Get Programming with JavaScript

Summary

Get Programming with JavaScript is a hands-on introduction to programming for readers who have never programmed. You'll be writing your own web apps, games, and programs in no time! Foreword by Remy Sharp.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the Book

Are you ready to start writing your own web apps, games, and programs? You’re in the right place! Get Programming with JavaScript is a hands-on introduction to programming for readers who have never written a line of code. Since you’re just getting started, this friendly book offers you lots of examples backed by careful explanations. As you go along, you’ll find exercises to check your understanding and plenty of opportunities to practice your new skills. You don’t need any­thing special to follow the examples—just the text editor and web browser already installed on your computer. We even give you links to working online code so you can see how everything should look live on your screen.

What’s Inside

• All the basics—objects, functions, responding to users, and more
• Think like a coder and design your own programs
• Create a text-based adventure game
• Enhance web pages with JavaScript
• Run your programs in a web browser
• Four bonus chapters available online

About the Reader

No experience required! All you need is a web browser and an internet connection.

About the Author

John Larsen is a mathematics and computing teacher with an interest in educational research. He has an MA in mathematics and an MSc in information technology. He started programming in 1982, writing simple programs for teaching mathematics in 1993, building websites in 2001, and developing data-driven web-based applications for education in 2006.

Table of Contents

PART 1 CORE CONCEPTS ON THE CONSOLE
• Programming, JavaScript, and JS Bin
• Variables: storing data in your program
• Objects: grouping your data
• Functions: code on demand
• Arguments: passing data to functions
• Return values: getting data from functions
• Object arguments: functions working with objects
• Arrays: putting data into lists
• Constructors: building objects with functions
• Bracket notation: flexible property names

PART 2 ORGANIZING YOUR PROGRAMS
• Scope: hiding information
• Conditions: choosing code to run
• Modules: breaking a program into pieces
• Models: working with data
• Views: displaying data
• Controllers: linking models and views

PART 3 JAVASCRIPT IN THE BROWSER
• HTML: building web pages
• Controls: getting user input
• Templates: filling placeholders with data
• XHR: loading data
• Conclusion: get programming with JavaScript

BONUS ONLINE CHAPTERS
• Node: running JavaScript outside the browser
• Express: building an API
• Polling: repeating requests with XHR
• Socket.IO: real-time messaging