I was recently sent a review copy of "Drupal 6 JavaScript and jQuery" by Matt Butcher. Having recently started to use JQuery with Drupal it was a shame I had not discovered it earlier. Anyway, unlike the previous book I reviewed on Drupal, which did not cover the basics required to use the book, this one does. Okay so it doesn't show you how to install and configure Drupal, but if you’re buying this book that is not what you are after anyway, and chances are you are more than capable of doing that in any case.
The book starts off just outlining and defining the basic terms, tools required and the Drupal system is described. Rather than jumping into JQuery, the book builds up in steps starting with basic JavaScript being used in Drupal. This is done by easy to follow tutorials and examples.
JQuery is then explained with examples. This is done as a standalone entity and then the book shows how to integrate with Drupal. A good idea for those new to JQuery, although in some places a little brief. I suppose though you have not bought the book for JQuery alone. The book then expands the idea of JQuery by integrating AJAX, again with examples. In this case using RSS/XML. There are several chapters, all with worked examples. The book gives enough information to be able to easily use any of the JQuery methods with Drupal's modules and or themes.
Summary
A fantastic book for anyone who wants to create better Drupal websites. Obviously not for the beginner, you will need to know HTML, CSS and a bit of PHP and JavaScript. The books is easy to follow and understand and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to use JQuery, or even just JavaScript, within Drupal. If only to help get your head around the "Behaviours" system.
