| Welcome! This book is something we wish we had when we were first starting out with JavaScript. At that time, there were basically two types of instructional books on the market: 1200-page tomes of seemingly arcane knowledge, and books that were overly simplified and lacking in practical information. Unfortunately, there were no books that were informative and at the same time provided instruction that could be used quickly and effectively in real-world situations.
This book will guide you through JavaScript using examples taken straight from situations that are faced every day during Web site construction. It starts off with simple examples and becomes quite sophisticated with the scripting toward the end of the book. With that said, let's look a little more closely at how this book is laid out and a brief summary of scripting, as well as what JavaScript can and can't do for you.
Chances are that at least some of you picked up this book when your boss called you into his or her office and showed you a Web site that made use of JavaScript. You were then told in no uncertain terms that it was your job to implement the same, or similar, feature on your Web site. “No problem,” you respond, while saying to yourself, “I better learn JavaScript and fast!”
This is often how we expand our skills: We are given a job, and if we don't know exactly how to do it, we quickly learn how. In keeping with this real-world model, this book is split into two main projects. For each of the main projects, we will be responsible for creating and/or upgrading the Web site for a fictitious company.
For the first three chapters, we will revamp the homepage for Shelley Biotechnologies, a fast-growing biotech startup. In each chapter we have at least one project that consists of commonly used JavaScript solutions that range from easy to moderately difficult. At the end of each chapter there are more advanced exercises that you can complete on your own to expand your skills. In the second half of the book we will make some much-needed additions to Stitch Magazine's Web site. The examples will be more advanced than those found in the first project, and they will demonstrate some of the powerful things you can do using JavaScript.
The exercises in the chapters are designed to give you a solid foundation in JavaScript on which you can build as you continue to use it. You will find that more often than not there is more than one way to do things in JavaScript—there really are no right or wrong ways to accomplish tasks. |