Functional JavaScript: Introducing Functional Programming with Underscore.js

Mr. Fogus is a brilliant writer! The book is a deep dive but very nicely explained, very methodical and stays on-track. The author is an expert in Javscript and an expert in all things Functional within Javascript.I don't agree with some of the commentary, particularly many of the statements made about Object Oriented Programming as there's seems to be a lesser degree of knowledge of it based on the comments made. For example OOP has patterns, which just work. Those patterns came about by continual refactoring to get to the point where all code becomes a container for very low level generic functional programming styles. In that sense, there is virtually no difference between Functional Programming and OOP. Experienced OOP folks are already reducing code at it's lowest layer to functions that support dependency injection. They can, if wanted return functions to functions too.. JavaScript is not a magic bullet, rather it's a ubiquitous language that is fun and cool.Michal is not a "Funtionista" but there are many of them out there bashing OOP by saying things like "OOP is the result of a bad programming language", while that may have been true in 1985, it's simply a joke to believe that's true any longer.Thanks Michael for the superb job.

I've read this book many weeks ago but it is still on my desk. I keep opening it and reading a random piece from it to refresh my memory. Some suggestions on this book feels more like a personal preference - for example writing only one var and chaining other variables names instead of typing var every time - however this book has shown me parts of javascript that I would normally would not even think about researching. It has given me another perspective on JavaScript. This book will not teach you JS, you should already know some. If you want to be a classy javascripter who writes fast and light js apps but do not know where to start improving yourself, this book is a great guide.

Overall it's a good book. However, coming from Java and "old style" JavaScript where by I don't know any functional programming, the concepts of functional programming are not easy to grasp with this book. I suggest another book first on learning functional programming concepts. The content is pretty good though.

This is a must read book for all advanced JavaScript developers. JavaScript is a versatile language that supports dynamic, object oriented and functional styles, with some good (and bad) parts. Unfortunately that confuses most programmers whether they are from Ruby/Python world or Java/C# world.Michael Fogus uses the excellent UnderScore.js library by Jeremy Ashkenas, to teach functional programming using JavaScript. The power of functional programming is too great to ignore. This book eases some pain in terms of building up step by step examples that illustrate functional programming thought process.Though the first 3 chapters were relatively easy to understand the later chapters do get a bit complex. I intend to re-read this book, while working out code samples, for better understanding.

Keep in mind that this is a 2016 review. Since the book was published, es2015 was released, and there are many better functional libraries than underscore: ramda, immutablejs, lodash/fp, just to name a few. Also some of the quirks of javascript that are now resolved in es2015 are laboriously fixed by the author in this book but are a given in es2015. Today we have call tail optimization, default parameters, we have fat arrows to control the value of this, we have auto curried functional libraries..... all laborious topics that complexifies an already complex topic.This is not an easy book.... you must already have a good level of programming and javascript. If this is your first functional programming book, and you are not already an experienced developer you will suffer.There are today more pedagogic, modern alternatives to this book.Actually I find I understand better all the topics presented by reading focused, recent blog posts !!Still I don't regret purchasing and reading this book as it presents a good overview about what you need to know to program functionally.

I really enjoyed this book. I've had a fair exposure to functional techniques in other languages, but this book really drove home how to use those techniques in Javascript. Good tone and level of detail, and the appendix has pointers to a wealth of further reading.One note - keep the Underscore.js docs handy, as the author makes extensive use of underscore.js without a lot of detail on how the functions work.

Great in-depth coverage of Javascript. This book is probably not for beginners, but it is very well written. The author methodically goes through the topic, creating and explaining use cases for mini compose-able functions which he builds on from chapter to chapter. It might take a second read for everything to sink in, but only because this book is so full of good information.

I don't often give one star, or even review books very often. And perhaps you should take my review with a grain of salt since I do not put myself on intellectual par with Mr. Fogus. He is clearly very bright. But then again, I am supposed to be learning from someone of his stature. The examples in this book are just too contrived and therefore confusing. He wasn't doing anything useful or giving examples that could exist "in the wild" as he might put it. I have returned few books that I have purchased, but this one went back. Don't get me wrong, I understand where he was going with his tales, I just don't care for his approach.