Murach’s JavaScript and DOM Scripting

eBook Details:

• Paperback: 764 pages
• Publisher: WOW! eBook & Associates (August 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890774553
• ISBN-13: 978-1890774554

eBook Description:

Murach’s JavaScript and DOM Scripting

Today, web users expect web sites to provide advanced features, dynamic user interfaces, and fast response times. To deliver that, you need to know the JavaScript language. Beyond that, though, you need to know how to use JavaScript to script the Document Object Model (or DOM).

Now, at last, you can learn both JavaScript and DOM scripting in this one great book.

In fact, by the end of chapter 3, you’ll be able to develop and debug significant JavaScript applications. By the end of section 2, you’ll know the complete JavaScript language and some elementary DOM scripting. And by end of section 3, you will have raised your DOM scripting skills to an expert level.

Create your first JavaScript application TODAY

To get you off to a fast start, chapter 2 of section 1 presents a complete subset of JavaScript that includes basic event handling and elementary DOM scripting so you can start writing significant applications right away. Then, chapter 3 shows you how to use the Firebug extension of Firefox to test and debug your applications. To see how these chapters work, you can download them for free.

Master the JavaScript features you’ll use every day

When you finish section 1, you’ll know a lot and have the perspective you need for rapid learning.

So section 2 presents the rest of the JavaScript essentials, including how to use arrays, functions, regular expressions, exception handling, libraries, and your own object types. Along the way, you’ll learn advanced skills like how to use closures, recursion, and prototype-based inheritance.

The last application in this section puts all the JavaScript skills together in an object-oriented approach to data validation that you can use as a model for your own applications. This is the type of complete, debugged, and practical application that you won’t find in other books.

Master DOM scripting at the expert level

To get the most from JavaScript, though, you need to know how to use it for DOM scripting. So in section 3 of this book, you’ll learn how to manipulate both the XHTML and CSS for a web page as you build applications that run slide shows, use drop-down menus, rotate headlines, sort the data in tables, do image rollovers, and provide animation.

The last application in this section is a rotating, 3-dimensional carousel of images that the user can control with the mouse or keystrokes. And you definitely won’t find anything like this in other books.

Ensure browser compatibility…and save hours of work, too

One of the challenges in creating web sites is that some web browsers handle DOM events like mouse right-clicks and various keystroke combinations in ways that aren’t DOM compliant. In fact, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is notorious for that.

So in the DOM scripting section, you’ll also learn how to create event-handling libraries that ensure browser compatibility by handling the differences between Internet Explorer and DOM-compliant browsers like Firefox. This includes a browser-compatible library that handles keyboard events, which are commonly avoided by web developers because of the lack of standards. In total, this book presents 7 modular libraries for browser-compatibility that we think pay for this book by themselves!

Fine-tune your JavaScript expertise

The last section in this book rounds out your professional skills. It shows you how to use the objects, methods, and properties of a web browser. And now that you know how to create your own event-handling libraries, it shows you how to use third-party libraries like jQuery and Dojo. Then, the last application in this section shows you another approach to data validation that uses Dojo and Dijits.

The best JavaScript reference you can get

Like all of our books, this one uses our “paired pages” format where each two-page spread presents a single topic or skill. In each spread, the righthand page gives you syntax, coding examples, and “how-to” bulleted guidelines, and the lefthand page provides extra explanation and support when you need it. The upshot is that you can learn skills in manageable steps…you can learn faster by reading less…and you can look up forgotten details whenever you need them.

Beyond that, this book presents 20 complete applications…including XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript…that provide coding models that you can use in your own applications. In short, after you use this book for training, it will become the best reference you’ve ever used.

Want to create websites that deliver the fast response times, dynamic user interfaces, and special effects that today’s users expect?

Then this is the book for you! Whether you’re just starting out in JavaScript or whether you’re ready to move into DOM scripting, it gives you the skills you need. Here’s how:

#1: It’s 2 books in 1: A JavaScript book and a DOM scripting book

Most books cover JavaScript or DOM scripting. But to create user-responsive sites, you need to know both.

So the first half of this book is a course in JavaScript essentials. Then, the second half is a course in DOM scripting that gives you a clear understanding of how DOM scripting works, how JavaScript underlies it, and how to use it to build applications that run slide shows, use drop-down menus, rotate headlines, sort tables, provide animation, and more!

That means you can gain basic to expert skills in a single book.

#2: It provides a fast start

Section 1 is a crash course in JavaScript. In fact, by the end of chapter 3, you’ll know how to code, test, and debug applications that include elementary DOM scripting. Then, the rest of the book builds on those skills to cover all the JavaScript and DOM scripting essentials.

#3: It shows you how to create and use event-handling libraries for browser compatibility

One of the headaches of web programming is ensuring that the code will work with all the popular browsers.

So this book shows you how to create your own event-handling libraries of browser-compatible code, so you can draw on it as needed. It shows you how to take advantage of free, third-party libraries like jQuery and Dojo. And it helps you to appreciate, and profit from, the extensive libraries of tested code that are included in the downloadable applications for the book.

#4: It shows 20 complete applications that can be used as models for new apps

The key to mastering client-side web development is to have plenty of applications that show how the features interact and what problems might occur in building a website.

So this book gives you complete code for 20 professional applications. These run the gamut from business applications, like object-oriented forms validation, to entertainment apps, like a rotating, 3-dimensional carousel of images that the user can control with the mouse or keystrokes.

You can download these for free from the Murach website. Experiment with them on your own, then use them as time-saving models for new applications.

#5: The paired-pages format lets developers set their own pace

Murach books have a distinctive format. Each two-page spread presents a single topic: the lefthand page explains the topic, while the righthand page shows the critical details, using syntax, code, screen shots, and how-to notes.

Both beginning and experienced developers tell us that this format makes it easy to focus on the information they need, whether they’re using the book for training or reference. Again, you can try this out for yourself by downloading chapters 2 and 3 for free from the Murach website.

So don’t wait to become an expert web developer. Get your copy of Murach’s JavaScript and DOM Scripting today!

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