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Reviewer: Jeanine M. Meyer

The introduction to this book states that it is a work on programming aimed not at programmers, but at Web designers, specifically what the author terms "standards-aware designers who are comfortable using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and [Extensible] Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)." Readers must have a strong sense of logic and pay attention to detail, not typical traits for people who avoid programming, but there are Web designers who fit this description. Any that do, along with many experienced programmers, will benefit from reading this book. The author argues strongly for strict adherence to the scheme that all of the content and structure are represented in the basic XHTML; that presentation is defined by CSS; and that behavior is produced by document object model (DOM) scripting using JavaScript. Moreover, the content of any document must be viewable even if the browser does not support scripting, an approach he terms graceful degradation. These principles, along with the methodology of building up an application through progressive enhancement, are valuable lessons. The book starts out slowly, with features being demonstrated initially only though the use of alert statements, an approach that will not provide much motivation for the reader. The first three chapters address the history of JavaScript, its syntax, and the DOM. The example used in subsequent chapters is an image gallery. It is not especially compelling, even in its most elaborate form, but it does serve to demonstrate the programming constructs and the methodologies. The later chapters cover such topics as accessing DOM elements, interactions between CSS and DOM, creating markup dynamically, and extracting and presenting abbreviations and citations. The final examples feature animation and forms. The last chapter, "The Future of DOM Scripting," touches on the state of the Web, Ajax, and new Web applications. A reference section lists and describes the main DOM methods and properties. The author is frequently dogmatic in his views. He is waging a crusade against bad practices that may be outside the experiences of many readers, and this may puzzle or distract his audience, even though he may be correct. However, he does include humor, and the book is readable. The publisher's Web site (http://www.friendsofed.com) contains links to a sample chapter and corrections for the book. The author maintains a Web site, http://domscripting.com, which links to his blog on the topic. Online Computing Reviews Service