The YUI 3 Cookbook
The YUI 3 Cookbook is now available for pre-order!
Available from:
Or download a free three-chapter sample pack!
Why learn YUI 3?
Every library is designed to address a particular set of problems. YUI focuses on keeping the complexity of web applications from spiraling out of control. Its key strengths are modularity and structure.
- "Modularity" means that YUI is not a monolithic library, but a toolkit for assembling highly tailored libraries. If you need AutoComplete and Calendar, you can load just those widgets and leave out all the others. If you need DOM manipulation but not XHR requests, you can load just the core DOM APIs without Ajax. Modularity is not tacked on as an afterthought, but baked deep into YUI's design.
- "Structure" means YUI's APIs guide you towards building applications as a set of orderly components. Because of this, YUI components all have very similar behaviors. If you know how to work with a YUI ScrollView, you already know a lot about how to work with a Slider, a DataTable, or any other YUI widget.
Of course, the only real way to determine whether a framework or library works for you is to try it out yourself. YUI is a powerful open source JavaScript and CSS toolkit for building web applications, but there are many other fine choices out there. The YUI 3 Cookbook aims to demystify YUI and help you make an informed decision.
Who this book is for
There are two main audiences who will benefit most from this book:
- JavaScript developers who are new to YUI and looking to learn the basics.
- JavaScript developers who have light to moderate YUI experience, looking to deepen their knowledge.
This book will not teach you JavaScript. It assumes that you are familiar with basic mechanics of the language.
If you are an experienced engineer who picks up new languages in weeks, reading this book might help you learn some JavaScript through osmosis, but it isn’t the best place to start. A better place to start is Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke, followed by JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford.
If you are already a YUI expert, this book probably covers a lot of familiar ground. Still, it might help you with corners of the library that you know less well, or provide some extra insight into why some corner of YUI works the way it does.
This book is not a comprehensive reference manual for the entire YUI library. For complete coverage of every method, parameter, and option, please consult the API reference documentation.
