The 6th edition of David Flanagan’s JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is over 1000 pages and divided into four parts. Part 1, which covers the core of JavaScript, is an essential read for beginners who would like to learn the ins-and-outs of the language. Part 2, which delves into the client-side scripting including HTML5 APIs, CSS, media, graphics and jQuery, is for developers who want to take their web pages to another level with the power of JavaScript in conjunction to HTML5 and CSS3. Part 3 & 4, which provide further references for the first two parts, make this book a comprehensive guide and a must-have for JavaScript programmers and front-end web developers.

When Miles Davis formed his second quintet with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, he knew that they were “going to be a motherfucker of a group.” In just three and a half years together, the quintet recorded some of the most brilliant, innovative masterpieces in the history of jazz.

From E.S.P. (January 1965), Miles Smiles (October 1966), Sorcerer (May 1967), Nefertiti (June 1967), Miles in the Sky (January and May 1968) to Filles de Kilimanjaro (June 1968), Keith Waters analyzes in depth The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 “through their compositional, melodic, harmonic, formal, improvisational, and participatory strategies.” With Waters’s detailed assessments such as motivic organization, meter and hypermeter and circular tunes, this book isn’t suitable for casual listeners.

While I find the technical analysis intriguing, I am more interested in the feelings these men had created and the personal connection between a group of talented musicians. The emotion and the sound in Davis’s trumpet, the melodic and harmonic beauty in Shorter’s saxophone and the inventive, expansive rhythmic from Hancock, Carter and William still mesmerize me every time I return to these albums.

John McWade’s How to Design Cool Stuff actually shows you how to design professional-looking print and web materials. The book is a quick read, but filled with useful tips and guides on using types, photographs and colors to enhance your design. The cool thing about this book is that John McWade makes the techniques easy and simple, but the results are stunning. Beginners will find How to Design Cool Stuff to be very beneficial. This is the first Before & After book I have read and I am looking forward to reading more from this series.

Jeffrey Zeldman once said that Jeremy Keith could write about cement and he could still make the subject interesting. As I was reading Jeremy Keith’s DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model, I couldn’t agree more. Keith has such an accessible approach in his explanation. Here’s an example of how he breaks down variables (JavaScript syntax):

In our everyday lives there are some things about us that are fixed and some things that are changeable. My name and my birthday are fixed. My mood and my age, on the other hand, will change over time. The things that are subject to change are called variables.

Can’t get any clearer than that. The second edition of DOM Scripting is filled with updated guidelines and best practices for applying unobtrusive JavaScript to enhance, rather than getting in the way of, the user experience.The book also introduces some new HTML features including canvas, video, audio and forms. A recommend read for web designers.

Here is a list of books I have read in my commuting trips and free time:

Stunning CSS3 by Zoe Mickley Gillenwater covers new CSS features, such as gradient, transition, rounded borders, through project-based demonstration. The last two chapters, “Different Screen Size, Different Design” and “Flexing Your Layout Muscles,” are particularly useful for those who would like to learn responsive web design.

HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim is a short and concise read that gets you up and running with new markups in no time. Pilgrim’s Dive Into HTML5 is also a great resource.

Pro HTML5 Programming by Peter Lubbers, Brian Albers, Frank Salim takes you beyond the basic HTML5 markups and shows you the power of APIs including WebSockets, Geolocation and Web Storage, to create robust web applications.

Now that GW has announced the move toward Drupal as the University’s CMS, I am starting to read up on the open source system to get a feel for it. I installed Drupal 6 in the past and played around with it, but didn’t get very far because I didn’t have a real project to work with. I actually want to read up on Drupal 7, but haven’t founs a good book yet since the latest version came out not too long ago. Using Drupal by Angela Byron et al. published three years ago, but it is still a good read to see what you can do with Drupal without programming skills. Using existing modules and themes alone could get you up and running complex sites like job posting board, product reviews and Wiki.

For front-end developers and designers, Front End Drupal by Emma Hogbin Konstantin Kafer is very informative in learning how to customize the look and feel of Drupal. The thing to note about Drupal is that upgrading from version 6 to 7 is not as easy as clicking a button like WordPress, one of the features I live about WordPress. Themes are specific for each version.

Create Stunning HTML Email That Just Works by Mathew Patterson is what I needed when I had to create some HTML email templates for the School of Business. I have to admit that designing an HTML email was quite a challenge. In fact, I was struggling with it. I had to forget everything I have learned about HTML and CSS for the past ten years in order to make the design looked correct in mail applications. Patterson sounds convincing about the opportunities for web designers as he points out, “email is a low-cost, high-return medium that appeals to businesses.” I had clients who requested HTML newsletter design and I hesitated to take on. It’s really a pain, but I am changing my mind after reading this book.

Giles Colborne’s Simple and Usable is irresistible, specially for a minimalist like myself. Colborne argues, “When something is simple, it looks effortless.” He gives examples of Flip video camera and Apple products and explains how simple user experience makes them stand out.

After setting out a vision for why we should design for mainstreamers rather than expert customers, Colborne lays out four key strategies for simplicity: remove, organize, hide and displace. He uses a DVD remote control to illustrate how an over-complicated gadget could be simplified as he points out, “The secret to creating a simple user experience is to shift complexity into the right place, so that each moment feels simple.”

For anyone who looks into creating user-focused experiences for web, mobile and interactive platforms, Simple and Usable is a must read.

In retrospect, I have spent more than a decade building my online portfolio. Visualgui.com has evolved over the years, but the primary goal remains the same: to showcase my work. This site played an important role in my career and landed 95% of my client projects. For web designers, an online portfolio is a requirement. For beginners, creating an online presence could be a daunting task. If you’re in that situation and don’t know where to begin, Ian Clazie’s Creating Your Digital Portfolio is for you. With practical tips and professional examples, this book is an invaluable guide for creating an effective online portfolio. In addition to the book’s advice on the visual design, I strongly recommend that you pay attention to the codes as well. Particularly for web designers, clean, well-structured markups under the hood are as important as the striking display.

Any CSS book written by Eric Meyer is worth a read. Smashing CSS is no exception. Meyer’s expertise in CSS and clear explanation help clear up technical obscure of CSS selectors like specificity, the order of multiple classes, ID vs. class, outline vs. borders and substring attribute selection. Smashing CSS is not for beginners. Most of the tips assumed that readers are already familiar with CSS and HTML.

With the growing popularity of CSS3, I am a bit surprised that Meyer still covers techniques like CSS Sprites, Sliding Doors, Complexspiral, Pre-CSS3 Rounded Corners, Faux Columns and One True Layout. I was hoping that he would delve more into the new CSS3 techniques. Nevertheless, I have learned things that I haven’t realized before like ideas for using attribute selectors to style types of links.

With deep knowledge and a light sense of humor, Bruce Lawson and Remy Sharp have done an excellent job of Introducing HTML5. To help readers understand how to apply the new structures, the authors use real case studies such as The Guardian newspaper and a WordPress comment form. In addition, the book delves into web development including data storage, offline web applications, drag and drop and geolocation API. Introducing HTML5 is a solid guide for making intelligent, accessible web sites using the new language.

Kristofer Layon’s The Web Designer’s Guide to iOS Apps is an informative intro to create an app with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript using NimbleKit, the Objective-C framework. From installing the iOS SDK to creating contents to marketing and distributing your app, Layon demonstrates how web designers could pull together an app without knowing how to program. While the book helps readers get started, it doesn’t take them further than creating a simple web page for an app. I was expecting something more dynamic like how to pull in an RSS feed or hook up an API.