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This book is intended for client-side programmers who want to master JavaScript, from the basics all the way through expert-level skills like working with closures, callbacks, namespaces, modules, custom properties, and JSON. Since this is more than most developers need to know, we also offer Murach’s JavaScript and jQuery. It not only presents the JavaScript skills that all web developers should have, but also the jQuery skills that they should have.
Go to our instructor’s site to learn more about this book and its instructor’s materials.
If you are new to web design or an old pro like me, this book is a must-have. I love how it starts out with the basics and then moves on to the good stuff. Each chapter is full of examples and sample code showing you how to do the most common techniques that you will face as a web developer or designer. I have not seen a better book on the subject."
To present the JavaScript skills that you need in a manageable progression, this book is divided into three sections. These sections represent the three levels of expertise that you’ll develop with this book.
Like all our books, this one has features that you won’t find in competing books. That’s why we believe you’ll learn faster and better with our book than with any other. Here are a few of those features.
This book is for anyone who wants to develop a complete set of JavaScript skills. That includes:
To develop JavaScript applications, you need:
Although you can use any text editor with this book, a text editor that includes syntax coloring and auto-formatting will help you develop applications more quickly and with fewer errors. In the book, we recommend Aptana Studio 3; however, it’s no longer supported and has become hard to install.
So now, we recommend Brackets. It’s available for free, it can be used for entering JavaScript and jQuery code (as well as HTML and CSS code), and it runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux systems. To help you install and get started with it, we’ve created a Brackets tutorial that you can download here or from the FREE Downloads tab.
To test a web page, you can use the default browser on your system. But we recommend that you also test your pages in Chrome, which includes a terrific set of developer tools. Appendix A provides a procedure for installing Chrome, and chapter 6 shows you how to use Chrome for debugging.
Murach’s HTML5 and CSS3 is the perfect companion to our JavaScript and jQuery books because it shows how to build web pages with the HTML5 and CSS3 that is used by JavaScript and jQuery. When you combine this book with our JavaScript and jQuery books, you’ll have a complete reference set for building web pages.
“If you are new to the use of JavaScript or need a reference to keep close at hand, this is the book for you. It will take you through the basics and to mid-level in 17 chapters.”
- Eric Notheisen, Enterprise Developers Guild
“I have several books on JavaScript, but the best one is this one. The text, examples, descriptions, and even the layout all bring you an ease of use that is missing in other books.”
- Chris Wallace, Denver Visual Studio User Group
“There are a plethora of source code examples that are introduced and improved as new concepts are introduced. An excellent resource for newbies and experienced developers.”
- Mike Redlich, ACGNJ Java Users Group
“This book more clearly teaches JavaScript than any other book that I have seen.
“One of its strengths is the examples it uses to teach JavaScript. It contains complete examples of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. In those example codes, the authors clearly highlight which elements are referenced in the different parts of the JavaScript. This book allows the reader to develop a clearer understanding of how each JavaScript component works without ambiguity.”
- Eric Mortensen, Northeast Ohio Oracle Users Group
“This book employs the paired-pages format that Murach is known for: For each topic the right page contains a figure with example code, diagrams, tables and bullet points, and the left page contains the explanatory text. I like this format a lot because it keeps the book well-organized and makes it easy to refer back to….
“The paired-pages format and the end-of-chapter exercises are the main reasons why I use and recommend Murach books for people looking to learn a new technology.”
- Bruce Alspaugh, St. Louis Java Users Group
“Comparing Murach's Javascript to the six or seven other Javascript books I've bought in the past three years, I think it has the best blend of practicality, coverage, and clarity.”
- Posted at Amazon
To view the table of contents for this book in a PDF, just click on the link below:
The components of a web application
How static web pages are processed
How dynamic web pages are processed
How JavaScript is used for client-side processing
What you need to know about the ECMAScript specification
The HTML
The CSS
The JavaScript
How to use the HTML5 semantic elements
How to use the div and span elements
How to use the basic HTML attributes
How to provide the CSS styles for an HTML page
How to code the basic CSS selectors
How to code CSS rule sets
How to run a JavaScript application
How to find errors in your code
How to provide cross-browser compatibility
How to create or import a project
How to work with files
How to edit a file
How to run a JavaScript application
Two ways to include JavaScript in the head of an HTML document
How to include JavaScript in the body of an HTML document
How to code JavaScript statements
How to create identifiers
How to use comments
How to use objects, methods, and properties
How to use the write and writeln methods of the document object
The primitive data types
How to code numeric expressions
How to work with numeric variables
How to work with string and Boolean variables
How to use the parseInt and parseFloat methods
The Miles Per Gallon application
The Test Scores application
How to code conditional expressions
How to code if statements
How to code while and do-while loops
How to code for loops
The enhanced Miles Per Gallon application
The Future Value application
The enhanced Test Scores application
How to create and use arrays
How to use for loops to work with arrays
The user interface
The JavaScript
How to use the window and document objects
How to use Textbox and Number objects
How to use Date and String objects
How to use the DOM to change the text for an element
How to create and call a function expression
How to create and call a function declaration
When and how to use local and global variables
When and how to use strict mode
How to attach an event handler to an event
How to use an onload event handler to attach other event handlers
The Miles Per Gallon application
The Email List application
DOM scripting concepts
The properties of the Node interface
The methods of the Document and Element interfaces
The properties of the DOM HTML specification
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
How forms work
How to script Textbox, Textarea, and Select objects
How to script Radio and Checkbox objects
How to use the methods and events for forms and controls
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
How to create nodes and add them to the DOM
How to add rows and cells to a DOM table
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
Typical test phases for a JavaScript application
The three types of errors that can occur
Common JavaScript errors
How top-down coding and testing can simplify debugging
How to use Chrome to find errors
How to use breakpoints and step through your code
How to debug in Internet Explorer
How to trace the execution of your JavaScript code
How to view the source code
When and how to validate the HTML
How to use the properties and methods of the Number object
How to use the methods of the Math object
How to generate a random number
The HTML
The JavaScript
How to use escape sequences in strings
How to use the methods of the String object
Examples of working with strings
How to create Date objects
The methods of the Date object
Examples of working with dates
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
How to use the equality and identity operators
How to use the relational operators
How to use the logical operators
How to code if statements
How to code switch statements
How to use the conditional operator
How to use the AND and OR operators for selections
The HTML
The JavaScript
How to code while and do-while loops
How to code for loops
How to use the break and continue statements
How to create an array
How to add and delete array elements
How to use for loops to work with arrays
How to use for-in loops to work with arrays
The methods of an Array object
Examples of the Array methods
The ECMAScript 5 methods
Examples of the ECMAScript 5 methods
How to use a String method to create an array
How to create and use an associative array
How to create and use an array of arrays
How to use local and session storage
How to use Chrome to view and edit items in web storage
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
The JavaScript with an ECMAScript 5 enhancement
How to create and call a function
How values are passed to functions
How lexical scope works
How to create and use JavaScript libraries
The HTML and CSS
The storage library
The task list library
The main JavaScript file
How to use the arguments property of a function
How to use the this keyword and the call and apply methods
How to use the bind method to set the this keyword
How to create and use the native object types
How to create your own objects with object literals
How to extend, modify, or delete an object
How to create your own object types with constructor functions
How prototypes work
When and how to create custom prototypes
How to use the create method of the Object object
The HTML and CSS
The storage library
The task library
The task list library
The main JavaScript file
How to inherit methods from another object with Object.create methods
How to inherit methods from another object with constructors
How to add methods to the native object types
How to create cascading methods
How to use the in, instanceof, and typeof operators
The new native objects library
The change to the task library
The enhanced storage library
The enhanced task list library
The enhanced main JavaScript file
How to create and use regular expressions
How to create regular expression patterns
How to use the global and multiline flags
String methods that use regular expressions
Regular expressions for data validation
How to create and throw Error objects
How to use the try-catch statement to handle exceptions
The user interface
The HTML and CSS
The navigate and fields libraries
The validate library
The validate_form library
The main JavaScript code
An overview of event types
How to attach and detach event handlers
How to cancel the default action of an event
The user interface
The event library
The main JavaScript file
How to create image rollovers
How to preload images
The HTML
The main JavaScript file
How to use a one-time timer
How to use an interval timer
The HTML
The slideshow library
The main JavaScript file
How the scope chain works
How closures work
Closures in the Rollover application
How to use closures to create private state
How to code an immediately invoked function expression (IIFE)
How to use an IIFE to create block scope
How to solve the closure loop problem
How to work with the this keyword in closures
The HTML
The slide show library
The main JavaScript file
How callback functions work
How to create and use callback functions
How to work with the this keyword in callback functions
How recursion works
How to code and use a binary search recursive function
The HTML
The storage library file
The task list library file
The main JavaScript file
The global namespace pollution problem
How to create and use namespaces
How to create nested namespaces and use aliases
How to prevent global pollution with an IIFE
The namespace library
The storage library
The task list library
The main JavaScript file
What the module pattern is
How to augment a module
The HTML
The slide show library
The slide show enhancements library
The main JavaScript file
The attributes of an object property
How to enumerate an object’s properties
The defineProperty method of the Object object
How to use the defineProperty method
How to use the defineProperties and create methods of the Object object
How to inspect property attributes
The slide show library
The slide show enhancements library
The main JavaScript file
What data serialization and deserialization are
How data formats work
What JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is
An introduction to the global JSON object
How to use the stringify method of the JSON object
How to use the parse method of the JSON object
The HTML
The JSON string in local storage
The main JavaScript file
How to use the toJSON method
How to use a toJSON method to customize the Task Manager application
How to use the replacer parameter of the stringify method
How to use the space parameter of the stringify method
The serialization order of the stringify method
How to use the reviver parameter of the parse method
Some problems with checking if a string is a date
The JSON string in local storage
The storage library
The main JavaScript file
What jQuery is
When to use jQuery
How to include jQuery in a web page
How to code jQuery selectors, methods, and event methods
Some common jQuery selectors, methods, and event methods
How to use jQuery to simplify the FAQs application
The HTML
The jQuery
What jQuery UI is
How to include jQuery UI in a web page
How to use any jQuery UI widget
How to use the Accordion widget to implement the FAQs application
How to find jQuery plugins
How to use any jQuery plugin
How to use the bxSlider plugin for carousels
The structure of a plugin
How to code a plugin that highlights the items in a menu
How to add options to a plugin
To get a better idea of how well this book works, you can download a chapter in PDF format. As you will see, the approach in this book works for programming novices as well as for experienced programmers.
This chapter uses two simple JavaScript applications to introduce you to the syntax and characteristics of the language. It’s designed to work for programming novices, so it starts your JavaScript training slowly. If you have programming experience, though, you’ll see how our paired-pages design and how-to headings allow you to speed through material you already know…and focus on features that are new to you.
And regardless of how much programming experience you have, you’ll see how the chapter exercises let you practice what you’ve learned in interesting ways.
Chapter 2 PDF (525Kb) Download Now
This download includes:
Appendix A in the book shows how to install and use these files.
Exe file for Windows (6.2Mb) Download Now
Zip file for any system (6.2Mb) Download Now
Murach’s JavaScript (2nd Edition) shows how to use Aptana as the text editor for developing JavaScript applications. Unfortunately, Aptana is no longer supported and has become difficult to install.
So our recommendation is to use Brackets instead. Developed by Adobe, Brackets is easy to install and use, has some excellent features, and runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux systems. So this tutorial shows you how to install and use it for JavaScript (as well as HTML and CSS) development.
Brackets Tutorial PDF (1.4MB) Download Now
This PDF summarizes the new JavaScript features that became available with the ECMAScript 2015 and 2016 specifications. This makes it easy for you to add the new skills to the skillset you developed by reading Murach’s JavaScript. Although you probably won’t want to use all of the new features, you’re sure to find a few that you’ll want to use. And after you’ve used this document for learning, it becomes a terrific on-the-job reference.
What's new PDF (335Kb) Download Now
To view the "Frequently Asked Questions" for this book in a PDF, just click on this link: View the questions
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Then, if you find any other errors, please email us so we can correct them in the next printing of the book. Thank you!
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