Sudo Byte

“Brief” Guide to JavaScript – Part 1

June 9th, 2009

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Introduction

So you’ve probably heard all the buzz about JavaScript, especially with the widespread use of AJAX. But you might not know where to start learning. Or maybe you just start copying and pasting JavaScript snippets from around the web. If so, this guide is for you.

If you already know a programming language, you’ll breeze through most of this material. If you already know JavaScript pretty well, I’m afraid this may only provide a few tips here and there for you. Simply put, this guide is the accumulation of knowledge I’ve gained from tinkering around in JavaScript.

This article may go through certain JavaScript topics quickly. I encourage you to reread anything you’re unsure of, post a comment, or do a quick Google search. If it appears a portion is unclear, I may expand upon it. Feel free to compliment, flame, share, or print out and burn these series of posts. As a disclaimer, there are probably some cross-browser details I’m not aware of since I typically use JavaScript frameworks like jQuery and MooTools.

I don’t intend for someone who’s completely new to programming to read this series and instantaneously become a decent JavaScript programmer (I wish). Knowledge is only half the battle. The second half is actually practicing or exercising your newly acquired knowledge. Practice makes perfect (or at least makes you better).
This article assumes prior knowledge of HTML and CSS.

If you didn’t check out the first part yet. Next part this Tues.