Paul Wilton & Jeremy McPeak 
Beginning JavaScript [PDF ebook] 

Introduction xxv
Chapter 1: Introduction to Java Script and the Web 1
Introduction to Java Script 1
Where Do My Scripts Go? 7
Your First Simple Java Script Programs 8
A Brief Look at Browsers and Compatibility Problems 15
Summary 16
Chapter 2: Data Types and Variables 17
Types of Data in Java Script 17
Variables — Storing Data in Memory 20
Using Data — Calculations and Basic String Manipulation26
Data Type Conversion 37
Arrays 40
Summary 49
Exercise Questions 50
Chapter 3: Decisions, Loops, and Functions 51
Decision Making — The if and switch Statements 51
Looping — The for and while Statements 71
Functions 79
Summary 84
Exercise Questions 86
Chapter 4: Common Mistakes, Debugging, and Error Handling87
D’oh! I Can’t Believe I Just Did That: Some Common Mistakes 87
Error Handling 93
Debugging 103
Summary 131
Exercise Questions 131
Chapter 5: Java Script — An Object-Based Language133
Object-Based Programming 133
Java Script’s Native Object Types 139
Creating New Types of Objects (Reference Types) 177
Summary 187
Exercise Questions 188
Chapter 6: Programming the Browser 189
Introduction to the Browser’s Objects 190
Responding to the User’s Actions with Events 199
Summary 215
Exercise Questions 217
Chapter 7: HTML Forms: Interacting with the User 219
HTML Forms 219
Other Form Object Properties and Methods 222
Summary 260
Exercise Questions 262
Chapter 8: Windows and Frames 263
Frames and the window Object 264
Opening New Windows 284
Security 298
Summary 298
Exercise Questions 299
Chapter 9: String Manipulation 301
Additional String Methods 302
Regular Expressions 306
The String Object — split(), replace(), search(), andmatch() Methods 327
Using the Reg Exp Object’s Constructor 335
Summary 345
Exercise Questions 345
Chapter 10: Date, Time, and Timers 347
World Time 348
Timers in a Web Page 358
Summary 364
Exercise Questions 365
Chapter 11: Storing Information: Cookies 367
Baking Your First Cookie 367
Creating a Cookie 377
Getting a Cookie’s Value 381
Cookie Limitations 386
Cookie Security and IE6+ 388
Summary 389
Exercise Questions 389
Chapter 12: Dynamic HTML and the W3C Document Object Model391
The Web Standards 392
The Document Object Model 397
Manipulating the DOM 422
Writing Cross-Browser DHTML 447
Java Script and XML 453
Summary 467
Exercise Questions 468
Chapter 13: Using Active X and Plug-Ins with Java Script469
Checking for and Embedding Plug-ins (Non-IE Browsers) 470
Checking for and Embedding Active X Controls on Internet Explorer474
Using Plug-ins and Active X Controls 480
Summary 488
Exercise Question 489
Chapter 14: Ajax 491
What Is Ajax? 491
Using the XMLHttp Request Object 494
Creating a Simple Ajax Module 500
Validating Form Fields with Ajax 505
Things to Watch Out For 515
Summary 525
Exercise Questions 525
Chapter 15: Java Script Frameworks 527
Picking a Framework to Work With 527
Getting Started 528
Digging Deeper Into j Query 537
Diving into Prototype 558
Delving into Moo Tools 575
Summary 590
Exercise Questions 590
Appendix A: Answers to Exercises 591
Appendix B: Java Script Core Reference 665
Appendix C: W3C DOM Reference 697
Appendix D: Latin-1 Character Set 725
Index 733

Paul Wilton owns his own company, providing online bookingsystems to vacation property owners, which is largely developedusing Java Script.
Jeremy Mc Peak is a self-taught programmer who began hiscareer by tinkering with web sites in 1998. He is the coauthor of Professional Ajax, 2nd Edition and several online articlescovering topics such as XSLT, ASP.NET Web Forms, and C#. He iscurrently employed at an energy-based company building in-houseconventional and web applications.