A Little Information About JavaScript
Getting started with JavaScript
The Java Language is derived from C and C++, but it is a distinct
language. It's main audience is the experience programmer. A common
misconception about JavaScript is that it is a more human freindly
version of Java. Putting the power of Java Applet development into
the hands of mere mortals.
JavaScript was born at netscape under the name LiveScript.
Develop in parallel with netscapes LiveWire server software, LiveScript
was design for essetially two purposes with the same syntax. One
was a scripting language. The second major goal was to use LiveScript
as a way for HTML documents to communicate with Java applets.
How to Learn JavaScript?
A. Programming or Scripting?
A scripting language implies that the code writer doesn't have to
create as much code as a programmer. This is true in most environments,
including JavaScript. A scripter, according to popular perception,merely
writes little snippets of code to produce a working product or solution.
The scripting environment or the language itself takes care of much
of the dirty work for the scripter.
B. Where You Write JavaScript?
As mentioned earlier, JavaScripts scripts are written as part of HTML
Documents. If you write HTML documents in standard text editor, then you
will use the same editor to add lines of JavaScript code to the plain
text document that you upload to your web server. The scripts don't run
in the text files. Rather, the browser software interprets the JavaScripts
commands and statements from the text files.
C. Prerequisites to Learning JavaScript
Forms and their elements play an especially important role in much of
typical JavaScript work. You should be familiar with these elements and
their HTML attributes. Fortunately, you won't need to know about CGI
Scripting or passing information from a form to a server. Our focus here
is client-side scripting, which operates independently of the server
once the JavaScript enhanced HTML page is fully loaded into the browser.
Any current netscape extensions to the HTML standards should be part of
your working knowledge.
D. JavaScript Resources on the Internet
1. Newsgroups
There is a semi-secure newsgroup at netscape for developers. I hesitate to
list its URL because individuals not participating in netscape developer
program may lose access to it at any instant.Another newsgroup,however,is
open to the public.Use your news reader to access comp.lang..javascript.
You can expect to get quick answers from a wide audience of experienced
scripters here.
2. Listserv
A public JavaScript-oriented listserv is also available. To subscribe to it,
send an e-mail message to [email protected], in the body of the message,
enter subscribe JavaScript . This listserv has a lot of
traffic on it everyday. You may prefer to start receiving the list as a
digest. To subscribe that way, address the subscription request the same,
but in the message body, enter the following subscribe JavaScript-digest
. Later you can change to individual messages if you like.
3. World Wide Web
Web sources for JavaScript information are growing rapidly. Check netscapes
site () for the latest information about new
releases and beta version documentation. You will also find a number of
JavaScript pointers there.
HoMePaGe