Eloquent JavaScript - An Opinionated Guide to Programming

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When personal computers were first introduced, most of them came equipped with a simple programming language, usually a variant of BASIC. Interacting with the computer was closely integrated with this language, and thus every computer-user, whether he wanted to or not, would get a taste of it. Now that computers have become plentiful and cheap, typical users don't get much further than clicking things with a mouse. For most people, this works very well. But for those of us with a natural inclination towards technological tinkering, the removal of programming from every-day computer use presents something of a barrier. 

Fortunately, as an effect of developments in the World Wide Web, it so happens that every computer equipped with a modern web-browser also has an environment for programming JavaScript. In today's spirit of not bothering the user with technical details, it is kept well hidden, but a web-page can make it accessible, and use it as a platform for learning to program. 

That is what this (hyper-)book tries to do. 

Besides explaining JavaScript, this book tries to be an introduction to the basic principles of programming. Programming, it turns out, is hard. The fundamental rules are, most of the time, simple and clear. But programs, while built on top of these basic rules, tend to become complex enough to introduce their own rules, their own complexity. Because of this, programming is rarely simple or predictable. As Donald Knuth, who is something of a founding father of the field, says, it is an art. 

To get something out of this book, more than just passive reading is required. Try to stay sharp, make an effort to solve the exercises, and only continue on when you are reasonably sure you understand the material that came before.  

JavaScript - The Good Parts (Video)

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Yahoo JavaScript architect Douglas Crockford delivered the keynote talk at the 2007 Konfabulator Developer Day and discussed the evolution of JavaScript and of his relationship to the language. Through his description of his own journey with the language, Douglas evokes what he considers to be the "good stuff" therein.  

JavaScript Essentials

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Before JavaScript was created, a typical web browsing experience consisted largely of displaying static pages of information. Any type of user interaction with a web page usually involved the browser sending information back to the web server where some type of server based script or other program would validate the user's data input. The server would then send back either a static error page if the user had entered invalid data or, assuming successful validation, return a static page to the web browser containing the results of the transaction. In addition, the lack of a mechanism to implement dynamic web page content and behavior dictated that an entirely new web page be loaded in order to display new information. 

It quickly became clear that a way of perfoming "client-side" or "web browser-side" processing was needed. The original intent for JavaScript, therefore, was to address this need by allowing such tasks as validating user input before it is transmitted to the web server, and creating dynamic web page content and layouts independently of the web server (for example, displaying different text depending on a user's actions within the page). 

JavaScript met and, indeed, exceeded these requirements by providing an extremely flexible and intuitive scripting language. The problem today is that, as with any useful technology, JavaScript has been used in ways never anticipated by its original authors. As a result, the potential uses of JavaScript have grown far beyond the needs of the average person looking to add dynamic behavior to web pages. The result of this is that JavaScript book authors also feel the need to cover every possible capability of JavaScript, often to the extent that the average JavaScript reference book now runs to over 1,000 pages. 

The purpose of this book, therefore, is to provide the essentials of JavaScript so that anyone with a web site can use this powerful scripting language quickly and effectively without having to learn things that, whilst within the capabilities of JavaScript, aren't actually needed by the average web designer. That said, this book does not take any shortcuts. It provides detailed and indepth knowledge of all aspects of JavaScript from language basics through to advanced topics.

This book is designed to provide a detailed and comprehensive, yet easy to follow, guide to developing powerful, dynamic web pages using JavaScript. It could be said that the object of JavaScript Essentials is to provide you with everything you need to use JavaScript, and nothing that you don't.  

Javascript Tutorial - John Russell

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Note: These excerpts are from the introduction page http://home.cogeco.ca/~ve3ll/jsintro.htm - though the listed link on BookGoldMine.com is for the tutorial section. 

JavaScript (aka ECMAScript) is a relatively easy way to make your website visually attractive to clients and other viewers by adding interactivity and dynamics to HTML pages. This page explains why one would use JavaScript in their HTML website design. JavaScript can also be used as a basis for writing utility programs that are platform independent. Programming concepts learned in JavaScript can be rolled over into Java or any modern object oriented language. This page also has links to JavaScript code repositories and references for those who prefer not to reinvent wheels. And finally for those who do prefer to roll their own there are my programming notes, some introductory tutorials, large projects, small projects and form projects pages. 

Why would you want to learn to program in JavaScript when there are so many canned scripts available for cutting and pasting into your own pages. Here are a few good reasons: 

* Sometimes you want to customize a canned program to make it unique. 
* Some functions that you want to accomplish have not been written yet. 
* Many scripts are browser-centric (notably MSIE) or out of date. 
* JavaScript is cross-platform. You can write programs that work on Windows, MacIntosh and Linux systems. 
* Application users do not have to bother with downloading a JavaScript application, they just access your webpage. And version control is simple as there is one active version -- the one on your website. 
* JavaScript syntax is similar to that of C and Java so it makes a good starting point on a programming career. 
* No proprietary development system is required. A simple editor is all that you need to write Javascript code. A browser is all that is needed to run JavaScript. 
* JavaScript code is open source and freely available. 

JavaScript is a scripted language which is object oriented, event-driven, and platform independent. Each of these 'modern' concepts in programming methodology are easier to work with in 'new' languages rather than being bolted on to older ones. This makes JavaScript a 'good' choice for learning your first programming language. 

NOTE: Quite often user input is through the forms object and output is through the document object. A thorough knowledge of these two objects is very important for your programming success. 

I have prepared a series of introductory tutorials on JavaScript programming. The first few tutorials have some short snippets that do interesting things. Those who only cut and paste code may find something useful while cruising through these tutorials. Give it a try! 

JavaScript is a very capable language that can produce worthwhile code. For example: 

* Chess is a complete analysis of how a chess program can be coded 
* AsciiMath interprets a simple syntax of mathematical text into formulas 
* FormFaces implements Xforms syntax for use in any browser  

jQuery Fundamentals

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jQuery is fast becoming a must-have skill for front-end developers. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the jQuery JavaScript library; when you're done with the book, you should be able to complete basic tasks using jQuery, and have a solid basis from which to continue your learning. This book was designed as material to be used in a classroom setting, but you may find it useful for individual study. 


This is a hands-on class. We will spend a bit of time covering a concept, and then you’ll have the chance to work on an exercise related to the concept. Some of the exercises may seem trivial; others may be downright daunting. In either case, there is no grade; the goal is simply to get you comfortable working your way through problems you’ll commonly be called upon to solve using jQuery. Example solutions to all of the exercises are included in the sample code.