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Today, jQuery is used in over 60% of the one million most-visited websites, and that makes it one of the technologies that every web developer should master. The problem is that jQuery is difficult to learn, even for those with programming experience. But now, this new edition of our jQuery book makes it as easy as possible for you to learn how to use jQuery to create the dynamic user interfaces, fast response times, and special effects that today’s users expect.
Go to our instructor’s site to learn more about this book and its instructor’s materials.
The aim of the book is to teach jQuery in an intensely hands-on way. It succeeds in this and probably provides the fastest way to learn and master the framework."
To use jQuery, you need to know how to use at least a subset of JavaScript. That’s why section 1 of this book presents a crash course in the JavaScript skills that you need for using jQuery. This section also serves as a JavaScript reference when you can’t remember how some of the JavaScript code in a jQuery example or application works.
This section works best if you have some programming experience, even if that experience isn’t with JavaScript. The more experience you have, the faster you can move through this section.
Note, however, that this section also works for people with no programming experience. It just takes longer to go through the material. For some beginners, though, a better alternative is to start with Murach’s JavaScript and then go on to this jQuery book. In the long run, you’re probably going to want to master both.
In this section, you’ll learn how to use jQuery to create JavaScript applications like image swaps, collapsible panels, slide shows, carousels, user-friendly forms…and more…with far less coding than you’d have to do in native JavaScript.
To begin, chapter 5 presents the jQuery selectors, methods, and event methods that you’ll use most often. Then, the next four chapters build on that base as they focus on how to use effects and animations, how to use the many plugins that are available for jQuery, how to create your own plugins, how to work with forms and controls, and how to manipulate and traverse the DOM. When you complete this section, you can go on to any of the three sections that follow.
Besides the core jQuery library, jQuery provides the jQuery UI (User Interface) library. This library helps you build features that your site visitors may appreciate, all with just a few lines of code. So this section shows you how to use jQuery UI to create widgets like tabs, accordions, and datepickers...interactions like draggable, droppable, and sortable...and effects like color and class transitions.
Ajax and JSON can be used to get data from a server and add it to a web page without reloading the entire page, and that can significantly improve response times for users (if you’ve ever scrolled around a Google Map, you’ve seen this in action). But to be honest, the coding can be mind-bending. Fortunately, jQuery provides methods that make it far more manageable.
So in this section, you’ll learn how to use jQuery with Ajax and JSON to deliver data to your websites. First, you’ll learn the basics. Then, you’ll learn how to use these skills with APIs like the ones for Flickr and Google Maps and thus add popular content to your pages. Last, you’ll learn how to use HTML5 APIs like Web Storage and Web Workers with Ajax and JSON.
This section shows you how to use the jQuery Mobile library to develop web pages for mobile devices with the look-and-feel of native applications. For large, established websites, this is often a practical alternative to responsive web design. In fact, there’s no better way to build separate websites for mobile devices.
This book works especially well for people with some programming experience. That includes:
If you have no programming experience at all, this book can still work for you because section 1 presents the JavaScript you need to know. But a better alternative for most people is to start with Murach’s JavaScript and then go on this jQuery book after you’re comfortable with JavaScript. This makes complete sense for those who want to master both JavaScript and jQuery.
To develop JavaScript and jQuery 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 4 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.
“This is a must-have book for anyone wanting to master web development front-end UI work (HTML3/CSS3/JavaScript/JQuery). Currently I’m in the corporate consulting world, but I have taught in universities, corporate training and vocational schools. Hats off to Murach and the JQuery authors: Zak Ruvalcaba & Anne Boehm.”
- Michael Thomas, posted at Amazon
“I have several books which include jQuery, but this separate devoted jQuery book lets you get a better understanding right from the beginning. The text, examples, descriptions, and even the layout all bring you an ease of use that is missing in other books. I highly recommend this book, particularly for beginners through intermediate learners.”
- Chris Wallace, Denver Visual Studio User Group
“If you're an experienced JavaScript/jQuery developer, you will still pick up some nice tidbits (I know I did).”
- Philip F. Japikse, Cincinnati .Net Users Group
“This is a must-have reference book for the web application developer. It is concise and complete as it references JQuery, JQuery UI and JQuery Mobile. For a student or someone new to JQuery, this text makes learning easy.”
- Eric Notheisen, Enterprise Developers Guild
View the table of contents for this book in a PDF: Table of Contents (PDF)
Click on any chapter title to display or hide its content.
The components of a web application
How static web pages are processed
How dynamic web pages are processed
How JavaScript and jQuery are used for client-side processing
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
How to include JavaScript in an HTML document
How to code JavaScript statements
How to create identifiers
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 objects, methods, and properties
How to use the window and document objects
How to use Textbox and Number objects
How to use Date and String objects
How to code conditional expressions
How to code if statements
How to code while, do-while, and for loops
How to create and use arrays
How to use for loops to work with arrays
How to create and call a function
When and how to use local and global variables
How to attach an event handler to an event
How to use an onload event handler to attach the other event handlers
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
DOM scripting concepts
The properties of the Node interface
The methods of the Document and Element interfaces
The HTML
The JavaScript
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
How to cancel the default action of an event
How to preload images
The HTML and CSS
The JavaScript
How to use a one-time timer
How to use an interval timer
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
What jQuery is
How jQuery can simplify JavaScript development
How jQuery UI and plugins can simplify JavaScript development
How to include jQuery in your web pages
How to code jQuery selectors
How to call jQuery methods
How to use jQuery event methods
The user interface and HTML
The jQuery
The most useful selectors
The most useful methods
The most useful event methods
Other event methods that you should be aware of
The FAQs application in jQuery
The Image Swap application in jQuery
The Image Rollover application in jQuery
The jQuery methods for effects
The FAQs application with jQuery effects
The user interface, HTML, and CSS
Two ways to code the jQuery
How to stop and start a slide show
How to use the basic syntax of the animate method
How to chain animate methods
How to use the delay, stop, and finish methods
How to use easings with effects and animations
How to use the advanced animate syntax
and the methods for working with queues
The user interface, HTML, and CSS
The jQuery
How to find jQuery plugins
Some of the most useful plugins
How to use any plugin
How to use the Lightbox plugin for images
How to use the bxSlider plugin for carousels
How to use the Cycle 2 plugin for slide shows
The structure of a plugin
How to code a plugin that highlights menu items
How to add options to a plugin
The user interface
The script elements
The HTML for the elements used by the plugins
The jQuery for using the highlightMenu plugin
How forms work
The HTML5 controls for working with forms
The HTML5 and CSS3 features for data validation
The jQuery selectors and methods for forms
The jQuery event methods for forms
The user interface and HTML
Some of the JavaScript for the application
How to use the validation plugin
The options and default error messages for the validation plugin
The user interface
The HTML
The CSS
The jQuery
The methods for working with attributes
The methods for DOM replacement
The methods for DOM insertion and cloning
The methods for DOM wrapping and removal
The user interface and HTML
The jQuery
The methods for working with styles
The methods for positioning elements
The enhanced TOC application
How to use the on and off event methods
An Employee List application that uses the on method
The HTML for the application
The jQuery for the application
The tree traversal methods
The filtering methods
A Slide Show application that uses DOM traversal methods
What jQuery UI is and where to get it
The jQuery UI components
How to build a download
How to use ThemeRoller to build a custom theme
How to use the downloaded folders and files
How to use any widget
How to use the Accordion widget
How to use the Tabs widget
How to use the Button and Dialog widgets
How to use the Autocomplete widget
How to use the Datepicker widget
How to use the Slider widget
How to use the Menu widget
The user interface
The link and script elements
The HTML for the widgets
The jQuery for the widgets
Introduction to interactions
How to use the draggable and droppable interactions
How to use the resizable interaction
How to use the selectable interaction
How to use the sortable interaction
Introduction to effects
How to use individual effects
How to use color transitions
How to use class transitions
How to use visibility transitions
How Ajax works
Common data formats for Ajax
The members of the XMLHttpRequest object
How to use the XMLHttpRequest object
The jQuery shorthand methods for working with Ajax
How to use the load method to load HTML data
How to use the $.get or $.post method to load XML data
How to use the $.getJSON method to load JSON data
How to send data with an Ajax request
The syntax of the $.ajax method
How to use the $.ajax method to load data
How to use the feed API for Flickr
How to display Flickr data on a page
How to review the feed from a website
How to display descriptions for a Flickr photo feed
How to search for photos by tags
Introduction to the Google Maps API
The classes for adding a Google map to a web page
The script element for the Google Maps API
How to add a Google map to a web page
The classes and methods for geocoding and markers
How to create an address list that displays markers
The classes and methods for messages and markers
How to add messages to markers
How to add custom messages to markers
How to add Flickr images to messages
The classes and methods for directions and listeners
How to display driving directions with a map
Common HTML5 APIs
How to get information about an HTML5 API
How Geolocation works
How to show a user’s position on a Google map
How to handle Geolocation errors
How to use local storage
How to use session storage
How the Web Workers API works
How to use a web worker to retrieve data using Ajax
The user interface
The HTML
The JSON data
The jQuery code
How to provide pages for mobile devices
How to use a JavaScript plugin to redirect mobile browsers to a mobile website
How to set the viewport properties
Guidelines for designing mobile web pages
Guidelines for testing mobile web pages
What jQuery Mobile is and where to get it
How to include jQuery Mobile in your web pages
How to create one web page with jQuery Mobile
How to code multiple pages in a single HTML file
How to use dialogs and transitions
How to create buttons
How to create a navigation bar
How to work with the default styles
How to apply themes to HTML elements
How to use ThemeRoller to roll your own theme
The layout of the website
The HTML for the mobile website
The style sheet for the mobile website
The demos for jQuery Mobile
The data attributes of jQuery Mobile
The events, methods, and properties of jQuery Mobile
How to lay out content in grids
How to use collapsible content blocks
How to use collapsible sets
How to use basic lists
How to use split button lists and inset lists
How to use list dividers and count bubbles
How to use text fields and text areas
How to use sliders and switches
How to use radio buttons and check boxes
How to use select menus
How to submit a mobile form
The layout of the website
The HTML
The style sheet
If you already know the basics of JavaScript, this chapter will quickly show you how jQuery makes JavaScript programming easier…and you’ll learn a working subset of jQuery that lets you start using it yourself. Four complete applications illustrate each point along the way and give you practical ideas for incorporating jQuery into your own web pages.
Chapter 5 PDF (1.8Mb) Download Now
This download includes:
Appendix A in the book shows how to install and use these files on Windows and Mac systems.
Exe file for Windows (14.6Mb) Download Now
Zip file for any system (14.6Mb) Download Now
Murach's jQuery (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
To view the "Frequently Asked Questions" for this book in a PDF, just click on this link: View the questions
Then, if you have any questions that aren't answered here, please email us. Thanks!
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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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