the most from jQuery. This is essential for programming novices, but this is also valuable for experienced programmers who may not remember how a specific JavaScript statement or method works. In short, this section makes this book a complete reference for jQuery programmers.

In contrast, section 4 takes jQuery to a new level by showing you how to use Ajax and JSON to get data from a web server and add it to a web page without reloading the page. It also shows how to use Ajax and JSON with the APIs for popular web sites like Blogger, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, and Google Maps. These are powerful skills for enhancing a web site.

To complete this package, section 5 presents a complete course in jQuery Mobile, which offers an exciting, new way to develop web sites for mobile devices. Today, the best web sites are available in both full and mobile versions, so this section also shows how to use a JavaScript plugin to redirect a mobile device from the full version of a web site to its mobile version.