The JavaScript You Need to Know

Abstract

JavaScript is a programming language that adds interactivity and dynamic content to otherwise static HTML pages. Behind most fancy frills such as mouseover effects, animations, drop-down menus, and form validations, you will usually find JavaScript being used in some way or another. jQuery is a JavaScript library that simplifies your client-side programming tasks and uses the same programming constructs as JavaScript for variables, branching, and looping. While writing jQuery code, you often need to use these JavaScript programming constructs. Therefore, before you delve into jQuery programming, you must refresh your JavaScript skills. This chapter is intended to give you a quick overview of commonly used JavaScript features so that you can use the knowledge gained in this chapter in the remainder of the book. If you are already familiar with JavaScript, you can skip this chapter, or glance over its content and jump to the next chapter.