Category: Writing

I said a few years back that when Node.js released version 1.0, I’d issue an update for my book, Learning Node. Little did I know that waiting for Node.js 1.0 was like waiting for Godot, but in JavaScript.

I did try to do an update on the first edition of Learning Node earlier this year, but the changes were just too significant. So many of the modules I covered are no longer supported, Express 4.0 happened, and then there’s that Node.js/io.js thing, and skipping version 1, altogether. The first edition of Learning Node just can’t be updated, in place. The only solution was a new edition. It’s also a good time to do a new edition: there’s more stability in the development of Node.js, and less personal ownership.

I just hit the half-way mark in Learning Node, the second edition. It should be out for early release in January or so. The finished book should be in the market some time around April/May. We took a different direction with this book: smaller, learner, and staying closer to the core of Node.js. I’m very happy with the direction it’s taking. It’s the Learning Node book I probably should have written, way back in Node.js’s infancy.

Of my books, I finished JavaScript Cookbook, second edition earlier in the year, and I’m happy with it. I like the design of the book, and feel it’s nicely comprehensive. A new author has taken over for the Learning JavaScript series, beginning with Learning JavaScript, third edition. I’ve been chatting with O’Reilly about releasing Practical RDF to the public domain. With the second edition of Learning Node on its way to completion, I feel it’s a good time to ease my way out of writing books for O’Reilly, and finally take the plunge to self-publication.

My first book for O’Reilly was Developing ASP Components, published in 2001. It actually hit the Amazon top 100 bestselling books list for a brief moment. In 15 years, we’ve managed to publish 16 books, and I’m proud of all the work we’ve done together. O’Reilly has been a good publisher, and a good company to work with. They’ve always been supportive of my efforts. I’ve enjoyed working with the people, including, and especially, my long-time editor, and friend, Simon St. Laurent.

The second edition of the JavaScript Cookbook just went live at O’Reilly. If you’re wondering why I haven’t been writing about technology as much lately, it’s because I was saving all my tech writing mojo for the book.

We went a somewhat different path with the second edition. I spent a lot less time on syntax, and a lot more on JavaScript in use. When I wrote my first book on JavaScript, in the dark ages that was the mid-1990s, syntax was about all you had with JavaScript. Now, JavaScript is everywhere. It’s the programming language that ate the world.

Well, nibbled the world. JavaScript is still that friendly, approachable language, even with the new ECMAScript additions. JavaScript has never roared; it’s meowed and purred its way into our lives. Good kitty. Nice kitty. Here, have a closure.

In the new edition of JavaScript Cookbook, I covered JavaScript in the browser, and re-visited our old friends (Ajax and the JS objects), yes. But I also spent a considerable time covering JavaScript in the server, in the cloud, and in our mobile devices. The only environment I didn’t cover is the open source hardware, DIY, wearable world, and that’s because I feel these need more preliminary introductions to the environment, so you don’t do something like fry your new Raspberry Pi. Or Computer. Or shirt.

I will never join with those who are critical of JavaScript. I have always had fun with this language. There’s just so much you can do with it.