Who Knows the Secret to JavaScript Mastery?

Want to become a JavaScript ninja? Right now JavaScript is the one language that is universally supported on pretty much any platform imaginable. With HTML5 being the hype of the moment, the demand for good JavaScript programmers is going to explode.

As Guy Steele points out in the introduction to Joshua Bloch’s

Effective Java, learning a new (programming) language requires you to master three things: grammar (where do the braces go?), vocabulary (what APIs exist?) and effective ways to actually use the language. The first two are available in abundance. Searching Google will yield an endless supply of JavaScript tutorials and references.

The third one, the real mastery of the language, is a lot more difficult to find. Piers Cawley’s tutorial on Higher Order JavaScript is one of the few in-depth pieces that looks at how to advance from the JavaScript basics into a true master.

This blog has documented a few of my JavaScript experiments. I’m working on yet another small JS web application. And I’ve been really bothered by my inability to create good constructs for fairly common problems. If I was programming in Java, I’d turn to Effective Java, but I can’t really find the one JavaScript gem among the hundreds of books out there.

So I’m asking you, mister or miss reader, for some great suggestions. Have you found a book on JavaScript that you keep on your desk, even long after you know where the braces and semicolons go? What bloggers does a JavaScript ninja follow?

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