When was the last major JavaScript revision?

Question

I want to buy an introductory book and get a limited budget. There are good prices for used books on Amazon, but I don’t want to be mistaken, like buying a C # v2 book when v4 is missing.

Wikipedia does not shed light, even in the History section of the JS page. For the statement “buy a book published after xxxx and you will be fine?”, Can someone tell me the value of xxxx?

Answer 1

Everything based on the 5th edition of ECMAScript will make your future proof at least in the next few years. This is the specification most modern browsers aim for.

ECMA-262 5th Edition ECMAScript Specification

However, reading some of the great, existing javascript books will definitely not do you any harm. Read the “JavaScript: Good Details” by Douglas Crockford and “JavaScript: The Ultimate Guide” by David Flanagan, and you will be installed from then on - in the end, the language has not changed so much (although improvements are certainly welcome!) Regarding the basics.

If it comes to you and you want to know more about some of the goodies presented in the latest release, then you won’t be able to find anything by reading one of the great JavaScript blogs or just by reading the spec itself, And both of them are free!

Here is a good Tech Tech Tech discusses some changes in JavaScript in the fifth edition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq4FpMe6cRs ( slides in PDF ).

Answer 2

Officially, JavaScript 1.8 or ECMAScript 5. (Wikipedia: JavaScript # Versions )

However, don't worry about versions when it comes to books. The practical definition of the language ("everything that works in most browsers") has not changed much: read reviews and rather buy an old, good book than a new junk email publication.

Answer 3

Are you sure you want to get a paper book?

Check out http://eloquentjavascript.net/ , which is a mixture of an online book and a test bench. This will allow you to run all the sample code and experiment with it when you find out.