houbou writes:
The latest version is Mastering ExtJS, which covers version 4.2, truly, at the moment of writing this, a great read, since this is as current as it can get!
A few years back I purchased Learning ExtJS and it was a book worthy of my shelf space. Back then, ExtJS was at version 2.x and the API documentation was fairly decent, but there wasn't much info on putting all of what ExtJS could do into some semblance and perspective.
The great thing about Mastering ExtJS is that it will get you up to speed with a truly practical project, which touches every major aspect of ExtJS 4.2.
- Title: Mastering ExtJS 4.2
- Author: Loiane Groner
- Pages: 358
- Publisher: PACKT Publishing
- Rating: 9/10
- Reviewer: Houbou
- ISBN: 978-1-78216-400-5
- Summary: Get up and running with ExtJS using real-world techniques
The book is divided into 12 chapters. Chapter 1) Getting Started will get you ready to build your app and understand the book's project using graphics and excellent mockups. Best of all, all you need is a WAMP/LAMP stack and you are ready to go!
Do you need to know much? Not at all, no real pre-requisites to anything really. And that's really amazing and you can divide the credits for this accomplishment between the author who wrote this manual and the fact that ExtJS is a complete full solution, which when approached correctly, allows you to build an app without any real knowledge of anything beyond using a computer and typing text.
Of course, this is all about Mastering ExtJS, not web development, so, do not expect to deal with topics such as performance optimization for example, those advanced topics are beyond the scope of the material presented.
The project is build in a logical way, so, Chapter 2) would deal with a Login page for your app, while Chapter 3) would deal with Login Out and having a multilingual project. Again, all very well-thought of, you are dealing with a project which is based on sound and solid web application architectural concepts.
Now, to be fair, you aren't just building an ExtJS app, this book teaches you the correct approach, which is by using the sencha tools and by ensuring the use of Sencha's MVCS (Model, View, Controller, Store) paradigm. This is peppered throughout the chapters.
Throught the rest of the book, when appropriate, it's not just about writing ExtJS code, but integrating it with the back-end support which in our case is a combination of MySQL and PHP. Again, no need to know these products as Mastering ExtJS provides you with everything you need as well as a good summary of how these technologies are integrating with the project.
Chapter 4 talks about dynamic menus, so, yes, it deals with using the DB to populate your menus at runtime.
Chapter 5 makes you build a user identification and security management tools. so you get to play with complex layouts using grids, tab layout, again all working of your back-end support.
Chapter 6 deals with MySQL table management, so, in this aspect, if databases aren't your strength, you should enjoy the simplicity and the real-world knowledge you will gain from this chapter as you get to implement these topics with ExtJS.
Chapter 7 is about Content Management, again, real world topics which uses more grids with pagination and other widgets, which are data driven.
Chapter 8 goes beyond the usual fanfare that ExtJS provides with topics such as exporting your grid to Excel and PDF, creating charts and also exporting them to PDF and/or images.
Chapter 9 provides the application with E-Mail management capabilities, what's interesting is that this project uses more than 1 controller and you get to understand more about Sencha's MVCS as well working with some nifty drag and drop features.
Chapter 10 is all about going to production, so the topics such as deploying your app, customizing a theme, working with the Sencha tools, and even working with Sencha's Desktop Packager, should you want to go to the actual Desktop!
Chapter 11, for those who are WordPress users, well, you can integrate your WordPress with ExtJS by building a WordPress theme.
Chapter 12, to me, is a subject which is very dear which is Debugging and Testing your app, and yes, we are talking about Siesta testing. As an added bonus, there is some relevant information about ExtJS and mobile web app development, where you get to read about Sencha Touch and the similarities in the API between the 2 frameworks.
Overall, this book is amazing, it is actually one of those rare books which is available in a time where the information is fresh and relevant. You need to get tame that ExtJS Beast? You need to know what it can do? Then Mastering ExtJS is the book for you!
