Javascript [Electronic resources] : The Definitive Guide (4th Edition) نسخه متنی

1.9 Using the Rest of This Book

The rest of this book is in five parts. Part I, which immediately follows
this chapter, documents the core JavaScript language. Chapter 2 through Chapter 6 begin
this section with some bland but necessary reading -- these
chapters cover the basic information you need to understand when
learning a new programming language:

• Chapter 2 explains the basic structure of the
  language.
  




• Chapter 3 documents the data types supported by
  JavaScript.
  




• Chapter 4 covers variables, variable scope, and
  related topics.
  




• Chapter 5 explains expressions in JavaScript and
  documents each of the operators supported by JavaScript. Because
  JavaScript syntax is modeled on Java, which is, in turn, modeled on C
  and C++, experienced C, C++, or Java programmers can skim much of
  this chapter.
  




• Chapter 6 describes the syntax and usage of each
  of the JavaScript statements. Again, experienced C, C++, and Java
  programmers can skim some, but not all, of this chapter.
  

The next five chapters of this first section become more interesting.
They still cover the core of the JavaScript language, but they
document parts of the language that will not already be familiar to
you even if you already know C or Java. These chapters must be
studied carefully if you want to really understand JavaScript:

• Chapter 7 documents how functions are defined,
  invoked, and manipulated in JavaScript.
  




• Chapter 8 explains objects, the most important
  JavaScript data type. This chapter discusses object-oriented
  programming in JavaScript and explains how you can define your own
  classes of objects in JavaScript.
  




• Chapter 9 describes the creation and use of
  arrays in JavaScript.
  




• Chapter 10 explains how to use regular expressions
  in JavaScript to perform pattern-matching and search-and-replace
  operations.
  




• Chapter 11 covers advanced topics that have not
  been covered elsewhere. You can skip this chapter the first time
  through the book, but the material it contains is important to
  understand if you want to become a JavaScript expert.
  

Part II explains client-side
JavaScript. The chapters in this part document the web-browser
objects that are at the heart of client-side JavaScript and provide
detailed examples of their use. Any interesting JavaScript program
running in a web browser will rely heavily on features specific to
the client side.

Here's what you'll find in Part III:

• Chapter 12 explains the integration of JavaScript
  with web browsers. It discusses the web browser as a programming
  environment and explains the various ways in which JavaScript is
  integrated into web pages for execution on the client side.
  




• Chapter 13 documents the most central and
  important object of client-side JavaScript, the Window object, as
  well as several important window-related objects.
  




• Chapter 14 explains the Document object and
  related objects that expose the contents of an HTML document to
  JavaScript code.
  




• Chapter 15 documents the Form object, which
  represents HTML forms. It also documents the various form element
  objects that appear within HTML forms and shows examples of
  JavaScript programming using forms.
  




• Chapter 16 illustrates the use of cookies to save
  state in web programming.
  




• Chapter 17 explains the core pieces of the W3C DOM
  standard and shows how a JavaScript script can access any element of
  an HTML document.
  




• Chapter 18 explains the portions of the W3C DOM
  standard that allow a JavaScript program to manipulate the style,
  appearance, and position of the elements within an HTML document.
  This chapter shows how you can create many DHTML effects with CSS
  properties.
  




• Chapter 19 covers JavaScript events and event
  handlers, which are central to all JavaScript programs that interact
  with the user. This chapter covers the traditional event model, the
  W3C DOM standard event model, and the Internet Explorer proprietary
  event model.
  




• Chapter 20 explores the important issue of
  compatibility in JavaScript programming and discusses techniques you
  can use to write JavaScript programs that run correctly (or fail
  gracefully) on a wide variety of web browsers.
  




• Chapter 21 enumerates the security restrictions
  built into client-side JavaScript and explains the rationale for
  them.
  




• Chapter 22 explains how you can use JavaScript to
  communicate with and control Java applets. It also covers how you can
  do the reverse -- invoke JavaScript code from Java applets.
  

Part III, Part IV, and Part V are reference sections that document the objects
defined by the core JavaScript language, the objects defined in
traditional client-side JavaScript programming, and the objects
defined by the new W3C DOM standard, respectively.