Bear Bibeault

BEAR BIBEAULT has been writing software for over three decades, starting with a Tic-Tac-Toe program written on a Control Data Cyber supercomputer via a 100-baud teletype. Because he has two degrees in Electrical Engineering, Bear should be designing antennas or something; but, since his first job with Digital Equipment Corporation, he has always been much more fascinated with programming.

Bear has also served stints with companies such as Lightbridge Inc., BMC Software, Dragon Systems, Works.com, and a handful of other companies. Bear even served in the U.S. Military teaching infantry soldiers how to blow up tanks; skills that come in handy during those daily scrum meetings. Bear is currently a senior web developer for a leading provider of object storage software.

In addition to his day job, Bear also writes books (duh!), runs a small business that creates web applications and offers other media services (but not wedding videography—never, ever wedding videography), and helps to moderate JavaRanch.com as a “sheriff” (senior moderator). When not planted in front of a computer, Bear likes to cook big food (which accounts for his jeans size), dabble in photography and video, ride his Yamaha V-Star, and wear tropical-print shirts.

He works and resides in Austin, Texas, a city he dearly loves, except for the completely insane drivers.

books by Bear Bibeault

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, Third Edition

  • MEAP began December 2024
  • Publication in Fall 2025 (estimated)
  • ISBN 9781633436121
  • 450 pages (estimated)
  • printed in black & white

Whether you’re a JavaScript novice or a battle-hardened web developer, you’ll love Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, Third Edition! Written for web developers who know the basics of JavaScript or TypeScript, this amazing book delivers best practices for writing code that’s readable, reliable, and performant. This fully-revised third edition includes TypeScript techniques, along with modern tools like ESLint that help you catch bugs before they crash your apps. Plus, you’ll find practical tips on overcoming common pain points in modern JavaScript development, such as the divide between ECMAScript and CommonJS modules.

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, Second Edition

  • August 2016
  • ISBN 9781617292859
  • 464 pages
  • printed in black & white
  • Available translations: Complex Chinese, Russian, Simplified Chinese

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, Second Edition uses practical examples to clearly illustrate each core concept and technique. This completely revised edition shows you how to master key JavaScript concepts such as functions, closures, objects, prototypes, and promises. It covers APIs such as the DOM, events, and timers. You'll discover best practice techniques such as testing, and cross-browser development, all taught from the perspective of skilled JavaScript practitioners.

jQuery in Action, Third Edition

  • August 2015
  • ISBN 9781617292071
  • 504 pages
  • printed in black & white
  • Available translations: Complex Chinese, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese

Thanks to jQuery, no one remembers the bad old days when programmers manually managed browser inconsistencies, CSS selectors support, and DOM navigation, and when every animation was a frustrating exercise in raw JavaScript. The elegant, intuitive jQuery library beautifully manages these concerns, and jQuery 3 adds even more features to make your life as a web developer smooth and productive.

jQuery in Action, Third Edition, is a fast-paced guide to jQuery, focused on the tasks you'll face in nearly any web dev project. In it, you'll learn how to traverse the DOM, handle events, perform animations, write jQuery plugins, perform Ajax requests, and even unit test your code. Its unique Lab Pages anchor each concept in real-world code. This expanded Third Edition adds new chapters that teach you how to interact with other tools and frameworks and build modern single-page web applications.

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja

  • December 2012
  • ISBN 9781933988696
  • 392 pages
  • printed in black & white
  • Available translations: Korean

You can't always attack software head-on. Sometimes you come at it sideways or sneak up from behind. You need to master an arsenal of tools and know every stealthy trick. You have to be a ninja.

Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja leads you down the pathway to JavaScript enlightenment. This unique book starts with key concepts, like the relationships between functions, objects, and closures, taught from the master's perspective. You'll grow from apprentice to ninja as you soak up fresh insights on the techniques you use every day and discover features and capabilities you never knew about. When you reach the final chapters, you'll be ready to code brilliant JavaScript applications and maybe even write your own libraries and frameworks.

You don't have to be a ninja to read this book—just be willing to become one. Are you ready?

Ajax in Practice

  • June 2007
  • ISBN 9781932394993
  • 536 pages

After a brief overview of Ajax, this book takes the reader through dozens of working examples, presented in an easy-to-use cookbook format. Readers will learn how to implement drag-and-drop interfaces and discover how to create effective navigation strategies for their applications. Unlike a traditional cookbook, Ajax in Practice provides a thorough discussion of each technique presented and shows how the individual components can be connected to create powerful solutions. A fun "mash-up" chapter concludes the book. Throughout the book, the examples chosen are interesting, entertaining, and practical.