JavaScript Guide for Beginners

Posted on 05/20/2018 by Jonathan O'Brien

Netscape founder Marc Andreessen wanted a language Web programmers and designers could use that would allow the coding for images and plugins to be written directly in the Web page markup and display neatly on a computer screen. Netscape's team collaborated with Sun Microsystems and decided to make Sun's Java the basis of this new language. The first prototype was written in May 1995. Beta releases of Netscape 2.0 called the language LiveScript when it shipped in September of 1995, but by December, it was renamed JavaScript. As the Netscape team worked to promote and refine this new language, the first decade of JavaScript's existence was hobbled by the fact that Microsoft refused to include the language in their Internet Explorer browser, which grew to become the dominant browser. Jesse James Garrett developed the idea of Ajax in 2005, in which JavaScript was the key for allowing data to load in the background without causing a whole page to reload. This would be key to developing more dynamic Web applications going forward and help to promote JavaScript's wider use.

JavaScript Guide for Beginners

• JavaScript and Beyond: Tufts University compiled this comprehensive history of JavaScript.
• The History of the Browser Wars: When Netscape Met Microsoft: The battle between Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer is analyzed here along with its impact on JavaScript.
• Ajax Tutorial: Oracle has provided this tutorial that explains how Ajax works.
• Jesse James Garrett: Garrett's autobiography discusses his coining of the term "Ajax" and his other work in technology.
• Marc Andreessen: Forbes offers a biography of Netscape's founder and the mind behind JavaScript, including details about his post-Netscape career.

JavaScript in Today's World

Today, JavaScript is one of the top Internet programming languages. Ajax resulted in better JavaScript programming practices, the use of JavaScript in applications other than Web browsers, and the proliferation of frameworks and libraries devoted to JavaScript. The CommonJS project was developed in 2009 to establish standards for JavaScript development outside of Web browsers. JavaScript heavily influenced the development of the Internet: The picture-, video-, and application-rich Internet of today was made possible with JavaScript.

• CommonJS Notes: Find a comprehensive guide to CommonJS here.
• Game of Frameworks: JavaScript Trends: JavaScript is made up of numerous components. Which components are among the most desired skills for today's programmers?
• Getting Started With AJAX: Mozilla put together this guide to help beginners to understand Ajax.
• The Ten "Must Follow" JavaScript Best Practices: JavaScript is occasionally derided because it is a friendly language for beginners to learn, and they then make beginner mistakes. Avoid those mistakes with these best practices.
• 11 Best JavaScript Frameworks for Pro Developers in 2019: Learn more about what frameworks are, why they are used, and the best ones for different desired outcomes.

What Is ECMAScript?

ECMAScript is also known as ES. It is a scripting language specification and was created to standardize JavaScript. It is currently on its ninth edition. Apart from JavaScript, it is also used with JScript and ActionScript. ES is used primarily for client-side scripting on the Internet. It also is used for writing server applications.

• ECMA Standards: ECMA International maintains and regularly updates the standards for ECMAScript.
• What's the Difference Between JavaScript and ECMAScript? Confused about the difference between JavaScript and ECMAScript? This article breaks down the differences and describes how each is used.
• Differences Between Client-Side and Server-Side Scripting: JavaScript is used in both client-side and server-side applications; this guide helps you understand the differences in scripting on each end.

Current Features

Today, all modern computer browsers support JavaScript, and modern features all conform to ECMAScript standards. JavaScript now supports structured programming syntax including do while loops, if statements, switch statements, and while loops. After ECMAScript 2015 was released, JavaScript gained improved scoping as well. JavaScript now can read the difference between expressions and statements. Like most other scripting languages, JavaScript is dynamically typed and is object-based. It supports anonymous functions along with implicit and explicit delegation.

• JavaScript and the Browser: This chapter from a book on JavaScript describes the historical and present relationships between JavaScript and different browsers.
• Compatibility With Non-JavaScript Browsers: Although mainstream modern browsers are JavaScript-compliant, some older and more obscure browsers are not. This article helps programmers plan for when JavaScript fails.
• Static and Dynamic Scoping: Scoping keeps variables in different parts of a program separate from each other. There are two different types of scoping described here.
• Javascript Training Classes: Learn how to program using Javascript.
• All You Need to Know About JavaScript's Expressions, Statements, and Expression Statements: Statements and expressions are JavaScript's major syntactic categories. This article describes how each function and what expression statements are.
• How JavaScript Event Delegation Works: Event delegation is a popular JavaScript methodology. Learn how it works and why it is so popular.
• Back to Basics: Anonymous Functions and Closures: JavaScript leans heavily on anonymous functions. The callbacks used in the frameworks would not be possible without anonymous functions, which this article explains.

JavaScript and the Internet

More than 95% of all Web pages use JavaScript as client-side programming. JavaScript allows scripts to either embed or be included from HTML. It also allows them to interact with the Document Object Model (DOM) on the page. Examples of this usage include loading new page content or sending data to the service without forcing the page to reload. A common example would be updating a social media status without actually leaving the page. JavaScript also makes interactive games possible. Web cookies and other ways of tracking behavior also use it. Responsiveness is improved by JavaScript's ability to run in a browser versus a remote server. JavaScript's ability to decode user actions, like individual keystrokes, makes it a popular choice for interfaces like Gmail's.

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