What do you think?
Rate this book
You Don't Know JS Yet: Get Started
It seems like there's never been as much widespread desire before for a better way to deeply learn the fundamentals of JavaScript. But with a million blogs, books, and videos out there, just where do you START? Look no further! The worldwide best selling "You Don't Know JS" book series is back for a 2nd "You Don't Know JS Yet". All 6 books are brand new, rewritten to cover all sides of JS for 2020 and beyond. "Get Started" prepares you for the journey ahead, first surveying the language then detailing how the rest of the You Don't Know JS Yet book series guides you to knowing JS more deeply.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2020
216 people are currently reading
458 people want to read
About the author
Kyle Simpson
37 books360 followersKyle Simpson is an Open Web Evangelist from Austin, TX, who's passionate about all things JavaScript. He's an author, workshop trainer, tech speaker, and OSS contributor/leader.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 10, 2020
The second version has still a bit too much pathos and indoctrination. But much less than in the first version.
Nevertheless the book is a very good intro into advanced JavaScript understanding and I had some aha moments even though I am writing JavaScript for more than 4 years full time and some stuff in the book appears too basic.
I don't think it is suitable for absolute beginners as from my perspective a beginner needs a systematic and comprehensive overview of the language while this book (series) doesn't provide a such. I think David Flanagan's or Jon Duckett's books are more suited for absolute beginners.
The second version of this book is quite restructured and sounds and reads more professional.
Nevertheless the book is a very good intro into advanced JavaScript understanding and I had some aha moments even though I am writing JavaScript for more than 4 years full time and some stuff in the book appears too basic.
I don't think it is suitable for absolute beginners as from my perspective a beginner needs a systematic and comprehensive overview of the language while this book (series) doesn't provide a such. I think David Flanagan's or Jon Duckett's books are more suited for absolute beginners.
The second version of this book is quite restructured and sounds and reads more professional.
July 2, 2021
Software is eating the world, the web is eating software, and JavaScript rules the web. The irony is that JavaScript (as of 2018) is still a vastly misunderstood programming language regarded in many quarters as a toy or kludge limited to handling DOM manipulations and browser events. Worse, if you're a current front or backend web developer coming to grips with JavaScript you are likely to be misled by hundreds of out-of-date online tutorials purporting to teach you "The Good Parts" of the language to the detriment of an in-depth understanding of the ecosystem, performant code, mechanics of lambdas, closures, prototypes, and other higher order functions.
This is where the You Don't Know JS Yet series by Kyle Simpson rides in, Zorro-like, to save the day. As a first book on JavaScript, it is everything that I thought it could be: concise, tightly written, absolutely disciplined, and devoid of the dead-tree filler found in much thicker programming books. I cannot recommend this series highly enough for anyone interested in JS. Instead of learning just enough to be dangerous, if you work through this series (preferably open in your browser of choice while writing and running all the code examples in your Developer Tools console), you should emerge with an understanding of closures, coercion, scope, hoisting, and the this identifier.
Get Started also provides a lot of background instruction for those with limited programming experience in any language. As such, it's a great place to start for those new to software development as well as experienced programmers who want to quickly get up to speed on this crucial piece of the web platform.
This is where the You Don't Know JS Yet series by Kyle Simpson rides in, Zorro-like, to save the day. As a first book on JavaScript, it is everything that I thought it could be: concise, tightly written, absolutely disciplined, and devoid of the dead-tree filler found in much thicker programming books. I cannot recommend this series highly enough for anyone interested in JS. Instead of learning just enough to be dangerous, if you work through this series (preferably open in your browser of choice while writing and running all the code examples in your Developer Tools console), you should emerge with an understanding of closures, coercion, scope, hoisting, and the this identifier.
Get Started also provides a lot of background instruction for those with limited programming experience in any language. As such, it's a great place to start for those new to software development as well as experienced programmers who want to quickly get up to speed on this crucial piece of the web platform.
November 18, 2022
I am a bit late in reading this, since this book is surely for beginners. I would place it way before Eloquent Javascript which I completed in... June for example.
As it was, it is a pretty good entry to JS, but I did not find the practice questions in this that useful.
As it was, it is a pretty good entry to JS, but I did not find the practice questions in this that useful.
Read
September 24, 2022Toate din seria asta sunt ok
November 24, 2024
I have been coding in pre-ES6 JS for two decades, give or take, and hadn't yet dug into ES6 and later language revisions other than cursorily because my main platform on which I use JS remains trapped in the past. That is soon to change though, and I'm anxious to be able to use all the nice new syntax and language features that have come out in the last decade, so I went looking for a book to catch me up to speed, and heard about this series. It is free to read online, so I dug in.
I found _Getting Started_ to be a mixed bag, and since it is stated as the necessary foundation for the rest of the series, I won't judge it harshly if it did not have much to teach me.
First the good: I did learn some of those new syntax forms and language features that I was a bit hazy on. I also learned the proper name for one of the main paradigms of my JS coding style: prototypal classes. And oh boy am I looking forward to being able to use the "new" class syntax instead.
Now the less good: I was definitely not the target audience of this book. I came to the book with an already solid understanding of JS's fundamental design, albeit an understanding based on an out of date revision of the language. Unsurprisingly (and positively), the fundamentals have not really changed, so most of the book was review, and its repeated implorations to re-read and practice were messages for a different audience.
So who is that audience? This is not a book for beginners to the language. "Intermediate" feels right, as it states up front that it assumes some months of prior experience with JS. Or it could also be the right book for a person with a bit of experience in another "scripting" language like Python, looking for some clarity on how JS differs from what they already know.
There were a few points at which I disagreed with the author, or felt that he was promoting sloppy coding. He did say however, that his aim was not to make his readers agree with all of his opinions, rather to make them understand and defend their own, so that's fair. That said, some of those opinions seemed harsh. He was brutal toward _JavaScript: The Good Parts_, and while it's not a perfect book, and is increasingly outdated by changes in the language, it is not deserving to be the punching bag that another book uses to try to bolster its own case. I came here looking for information, not drama, thank you very much.
One other thing jumped out at me, which was a couple or a few instances in which comparison of some feature of JS to "other languages" seemed to try to bolster JS and disparage these unnamed other languages for doing things differently. That's called a straw man argument, and I cannot very well evaluate the claim if you don't tell me which languages you are referring to. From my experience with "other languages" though, I would offer that it's likely that whatever language the author was thinking of simply has a different way of doing the same thing.
All that said, this was just the _Getting Started_ book in a series that promises a wealth of deep knowledge about JS later on. If I felt it was a weak start to the series, I also know that I wasn't this book's target audience, so I'm happy to set all that aside and continue reading. My advice for future readers who come this way: ignore the author's polemics and read for the solid information. My settled opinion will be more informed by my experience with book 2 (_Scopes & Closures_).
I found _Getting Started_ to be a mixed bag, and since it is stated as the necessary foundation for the rest of the series, I won't judge it harshly if it did not have much to teach me.
First the good: I did learn some of those new syntax forms and language features that I was a bit hazy on. I also learned the proper name for one of the main paradigms of my JS coding style: prototypal classes. And oh boy am I looking forward to being able to use the "new" class syntax instead.
Now the less good: I was definitely not the target audience of this book. I came to the book with an already solid understanding of JS's fundamental design, albeit an understanding based on an out of date revision of the language. Unsurprisingly (and positively), the fundamentals have not really changed, so most of the book was review, and its repeated implorations to re-read and practice were messages for a different audience.
So who is that audience? This is not a book for beginners to the language. "Intermediate" feels right, as it states up front that it assumes some months of prior experience with JS. Or it could also be the right book for a person with a bit of experience in another "scripting" language like Python, looking for some clarity on how JS differs from what they already know.
There were a few points at which I disagreed with the author, or felt that he was promoting sloppy coding. He did say however, that his aim was not to make his readers agree with all of his opinions, rather to make them understand and defend their own, so that's fair. That said, some of those opinions seemed harsh. He was brutal toward _JavaScript: The Good Parts_, and while it's not a perfect book, and is increasingly outdated by changes in the language, it is not deserving to be the punching bag that another book uses to try to bolster its own case. I came here looking for information, not drama, thank you very much.
One other thing jumped out at me, which was a couple or a few instances in which comparison of some feature of JS to "other languages" seemed to try to bolster JS and disparage these unnamed other languages for doing things differently. That's called a straw man argument, and I cannot very well evaluate the claim if you don't tell me which languages you are referring to. From my experience with "other languages" though, I would offer that it's likely that whatever language the author was thinking of simply has a different way of doing the same thing.
All that said, this was just the _Getting Started_ book in a series that promises a wealth of deep knowledge about JS later on. If I felt it was a weak start to the series, I also know that I wasn't this book's target audience, so I'm happy to set all that aside and continue reading. My advice for future readers who come this way: ignore the author's polemics and read for the solid information. My settled opinion will be more informed by my experience with book 2 (_Scopes & Closures_).
June 18, 2022
Dense, interesting. I don’t recommend it…
For beginners at least. This series, along with EJS is easily recommended more times than anything else for beginners picking up the language. I can only imagine this is because experienced JS programmers enjoyed reading about the interesting quirks of their language, and wanted to recommend it to anyone who would hear it, even newbies with no coding experience. It’s NOT for beginners learning programming. You should be a full time JS developer before you consider reading this. Other books will be far more conducive to learning.
The author says as much himself. He explains that the title is not snide or sarcastic, he means that nobody REALLY knows it, even the experts (who should absolutely read this). Ironically, while it's accurate to say the title is not an insult, much of the rest of the book has that tone. The idea is that JS is a godly language, where everything happens for a reason. Nothing else can compare, and if you don’t agree then you’re simply too dumb to realize it.
That’s the first 40 PAGES of this (very short) work. Pats on the back. The history & politics of JS. comparisons to inferior languages. And more justification for writing this book about how nobody understands how much better it is. At least that amazingly long introduction should scare off anybody who thought this book would teach them how to code (But not if the redditors replying to "what books should I read" posts have any say about it. Gosh I hate that place; and it makes so much sense that they'd love this snarky, overly dense, superiority manifesto)
Finally, you should be aware this “yet” series is the second edition of YDKJS. Only the first 2 books of the series have been updated, and it seems more unlikely every day that the rest of the series will ever be finished. They made a metric crap ton of money on the kickstarter and sales for the first series, so they tested the waters with an update. We’re now in the age where 99% of people just take a boot camp and never touch a book, so don’t count on them finishing. You'll be stuck in the middle of a linear learning path and have to start from scratch with a different book series anyway. Unless you read the old editions, but DO NOT DO THAT...
I HAVE to mention the old editions of YDKJS: More internet comment recommenders will swear that the original series is STILL relevant and STILL the best JS books you can read. They are wrong. You will learn bad practice and be laughed out of any job interview. 7 years in Javasctipt updates will have you looking like a car mechanic who only learned his craft on a VW bug from the 60’s. I'm not saying they're "bad" by any means, but very outdated, and it is most certainly going down the wrong path. Not relevant to this 2nd edition review, but it has to be said.
So I would not recommend this, except for experienced JS professionals who want to learn more interesting quirks. Because they definitely will! For beginners, take a bootcamp, and get Eloquent JavaScript if you want some bedtime reading that will teach you how to code.
For beginners at least. This series, along with EJS is easily recommended more times than anything else for beginners picking up the language. I can only imagine this is because experienced JS programmers enjoyed reading about the interesting quirks of their language, and wanted to recommend it to anyone who would hear it, even newbies with no coding experience. It’s NOT for beginners learning programming. You should be a full time JS developer before you consider reading this. Other books will be far more conducive to learning.
The author says as much himself. He explains that the title is not snide or sarcastic, he means that nobody REALLY knows it, even the experts (who should absolutely read this). Ironically, while it's accurate to say the title is not an insult, much of the rest of the book has that tone. The idea is that JS is a godly language, where everything happens for a reason. Nothing else can compare, and if you don’t agree then you’re simply too dumb to realize it.
That’s the first 40 PAGES of this (very short) work. Pats on the back. The history & politics of JS. comparisons to inferior languages. And more justification for writing this book about how nobody understands how much better it is. At least that amazingly long introduction should scare off anybody who thought this book would teach them how to code (But not if the redditors replying to "what books should I read" posts have any say about it. Gosh I hate that place; and it makes so much sense that they'd love this snarky, overly dense, superiority manifesto)
Finally, you should be aware this “yet” series is the second edition of YDKJS. Only the first 2 books of the series have been updated, and it seems more unlikely every day that the rest of the series will ever be finished. They made a metric crap ton of money on the kickstarter and sales for the first series, so they tested the waters with an update. We’re now in the age where 99% of people just take a boot camp and never touch a book, so don’t count on them finishing. You'll be stuck in the middle of a linear learning path and have to start from scratch with a different book series anyway. Unless you read the old editions, but DO NOT DO THAT...
I HAVE to mention the old editions of YDKJS: More internet comment recommenders will swear that the original series is STILL relevant and STILL the best JS books you can read. They are wrong. You will learn bad practice and be laughed out of any job interview. 7 years in Javasctipt updates will have you looking like a car mechanic who only learned his craft on a VW bug from the 60’s. I'm not saying they're "bad" by any means, but very outdated, and it is most certainly going down the wrong path. Not relevant to this 2nd edition review, but it has to be said.
So I would not recommend this, except for experienced JS professionals who want to learn more interesting quirks. Because they definitely will! For beginners, take a bootcamp, and get Eloquent JavaScript if you want some bedtime reading that will teach you how to code.
February 20, 2023
The book places itself as a book not for beginners, though I find it brings little value for experienced developers. A few key points:
- you should form strong opinions on how to use JS properly. These opinions should be backed up by deep understanding of JS.
- you should strive to use JS respecting the "grain" (meaning that instead of trying to bend the language struggling to express your style of programming, it's better to embrase JS and it's specifics)
- keyword "this" allows function not to be bound to lexical scope (aka declared variables and parameters). With "this" we can provide the execution scope with each invocation.
- browser console is not a JS interpreter, it's a "JS-friendly" environment, because some behavior differs between console and interpreter)
- you should form strong opinions on how to use JS properly. These opinions should be backed up by deep understanding of JS.
- you should strive to use JS respecting the "grain" (meaning that instead of trying to bend the language struggling to express your style of programming, it's better to embrase JS and it's specifics)
- keyword "this" allows function not to be bound to lexical scope (aka declared variables and parameters). With "this" we can provide the execution scope with each invocation.
- browser console is not a JS interpreter, it's a "JS-friendly" environment, because some behavior differs between console and interpreter)
March 8, 2021
All the books in this series should have been combined into a single volume and sold at a much reduced price. I'm pretty disappointed with just how little information was in the few pages of this book. After the author's assurance the reader will need to go over each page carefully several times to get the full knowledge contained within, I was expecting a dense textbook of knowledge. The information inside is good, it just is too light for what it should have been. I would only recommend this for beginners who have never worked with JS and have spare time and money.
May 4, 2023
Great book and honestly a great start to the series. Some chapters are easy to digest, especially if you have been developing in JS for a while. Other chapters require you to go over them a second or third time to -fully- grasp them.
I like the author's attitude towards asking a lot of questions about why our JS applications work the way they do, and how he always encourages one to wonder about questions and not take every code structure for granted. I'm reading this series in hopes of understanding JS under the hood, and so far it's promising at doing so.
I like the author's attitude towards asking a lot of questions about why our JS applications work the way they do, and how he always encourages one to wonder about questions and not take every code structure for granted. I'm reading this series in hopes of understanding JS under the hood, and so far it's promising at doing so.
October 28, 2023
Decent introduction to the core of JS and the fundamentals of the language. This is fairly introductory material for someone already familiar with JS, but I did like the explanation of the this keyword, execution context and prototypal inheritance. I also learned some details I wasn’t super cognizant of with the iterator patterns in the language.
Overall good book, looking forward to the next few in the series.
Overall good book, looking forward to the next few in the series.
July 17, 2021
I wanted to read all of Kyle Simpson's book on JS (the YDKJY series), and this was my first one, dealing with the most basic stuff. I know already most of what's written (even though I've learned some new things), and the book was short enough not to become tedious. I can't wait to delve deeper into some more advanced topics in the next iteration.
March 25, 2023
I enjoyed learning about few intricacies JS has but I was left bored by most of the stuff.
Probably not an issue with the book but more with my interests - I do not want to know so much about idiosyncrasies of one particular language as much as I'd like to know about general principles and ideas programming language offers
Probably not an issue with the book but more with my interests - I do not want to know so much about idiosyncrasies of one particular language as much as I'd like to know about general principles and ideas programming language offers
August 31, 2021
Small book, getting started with JS. Knew most of the stuff, but let's keep going
Also, the writer is comically impressed by himself, keeps reminding how heavy and good of a material it is (maybe that's how things work)
Also, the writer is comically impressed by himself, keeps reminding how heavy and good of a material it is (maybe that's how things work)
September 7, 2022
По сути это вступление, форматирование выглядит неплохо, немного напрягали постоянные повторения с прочтением дважды, в остальном сойдёт, но насчёт следующих частей пока неуверен, скорее всего упущу их
October 2, 2022
Many very useful points for someone who have been using JS quite a bit without really digging into the details.
The tone of the author can be a bit too "parental" and repetitive at times when it comes to how to think about JS.
But the technical content is great and warrants a read.
The tone of the author can be a bit too "parental" and repetitive at times when it comes to how to think about JS.
But the technical content is great and warrants a read.
Read
April 18, 2024It's a good introduction to JS and some of its weirdness, but Kyle's a little too evangelical about it all for my taste sometimes. His opinions are sometimes annoying and it feels too defensive of some JS "features" that I don't think I'll ever like, such as coercion.
Read
July 20, 2020Great book and great start!
November 11, 2020
Nice intro to JavaScript.
As the author mentions, this is not a book for beginners, you should already be familiar with it.
As the author mentions, this is not a book for beginners, you should already be familiar with it.
November 17, 2020
Learned some new stuff, but I think I need some more experience to fully appreciate this book.
December 28, 2020
I really liked the suggestions and the scope. A bunch of history and interesting tips make this book a really good one.
December 31, 2020
He comes on a bit heavy but that's to be expected with nerds, good info though.
March 3, 2021
Very interesting content but for the price of the book I was expecting more
April 14, 2021
If you want to gain mastery on how JS work, this book is your go to book. Kyle Simpson simplified each pillar of JavaScript in this first chapter. I really enjoyed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2021
Decent. No major revelations here, unsurprisingly most of the things outlined in this book is available at MDN.
October 6, 2021
Good to start reading about JS (no matter back-end, front-end) with this book after interacting about 7,8 months with it.
Read
May 11, 2022It gave me the complete fundamentals of JavaScript and most of them are unaware or known half-baked knowledge. Recommended for all the web developers.
May 28, 2023
Didn't like the book that much. I realized that it's much better to go through paid courses than reading a book if you want to learn a programming language.
June 4, 2023
I thought I knew JS pretty well but there were still really specific things I learnt from the book to solidify my knowledge. Quite a high level book to introduce the series.
October 21, 2023
Great start but you need to revisit the pages a lot because it is not as easy as it might be for a get started book.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews