To be honest I wasn't expecting too much from Practical JavaScript, DOM Scripting and AJAX Projects, I was anticipating a cut down version of the AJAX part of his Practical Ajax Projects with Java Technology book, but it was so much. In fact it has taught me so much that I'm still trying to work out why some of the concepts weren't in some other AJAX/JavaScript books I have read and how I had gone for so long without encountering them.

Usually AJAX in Action is given as the yardstick for measuring AJAX books, and I found Frank's first book a good compliment for AiA when you're integrating with Java, but Practical JDAP (if I may call it that) is something else again, and still a very strong contender for the web-developer's bookshelf. The main reason is that while it provides coverage of JavaScript with a view towards use of the latest technologies and practices in web development, its approach is complimentary rather than overlapping. For example only the last chapter covers AJAX explicitly, with the main focus of the book being the manipulation of the data on the client.

On the down side, most of the hints and gems in the book are hidden in the text and are not marked up to bring them to your attention. If you browse the book or only implement parts of the examples you may miss some of these items.

So while I wasn't expecting to learn from this book, I found it filled a niche between general JavaScript and AJAX that I wasn't aware existed.