i am dustin diaz

page 137: Is it really necessary to itterate through a line four times because it's more readable?

For instance, Jeremy has this:

4x the iteration

if ( !object ) return false;
if ( !object ) return false;
if ( !object ) return false;
if ( !object ) return false;

Can easily and simply be rewritten like this:

1x the iteration

if ( !object || !object || !object || !object ) {
  return false;
}

In later chapters, I found out Jeremy does actually end up doing this. (note to self, be patient with Jeremy).

page 138: This has a little to do with Jeremy's love for addLoadEvent(). Not to criticize the function or its usefulness, but I think we can do a little better on how we're setting up our 'load' events. Although addLoadEvent() is simple to include anywhere, I would think it would be more practical to avoid using it so much... perhaps setting up a general loadGroup. For example, instead of this:

multiple instances of addLoadEvent

addLoadEvent(funcA);
addLoadEvent(funcB);
addLoadEvent(funcC);

Try something like this instead:

one instance of addLoadEvent

function myLoads() {
  funcA();
  funcB();
  funcC();
}
addLoadEvent(myLoads);

So in book's example, it could be rewritten like this:

photoGallery load event

function photoGal() {
  preparePlaceHolder();
  prepareGallery();
}
addLoadEvent(photoGal);

page 146: Here I'm a bit concerned on Jeremy's interchanging of the acronym "DOM" and JavaScript. In the What not to do section on this page, Jeremy says:

If you find yourself using the DOM to add important content...

This may be due to my own lack of understanding of what the DOM really really is. I mean really. I can dig the phrase "DOM Scripting". Yea, it's catchy and kind of makes sense. It's like a new wave of scripting. Or better yet: Scripting on the DOM. But here I think what Jeremy really meant is to use JavaScript to add important content. I am very unclear how you can use the DOM to actually insert content. My understanding of the DOM is that it's this large object... of your (web) document. The DOM can be manipulated by JavaScript... and not visa-versa.

On the contrary, I could be wrong, but I definitely think I'm onto something...

page 147: Jeremy says:

CSS are very powerful tools

Technically, that's a very correct statement. But doesn't it just sound weird? Say the acronym to yourself within the sentence... "See Ess Ess are very powerful tools". I don't know, but I'd reword it to say something simple like "Style Sheets are very powerful tools". You could completely ignore this if it doesn't make sense.

page 149: Do you really think html will be deprecated entirely? Last I heard, Hakon Lie (Inventor of C.S.S.) thinks html will be around for at least another fifty years according to his tech talk here at Yahoo!. I guess he made a bet with someone.

page 160: duplicate content. Jeremy, you've already explained the addLoadEvent() (and its benefits) earlier in the book. You could just throw out a page number and leave it to readers choice is they want to remember.

page 162: On Two possible Solutions to developing this script, I'm just wondering if the example is a 'real-world' example, or just used for the sake of having an example to show off some graceful degredation. Off the top of my head, I don't remember what the example was for.

page 183: One thing I've noticed in general at this point is the lack of reference. I understand this wasn't going to be an oreilly bible book to list every function in JavaScript since 1994, however it's nice to know that there's more out there. On this page specifically, you mentioned the camelCase style for fontFamily, but then fail to mention anything else or at the least point to a reference online where folks can find a complete list of JavaScript style properties.

page 185: Ok, since we're talkin' CSS shorthand here, I think my input is valid. For the font shorthand property, Jeremy has this example:

font shorthand property example

p {
  font:12px 'Arial', sans-serif;
}

One this is for sure, you don't need the quotes around 'Arial' and nor does it need to be capitalized. The only uses for quotes on fonts is when the name of the font has spaces in it. The other issue is there is no mention of unexplicit values that are set such as font-variant, font-weight, font-style, and line-height. Checkout my CSS Shorthand Guide. That's be sweet if I made it in Jeremy's book ;)

page 196: I've rewritten the stripeTables() to be a bit quicker. The purpose of this function was to alternate row colors of a table. Basically, instead of looping through each row one at a time and adding a className of 'alt' to every other row, I felt that it's only appropriate to 'skip' every other one by adding 2 instead of one...for example:

stripeTables function rewritten

function stripeTables() {
  ...
  for ( var j=0; j<rowLen; j=j+2; ) {
    // add className to row
  }
  ...
}

page 201: Is there really a problem with appending a ' ' (space) at the beginning of a className? Seems to work in IE6, Moz, Safari, and Opera. I must be missing something...

page 209: addLoadEvent() strikes again in full effect. lol.

Chapter 11: In general, what happened to DOM Scripting? You've snuck in a chapter that doesn't give Modular CSS justice. Should probably at the least consider putting references to online resources that explain this type of CSS architecture like Bowman's or Content with Style's piece on modular css. Just a thought.

page 256: *cough* addLoadEvent()

page 258: Jeremy asks how we could have solved the problem of getting the body to have an id while being in an include file...or something like that. In short, simply take out the body element and keep it on your separate pages. Done.

page 260: Ok, this was freaky, I think I'm using the same exact function on my website without having never seen it before. It's the one used to append a "You are here" tab. I told you great minds think alike.

page 299: Jeremy says:

Ajax involves the use of JavaScript, CSS, the DOM, & XML

Last I checked, Adaptive Path said it went along the lines of something like "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML"... but I hear where you're coming from Jeremy.

In Conclusion

Jeremy, if you read this entry (which I hope you have), I would encourage you to take this like any other criticism. I meant it whole heartedly and positively constructive as I possibly could. Not everything I say is correct or needs to be considered. These were just my thoughts from an experienced developers perspective. Overall I think you've done very well with the book and I recommend your book to anyone looking to get their hands dirty with the DOM for the first time.

Note to everyone else: Buy this book! It's everything I would have wanted to say had I been given the privledge to write one.