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Learning Dart
Mastering Dart by Projects is a step-by-step guide that aims to give you hands-on knowledge about programming in Dart using an example-based approach.If you want to become a web developer, or perhaps you already are a web developer but you want to add Dart to your tool belt, then this book is for you. This book assumes that you have at least some knowledge of HTML and how web applications work. Some previous programming experience, preferably in a modern language like C#, Java, Python, Ruby, or JavaScript, will also give you a head start. You can also work with Dart on your preferred platform, be it Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows.
388 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 10, 2019
With the release of Dart 1.0 in November 2013 we received a powerful tool for crafting robust, modern and scalable web apps. The knowledge base available for anyone wanting to get to know this Google developed language is growing, so I guess that soon we will be looking at “must-read Dart books” lists and this one has every chance of making it into each developer's canon.
Who is this book for? Well, it could be a bit too much for total novices in the programming world, but otherwise I think it's really well-suited both for seasoned developers eager to try Dart, or “post-beginners” familiar with basic programming concepts and (at least having heard about) some of the latest web technologies. As authors state, because of its dual focus the book “can appeal to both web developers who want to learn a modern way of developing web applications, and to developers who seek guidance on how to use HTML5.”
The core of the book are some useful Dart projects that the audience should code along, or better – code around, as authors decided to use the so-called spiral approach for explaining the vital concepts of web development with Dart. This means that on the beginning the simple solution to a given problem is presented, but later on it is being further developed (either on the basis of existing work or from scratch but making use of the just introduced concepts) in a few iterations called spirals. I am a big fan of this approach and think it is one of the best for teaching complex matters like programming – it both gives confidence about one's abilities and allows to make use of existing knowledge, while gradually expanding the student's set of skills.
Learning Dart is a very comprehensive volume that covers an impressive range of Dart web development related concepts: from basics like built-in types and their methods or using classes and objects to combining Dart with HTML5 forms, developing business apps with Polymer web components, client-server communication or data-driven web apps with MongoDB and MySQL, to name just a few. Just take a look at the table of contents! It can literally take you from zero to hero in no time.
tl;dr if you're looking at this review chances are you're in need of a good book that can get you up to speed with Dart programming language, look no further! This one will do it for you whether you're a ninja-rockstar-knight-commander or what have you of whatever programming language you're into or just a simple peasant trying to not feel overwhelmed by the amount of skills you have to acquire to pretend to not be a peasant anymore. And if you're somewhere in the middle, I am pretty sure Learning Dart it will do it for you too.
Who is this book for? Well, it could be a bit too much for total novices in the programming world, but otherwise I think it's really well-suited both for seasoned developers eager to try Dart, or “post-beginners” familiar with basic programming concepts and (at least having heard about) some of the latest web technologies. As authors state, because of its dual focus the book “can appeal to both web developers who want to learn a modern way of developing web applications, and to developers who seek guidance on how to use HTML5.”
The core of the book are some useful Dart projects that the audience should code along, or better – code around, as authors decided to use the so-called spiral approach for explaining the vital concepts of web development with Dart. This means that on the beginning the simple solution to a given problem is presented, but later on it is being further developed (either on the basis of existing work or from scratch but making use of the just introduced concepts) in a few iterations called spirals. I am a big fan of this approach and think it is one of the best for teaching complex matters like programming – it both gives confidence about one's abilities and allows to make use of existing knowledge, while gradually expanding the student's set of skills.
Learning Dart is a very comprehensive volume that covers an impressive range of Dart web development related concepts: from basics like built-in types and their methods or using classes and objects to combining Dart with HTML5 forms, developing business apps with Polymer web components, client-server communication or data-driven web apps with MongoDB and MySQL, to name just a few. Just take a look at the table of contents! It can literally take you from zero to hero in no time.
tl;dr if you're looking at this review chances are you're in need of a good book that can get you up to speed with Dart programming language, look no further! This one will do it for you whether you're a ninja-rockstar-knight-commander or what have you of whatever programming language you're into or just a simple peasant trying to not feel overwhelmed by the amount of skills you have to acquire to pretend to not be a peasant anymore. And if you're somewhere in the middle, I am pretty sure Learning Dart it will do it for you too.
February 17, 2014
I was expecting a lot from this book, but unfortunately some parts are too immature or little depth.
The author correctly guide the reader towards the new language from Google, but some sections should be further explored or expanded, in particular the introduction of the language and its packaging system.
Moreover, it is often not easy to follow the examples of code included in the book: annotations and references often distract the reader.
Great introduction to libraries Polymer and Dartling, unfortunately the examples are too tied to the (much) source code which does not make the reading smooth and flowing.
A good start to learn the language Dart, hoping that the authors settle these small flaws in subsequent editions.
The author correctly guide the reader towards the new language from Google, but some sections should be further explored or expanded, in particular the introduction of the language and its packaging system.
Moreover, it is often not easy to follow the examples of code included in the book: annotations and references often distract the reader.
Great introduction to libraries Polymer and Dartling, unfortunately the examples are too tied to the (much) source code which does not make the reading smooth and flowing.
A good start to learn the language Dart, hoping that the authors settle these small flaws in subsequent editions.
September 2, 2016
As an experienced software developer who is new to Dart, I really enjoyed this book. It begins walking through the structure and syntax of the Dart language. The description of each language feature also included the reasoning behind why particular conventions were chosen and what other languages the ideas came from. This additional information gave me a better understanding of the language and how it is designed to be used.
The book covers all the major components of Dart and is a great introduction to the language and how to use it. Beyond the standard syntax and semantics, there are several nice examples of working with Polymer and HTML5 in the book. Also, there are a few different sections covering writing server code in Dart. All of the various components required to get you up and running are covered. Including a brief section on installing git and getting connected to github and walk through on installing the Dart Editor.
One of the twelve chapters in the book is dedicated to a framework for automatically generating Dart code from data models. This is done using Model Concepts, Dartlero and Dartling, several open source applications created by one of the authors. There are also a few examples later in the book that use these tools as their basis. If this functionality is of interst to you, then you will really appreciate the tools and instruction the authors have provided in this area. Otherwise you might wish the space was used to cover a different topic.
Near the end of the book there is a brief overview of the various web and UI frameworks available for Dart and some descriptions of each. There is also a section listing the various databases drivers that are available in Dart. With so many options available in these areas as a new user I really appreciated having a brief overview of each of these libraries and what they provide.
I found myself wishing there was a whole chapter dedicated to AngularDart instead of just a short description. It is a new framework, but seems to be one of the most full featured application framework in Dart and it would have been great to explore it more. Perhaps this section can be expanded in a future edition or maybe it requires a book of its own.
Dart is a new an evolving language and keeping up with the fast pace of updates is a real challenge. However, the authors did a good job of updating the content as the language has evolved. For example the elements in the sample code use Polymer ui instead of the older Dart ui. I have done other tutorials that were dated in this regard.
Some minor suggestions. I might be nice to integrate some syntax highlighting in the sample code to increase the readability. Also, I did some of my reading on a mobile phone and found the sample code margins a bit too wide.
If you are interested in learning about Dart I think this book is a great resource. It covers all the major language features and goes in to deeper depth on many areas that you will find in most tutorials and examples on the web. The authors also seem to be active in the Dart community and are making efforts to provide useful open source tools for Dart developers such as their model based code generation framework.
The book covers all the major components of Dart and is a great introduction to the language and how to use it. Beyond the standard syntax and semantics, there are several nice examples of working with Polymer and HTML5 in the book. Also, there are a few different sections covering writing server code in Dart. All of the various components required to get you up and running are covered. Including a brief section on installing git and getting connected to github and walk through on installing the Dart Editor.
One of the twelve chapters in the book is dedicated to a framework for automatically generating Dart code from data models. This is done using Model Concepts, Dartlero and Dartling, several open source applications created by one of the authors. There are also a few examples later in the book that use these tools as their basis. If this functionality is of interst to you, then you will really appreciate the tools and instruction the authors have provided in this area. Otherwise you might wish the space was used to cover a different topic.
Near the end of the book there is a brief overview of the various web and UI frameworks available for Dart and some descriptions of each. There is also a section listing the various databases drivers that are available in Dart. With so many options available in these areas as a new user I really appreciated having a brief overview of each of these libraries and what they provide.
I found myself wishing there was a whole chapter dedicated to AngularDart instead of just a short description. It is a new framework, but seems to be one of the most full featured application framework in Dart and it would have been great to explore it more. Perhaps this section can be expanded in a future edition or maybe it requires a book of its own.
Dart is a new an evolving language and keeping up with the fast pace of updates is a real challenge. However, the authors did a good job of updating the content as the language has evolved. For example the elements in the sample code use Polymer ui instead of the older Dart ui. I have done other tutorials that were dated in this regard.
Some minor suggestions. I might be nice to integrate some syntax highlighting in the sample code to increase the readability. Also, I did some of my reading on a mobile phone and found the sample code margins a bit too wide.
If you are interested in learning about Dart I think this book is a great resource. It covers all the major language features and goes in to deeper depth on many areas that you will find in most tutorials and examples on the web. The authors also seem to be active in the Dart community and are making efforts to provide useful open source tools for Dart developers such as their model based code generation framework.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews