Best JavaScript books for beginners

Hey everyone,

I started learning JS with the book A Smarter Way To Learn JavaScript, which was great and gave me a grasp of the basics. But I don’t think I’m ready to build projects on my own yet.

Then I moved on to Head First JavaScript Programming but I’m not learning a lot… It’s mostly passive learning and a few exercises where I’m spoon-fed most of the code and only have to modify some very specific and narrow parts of the program.

So what book would you recommend that’s both challenging and doable for a beginner and, most importantly, with tons of exercises and a few projects to build? Basically I’m looking for something like Python Crash Course (for those who are familiar with it), but for JavaScript.

Eloquent JavaScript seems like a good candidate, but I also read that it’s not great for beginners. So I’d like to know your thoughts and suggestions.

try “You don’t know javascript”, it is available online for free, or you could also order the paper versions

but I would say you will never be ready to write your own programming before you start doing it, you will become ready only after starting and practice a lot

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I’m personally a fan of Eloquent JavaScript, and if you have a grasp on the basics as you said, I wouldn’t think you’d have any problem with the book. YDKJS is another great series, but imo, go through EJS first to give you a full base before diving into YDKJS, as it is quite dense.

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