This book deals with a programming language, but it isn’t intended for programmers. This is a book for web designers. Specifically, this book is intended for standards-aware designers who are comfortable using CSS and HTML. If that sounds like you, read on.

This book is made up of equal parts code and concepts. Don’t be frightened by the code. I know it might look intimidating at first, but once you’ve grasped the concepts behind the code, you’ll find yourself reading and writing in a new language.

Learning a programming language might seem like a scary prospect, but it needn’t be. Document Object Model (DOM) scripting might appear to be more verbose than, say, CSS. But once you have the hang of the syntax, you’ll find yourself armed with a powerful web development tool. In any case, the code is there simply to illustrate the concepts.

I’ll let you in on a secret: no one memorizes all the syntax and keywords that are part and parcel of any programming language. That’s what reference books are for. This isn’t a reference book. I’m going to cover the bare minimum of syntax required to get up and running with JavaScript.

In this book, I focus on the ideas behind DOM scripting. A lot of these ideas might already be familiar to you. Graceful degradation, progressive enhancement, and user-centered design are important concepts in any aspect of front-end web development. These ideas inform all the code examples given in this book.

You’ll find scripts for creating image galleries, animating slideshows, and enhancing the look and feel of page elements. If you want, you can simply cut and paste these examples, but it’s more important to understand the hows and whys that lie behind the code.

If you’re already using CSS and HTML to turn your designs into working web pages, then you already know how powerful web standards can be. Remember when you discovered that you could change the design throughout an entire site just by changing one CSS file? The DOM offers an equal level of power. But with great power comes great responsibility. That’s why I’m not just going to show you cool DOM scripting effects. I’m also going to show you how to use DOM scripting to enhance your web pages in a usable, accessible way.

To get all the code examples discussed in the book, pay a visit to www.friendsofed.com and find this book’s page. At the friends of ED site, you can also find out about all the other great books the publisher has to offer on web standards, Flash, Dreamweaver, and much more besides.

Your exploration of DOM scripting needn’t end when you close this book. I’ve set up a website at http://domscripting.com/, where I continue the discussion of modern, standards-based JavaScript. I hope you’ll pay the site a visit. In the meantime, enjoy the book.