JavaScript Training Outline

• Introducing JavaScript
• Origins with Netscape 2.0 in early 1996
• Evolution since then
• Current uses of JavaScript today
• Where JavaScript goes
• <script>...</script> blocks in the head contain statements that execute immediately, global variable declarations, and functions
• Event handler attributes in the body of the document call these functions in response to user actions
• JavaScript language fundamentals
• Statements
• Variables and data types
• Operators (for both numbers and strings)
• Conditionals (if-else if-else and switch-case)
• Loops (while, do-while, for)
• Functions
• Creating functions
• Calling functions
• Returning values
• Understanding JavaScript objects
• The role of objects in JavaScript programming
• Working with methods and properties
• The JavaScript object hierarchy
• The implicit window object
• Event handlers
• JavaScript with forms
• How forms fit into the JavaScript DOM
• Setting focus on a specific field
• Blocking a field from being edited
• Setting field values based on user input
• Basic validation: requiring field values to be filled in
• Handling calculations within forms (useful for totaling orders and other quantitative form operations)
• Includes a discussion of the Math object, which provides useful methods for making calculations
• JavaScript with links and images
• Using onMouseOver and onMouseOut to detect the presence of the mouse
• Using onClick to process clicks on hyperlinks
• Having hyperlinks call functions via javascript: URLs
• Conditionally navigating the user to a page when they click a link
• Dynamically swapping one or more images on a page based on the position of the mouse
• JavaScript for navigation
• Overview of the history and location objects
• Building a jump menu (a pulldown menu that takes the user to a page based on their selection)
• Navigating the user to a specific page based on their input in a form
• JavaScript for pop-up help
• Pros and cons of having JavaScript open another window
• Generating and sizing a new (child) window via JavaScript
• Communication between the child window and the parent window
• Implementing attractive pop-up help or information windows using JavaScript
• Advanced form validation with regular expressions
• Overview of regular expressions as a powerful language for validating form submissions
• Note: Regular expressions are supported by almost all major programming languages -- learning them in this class will be a boon to students who will later learn other languages
• Using the RegExp object in JavaScript
• To test whether a string matches a pattern
• To extract pieces of a string (e.g., the month, day, and year from a date the user has entered)
• To clean up illegal characters the user has entered
• Conclusion