Ferguson - Beginning JavaScript: the ultimate guide to modern JavaScript development

Russ Ferguson

Beginning JavaScript The Ultimate Guide to Modern JavaScript Development 3rd ed.

Russ Ferguson

Ocean, NJ, USA

Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the books product page, located at www.apress.com/9781484243947 . For more detailed information, please visit www.apress.com/source-code .

ISBN 978-1-4842-4394-7 e-ISBN 978-1-4842-4395-4

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4395-4

Russ Ferguson 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.

While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

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This space is dedicated to my brother, Rodd, and my Dad.

If not for my Dad, none of this would be possible. Thanks, Dad.

Russ

Acknowledgments

I need to thank everyone at Apress for working with me and keeping me on course to get this book finished. Nancy, Toby, Louise, James, and Jade, thank you.

Table of Contents

About the Author and About the Technical Reviewer

About the Author

Russ Ferguson

is a freelance developer and instructor in the New York City area. He has worked with companies of all sizes, from startups to some of the largest organizations in the world. These companies have spanned industries including cable television, book publishing, finance, and advertising. He has worked on projects for companies like Bank of America, General Mills, LG, Viacom, and DC Comics.

About the Technical Reviewer

Toby Jee

is software programmer currently located in Sydney, Australia. He loves Linux and open source projects. He programs mainly in Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Python. In his spare time, Toby enjoys walkabouts, reading, and playing guitar.

JavaScript has changed a lot over the years. We are currently in a time where there is a JavaScript library for just about anything you would like to build. JavaScript lives both on the client and the server, on the desktop and on mobile devices.

JavaScript is essential in modern web development; single page applications (SPAs) make up the majority of sites being created. Understanding JavaScript lets you add interactivity to your website and lowers the learning curve for things like frameworks. This is not to say that you need frameworks for everything, but to add any level of interactivity to your site, you need JavaScript.

Enough introductionyou got this book to learn about JavaScript, so lets start by talking quickly about JavaScript on a high level before diving right into it.

Chances are that you have already come across JavaScript and already have an idea of what it is and what it can do, so Ill move quite swiftly through some basics of the language and its capabilities first. If you know JavaScript well already, and you simply want to know more about the newer and more accessible features and concepts, you may skip a head. However, there may be some information youve forgotten, and a bit of a review doesnt hurt, either.

As discussed, JavaScript is everywhere. It plus HTML and CSS are all the tools you need to develop a website.

You can work on both the client side and the server using JavaScript. This makes the demand for JavaScript developers very high. And high demand means various job opportunities and competitive rates for developers. As of this writing, the average salary of a JavaScript developer is $110,841 per year in the United States according to Indeed, a job website ( www.indeed.com/salaries/Javascript-Developer-Salaries ). So not only is JavaScript a language worth taking a look at, it can be a good addition to your toolset a developer. Lets have a quick discussion of what JavaScript is and then move onto writing some code.

JavaScript is an interpreted scripting language . The host environment will provide access to all the objects needed to execute the code.

The primary example for JavaScript is the ability to add interactivity to a website. This works because the interpreter is embedded into a web browser so you do not need to add any software.