I've gone over different aspects of this book a few times now, and was really looking forward to it showing a few things with ease, that I was looking to complete for a site I'm working on. Needless to say, I'm rather disappointed with the code issues within the book. I've compared the code in the book itself to the code on both the books website and the code on the Mapstraction website, and it varies much from both. So much so that it doesn't even work correctly...I believe that it's partially due to the lack of clarity on the Mapstraction website. The book does excel in describing techniques used for map scripting without a reliance on any one particular service, but after the issues described above, I feel that sticking to one service (such as google maps) would make your life a lot easier.

Pros

- Good read for basic concepts

- Easy to read and understand

Cons

- Flawed code and examples

- Book site code doesn't always match books code

(site code appears to be outdated! How this is possible I don't know)

This book couldn't have come at a better time: everything to do with mapping and location awareness is just hitting the mainstream, from NASA cartography to geotagged tweets. If you want practical tools for putting this enormous flood of data to use on the web, this is type JavaScript guides.)

It's also just plain fun to read. DuVander's writing style is warm and engaging without talking down to the reader, and most of the example projects are interesting in themselves, even if you're only using them as exercises.

If you want to work with maps on the web, this is easily the best all-around resource.

I know enough about the web to not call it the "Internets," but beyond that I know next to nothing about programming, coding, Java... the list goes on. I began reading this book after struggling to set up my first website and I think that DuVander has done something that I didn't know was possible: he's created an approachable guide to creating complex online maps for readers of any experience level--even me.

The hardest thing for someone like me to do was crack open the book. Once I had, the author captured me with his conversational style. He's written Map Scripting 101 almost like a workbook: you learn through doing something small, then adding a bit more to it, and a bit more... and before long, you have mastered something surprising in its complexity. And maybe most surprising at all: none of it was the least bit painful.

Recommended.