Google Apps Script for Beginners Illustrated Edition

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This book lacks a mission. It's not a JavaScript book. It's not a Google Scripts reference. It's sort of a strange hybrid of the two. The author assumes you know JavaScript, so he doesn't really go into that. And he repeatedly refers the reader to Google's documentation for details on the various services that are available.Teaching JavaScript in the context of Google Apps Script would have been interesting. But the author doesn't really seem to know what he wants to do. The result is a haphazard jumble of topics, with no clear objective. The lack of structure is made worse by poor grammar, typos and loads of poorly documented code.Perhaps some people will find this useful as a sort of Google Apps Script cookbook. But, in general, I would recommend getting a decent JavaScript book and using Google's documentation to fill in the missing pieces.

Google Apps Script platform allows novice programmers (and even amateurs like me!) build powerful applications. Anyone who uses this platform and attends the stackoverflow forum inevitably have come across this author, because Serge Insas have answered (with lots of patience sometimes) hundreds or thousands of questions from users of that forum. So it is with great joy that I got the news that he has consolidated knowledge he gained answering all those questions in a book. I wrote this review basing myself on the quality of answers in stackoverflow from Sergei Insas ([...]). As soon as I finish reading the book, I will edit this review in greater detail.

Great place to start. You won't get all the details, and most of the time there are no "whys", but it should get you started.Pros:Lots of examples on what can be done, it's up to you to apply the knowledge.Cons:Not enough background or foundation. It just goes on and on, if you need programming basics start somewhere else.

I've bought dozens of computer programming books over the years. I've also written my fair share. When the first tutorial scripts in the book fail to run correctly even when you copy and paste them from the downloaded file, it's a good sign that you're not going to be in for a useful experience.That was the case with this book for me. It may even have been somehow my fault (though it's hard to see why; I don't know enough to screw this up at least in theory). I spent about 3 hours trying to get the third and fourth scripts in the book to work right, kept getting errors, and finally gave up.This is the first-ever Kindle book I've returned for a refund. The other negative reviews here are correct, in my experience.

Google Apps Script is a JavaScript-based programming language that works on the cloud and is 100% free to use.It provides all the tools necessary for Google services to work. Users can easily transfer any data from one service to another,save their important e-mails as files, save and share files with anybody, and even build their own website.It’s a great way of allowing people with minimal technical knowledge to create great solutions for their company.If you intend to dive into it, I suggest you the new book from 'Packt publishing', 'Google Apps Script for Beginners' [...]This book is a practical hands-on guide which is presented and explained with working examples to help you get started with Google Apps Script.You will create custom functions in your spreadsheets, design your own forms, filter your emails, and publish web applications that you can use every day.You will be able to share just about anything that can be shared:from basic spreadsheet functionality and customization to fully automated workflows.You will learn to embed scripts and text documents in Google sites,and will also be taken through standalone applications and user interfaces.This book will gives you an overview of the many resources available to help improve your learning experience.If you are an application developer with no knowledge of App Script, and would like to learn to build apps using Google Apps script from scratch, then this book is for you.

Serge is an active contributor to the community of Google Apps Script enthusiasts and a heavy hitter on Stack Overflow. This book reflects that activity and expertise.

Great book for intermediate learners, but definitely not a book for beginners. That must have been a marketing gimmick.The book would be excellent for someone that already knows Javascript and Google Apps Script in order to give them specific ideas in how to use apps script to control Google Apps (Gmail, sheets, etc).I already know Javascript and Google Apps Script and I can see how reading through this book how a noobie would be totally blown away. The author suggests a just "copy and paste" style, but then what's the point? What is the reader learning by copy and pasting your intermediate level code into a browser and hitting run?I'm extremely impressed by the author being able to learn Google Apps Script as a teacher, because that must have been incredibly difficult. The book isn't horrible, but hopefully his second effort will create something more focused and coherent.

I had read Serge Insas's Google Apps Script (GAS) blog and some of his comments on Stack Overflow before buying this book so I expected it to be good. I wasn't disappointed, he clearly knows his subject and I found the book useful. The problem for him and any author writing on GAS is that it is difficult to know where to pitch it. Many readers will know JavaScript but not GAS while others might have experience of languages like Excel VBA but not know JavaScript. Despite this, I think the author has done a good job and this book fills an important gap in the market. For those like me who came to GAS from Excel VBA, I found the Leanpub book "Google Spreadsheet Programming" (author Michal Maguire).

Potrebbe essere utile come introduzione a G. Script, ma è aggiornato al 2014, decisamente un'era fa in questo campo. Non vi troverete con i menù e soprattutto con le funzioni...

Unreadable - unpractical incomprehensible - total waste of money

Excellent