We need more JavaScript developers! There are too many jobs, and not enough qualified devs. The thing is, JavaScript isn't even that hard, and it's actually quite beautiful, but you've got to take the time to get to know it.

There's a huge pool of talented developers in the .NET world, hitherto sheltered from JavaScript, but now starting to become curious. For a long time, Microsoft urged devs to shun HTML and JavaScript in favor of the tidy, self-contained world of .NET. They scared us with horror stories about browser incompatibility and unreliable open source libraries. Even if you wanted to do interesting things on the client side, there was Silverlight to keep you in the safe Microsoft bubble.

It worked for a while, but now the winds have changed. All of the interesting stuff that's happening in the client-side world today is done in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. With Node.js, JavaScript is becoming an important language on the server. With Windows 8, even Microsoft has embraced these technologies, leaving a lot of developers feeling stuck. Having never taken the time to learn the open web stack, is it too late now?

Jim Jackson and I wrote HTML5 for .NET Developers as an invitation, to help bring these folks into this new world. We give you a crash course in the core web technologies, as well as an introduction to some of the latest additions. Since each chapter is its own little project, we give you lots of great starting points for your own explorations.

Throughout the book, we're sensitive to the issues particular to folks coming from the .NET world. One of the common problems is trying to program JavaScript like it's C#. You can kind of do it, but you end up with a mess that's worse than either language on their own. We show you how to program JavaScript like it wants to be programmed, and everything is much smoother. It may take an open mind at first, but it's worth it.

People are also often overwhelmed by the fact that, while .NET is relatively self-contained, the JavaScript world is wide open; you're using all these libraries from different places, on all these different platforms, and there's new stuff every day. The good news is you don't have to learn it all, and there are tons of other people using the same stuff, sharing their discoveries, and helping each other out. We help you establish a beachhead from which you can continue to expand your knowledge.

So, if you're JavaScript-curious, come on in, the water's fine! Buy our book, play with our examples, hang out on Stack Overflow, and make stuff! When you do, let me know… I'd love to see what you come up with!