How JavaScript Works

This book is for people who have had some experience with Java Script, and want to have a better, deeper understanding of how it works and how to use it well. It is also for experienced pro gram mers who are looking to understand the workings of another lan guage.

This book is not for beginners. I hope to someday write a book for beginners. This is not that book. This is not a light book. If you skim it, you will likely get nothing from of it.

This book is not about JavaScript engines or virtual machines. It is about the lan guage itself and the things every pro gram mer should know about it. This book is a radical reappraisal of Java Script, how it works, how it could be made better, and how it can be better used. It is about how to think about Java Script and how to think in Java Script. I am going to pretend that the current version of the lan guage is the only version. I am not going to waste your time by showing how things worked in ES1 or ES3 or ES5. That does not matter. The focus is on how Java Script works for us now.

This book is not comprehensive. There are large, complex chunks of the lan guage that will be dismissed without a word. If I fail to mention your most favorite fea ture, that is most likely because that fea ture is crap. I will not be paying much attention to syntax. I am assuming that you already know how to write an if statement.