JavaScript

Introduction

JavaScript is the behavior element of what is typically understood to be the three–component makeup of a Web document. (The other two being HTML for content and CSS for presentation.) Employing JavaScript into your Web pages will morph them from static documents to dynamic, event–driven, user–interactive sites. The core of the language is covered in the first half of the course, where the basics are covered exhaustively. The second half of the course uses these new building blocks to create pages with full scripting interactivity.

Prerequisite

Unlike languages like HTML and CSS, neither of which is a procedural or OOP language, JavaScript is a complex, object–oriented scripting programming language that resembles C, C++, and Java in its syntax. (Despite the fact that the word Java appears in JavaScript, the two languages are entirely unrelated.) That said, a background in computer programming is not a prerequisite to understanding the material in this course — a full understanding of HTML and CSS, however, is, since JavaScript will be used to script the latter, and to do so we'll be embedding JavaScript in the former.

If you don't know HTML and/or CSS, look at the tutorials at http://www.w3schools.com. Also, Hunter offers a six–week course in HTML and two six–week courses in CSS.

Topics Covered

Lexical structure
Datatypes and values
Variables
Expressions and operators
Statements
Objects and arrays
Functions
Classes, constructors, and prototypes
Modules and namespaces
Scripting browsers windows
Scripting documents
CSS and dynamic HTML (DHTML)
Scripting HTTP
JavaScript and XML

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Assignments

There will be four homework assignments—one about every three weeks to a month, with the final assignment due on the last day of class.

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Development Environment

It's likely that you already have the only software you'll need to run all the scripts in this course: an up–to–date browser. In class, I'll use Firefox, Opera, Safari, Flock and Chrome to demonstrate examples, but will rely solely on Firefox as the key browser for the course.

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Announcements

None...: so far.

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Schedule

Sundays
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Hunter College, Room 1025 E,
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065

There'll be a 15–minute break at the halfway point of each session.

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Textbook

Title	Author	ISBN	Edition	Cover
Learning JavaScript	Shelley Powers	978–0–596–52187–5	Second

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Assigned Readings

Chapter 1. Hello JavaScript!: pages 1 — 18
Chapter 2. JavaScript Data Types and Variables: pages 19 — 36
Chapter 3. Operators and Statements: pages 39 — 65
Chapter 4. The JavaScript Objects: pages 69 — 100
Chapter 5. Functions: pages 103 — 120
Chapter 6. Troubleshooting, Debugging, and Cross–Browser Issues: pages 123 — 142
Chapter 7. Catching Events: pages 145 — 163
Chapter 8. Forms, Form Events, and Validation: pages 165 — 186
Chapter 10. Cookies and Other Client–Side Storage Techniques: pages 221 — 231
Chapter 14. Moving Outside the Page with Ajax: pages 321 — 341

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Homework

Homework 1: Due: Sunday, 16 October at 2:00 PM
Homework 2: Due: TBD
Homework 3: Due: TBD
Homework 4: Due: TBD

Homework instructions.

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Resources

JavaScript Tutorial (at w3schools.com): http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
JavaScript – MDC (home of JavaScript): https://developer.mozilla.org/en/javascript
Brendan Eich at Wikipedia (JavaScript creator): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich
Learning JavaScript (our text's Web site at O'reilly): http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521882/

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Contact

Email: rvanegas at hunter dot cuny dot edu

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