Finally, after much work, we’ve got the first issue of JavaScript magazine (affectionately known as JSMag) out. Extra special thanks to Rebecca Murphey for her helping hand in an hour of need. You can read about all the authors or take a look at the first issue or even grab yourself a sample PDF file. Our first issue includes:
ExtJS: An Introduction
Brett Harris and Jed Brubaker walk you through just what ExtJS can do for you.
The Red Pill: Functional Programming in JavaScript
Follow Robert Fischer through the more esoteric side of JavaScript.
Unit Testing JavaScript
Join Matt Henry as he shows you how to unit test your JavaScript code using the YUI testing functionality.
Don’t be Alert!
Robert Cameron demonstrates the various ways of debugging your JavaScript code without resorting to the overused alert() function.
What’s new in jQuery 1.3
Rebecca Murphey takes us on a tour of the next functionality lurking in the latest jQuery release.
Community news
Catch up with the latest JavaScript news with Matt Henry.
We’re definitely on the lookout for contributors, so email editor@jsmag.com if you’re interested.
“Great” idea. I’ll be releasing a new steam engine design any day now.
Serious question. Why would I buy the magazine rather than just go to these links?
http://extjs.com/learn/Tutorial:Introduction_to_Ext_2.0
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-javascript.html
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/yuitest/
http://getfirebug.com/js.html
http://nettuts.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/everything-you-need-to-know-about-jquery-13/
Sam
Good question. For some people, just going to those links *is* enough. Perhaps you’re the type of person who gets everything online all the time and nothing more. That’s perfectly fine.
There are some aspects of the magazine format that we’re continually aiming to improve to bring value to the table.
1. Filtering. Our goal is to become a trusted source for information, along the lines of some of those listed above, and others.
2. Editing. I can’t say we’re perfect on this, but we’re getting better with each magazine release. We have editors who review content with authors, helping them improve and shape the ideas before publication.
3. Serendipity. JSMag can be a place to get exposed to topics you might not have known of before.
4. Supporting authors. We currently pay a small honorarium for content. Purchasing a magazine helps directly support current and future contributions, without annoying Flash ads or resorting to AdBlock.
5. Unique content. While there’s probably never a truly original idea out there, our goal is to bring fresh voices and interesting perspectives to the articles that might not have been heard before.
Without trying to sound sarcastic here, perhaps no one should ever again write a piece on their experiences with ExtJS because there’s already one written by someone? Authors like to write, and we’re putting together another outlet for writers to publish in.
The magazine format isn’t for everyone, obviously. Some people greatly prefer the open web and finding their own information. Others appreciate a somewhat independent and unbiased party to help act as a guide through the available information out there.
Thanks for your feedback. This was a question faced when GroovyMag was lauched several months ago. Even in that smaller community, there are definitely competing sources of information, and we’ve continued to try to bring valuable content that’s outside the content found in ‘regular’ outlets as much as possible We’ll carry on that tradition with JSMag.
A valid question and a good reply. I can’t stress enough that many (most?) online resources are of a somewhat lower quality, but Google doesn’t make distinction between them. If a beginner searches for some solution, chances that he’ll find a working, but a low-quality solution, are quite big. With editing and filtering you get rid of that, providing the editors are competent. Also, authors learn that way, because they get a more insightful and professional feedback, compared to comments on blogs.
I’d also add that reading longer texts is much nicer on paper than on screen.
Hi,
How would you compare jQuery to extJS?
Thanks
I’m not sure I would.
I don’t have much direct experience with extjs beyond going through a couple basic ‘hello worlds’. I had done a bit of work with the datagrid back in 2007 when it was first out, and found it frustrating because it didn’t do things I wanted at the time. I’ve no doubt it’s progressed a lot since then.
jQuery has always seemed to me to be the PHP of the javascript world, and I mean that in mostly a good sense. Other packages like extjs and yui tend to require a lot more upfront investment than a “copy/paste” approach which is seemingly more popular (and possible) in the jquery world. That’s not to say jquery developers are, by and large, ‘cut and paste’ type people. Many aren’t. But, the jquery camp was one of the first, from what I can tell, to popularize the ‘do this one thing for me easily with this snippet of code’ approach.