It shows how a common desktop application can be brought to the Web and provided
at the touch of a button, just as it would be if it were on your desktop.
Prerequisites
The only prerequisites are a text editor to edit the scripts and a current web browser in
which to test them. The code examples focus on recent browsers, including Internet
Explorer 6 and 7, Firefox 2, Safari 2, and Opera 9.
Contacting the Authors
You can contact Jonathan Snook through his web site at http://snook.ca/.
nINTRODUCTION xx
The State of JavaScript
This chapter takes a brief walk down memory lane so you can get a sense of how the industry
has changed over the last decade, including the rise of Ajax and its influence on the popularity
of JavaScript. It then explains how JavaScript gets evaluated in the browser and how to plan for
that. You??™ll learn ways to debug applications and the tools you can use to do so. It??™s important
to understand how your code is working to fix those pesky bugs that haunt you.
JavaScript Is One of the Good Guys Again,
but Why Now?
JavaScript has come a long way since its inception back in 1995. Initially used for basic image
and forminteractions, its uses have expanded to include all manner of user interface manipulation.
Web sites are no longer static. From form validation, to animation effects, to sites that
rival the flexibility and responsiveness traditionally found in desktop applications, JavaScript
has come into its own as a respected language.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35