I see programming as a means to an end. For me, that end is creating interactive websites. For this reason, I found Eloquent JavaScript to be very boring. Most of the book talks about using the language to solve contrived, silly problems like keeping track of your aunt's cats. It got interesting only towards the end, when it started explaining how JavaScript can be used to actually DO things in the browser.
I would recommend Codecademy instead. I like it a lot because the courses consist of short parts where it first describes what you are going to do and why, and then makes you do it. You then see the fruits of your efforts on the mini-browser immediately. For me that was huge, because it is much easier to put the stuff you learn into context when you are seeing the results right away.
Eloquent JavaScript would be great if you want to get down to the knitty-gritty details of the language. But I would argue that not everyone needs that level of detail at the beginning.
I would recommend Codecademy instead. I like it a lot because the courses consist of short parts where it first describes what you are going to do and why, and then makes you do it. You then see the fruits of your efforts on the mini-browser immediately. For me that was huge, because it is much easier to put the stuff you learn into context when you are seeing the results right away.
Eloquent JavaScript would be great if you want to get down to the knitty-gritty details of the language. But I would argue that not everyone needs that level of detail at the beginning.
edit: not sure why I'm being downvoted...