Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours

Hour 1. Understanding JavaScript

What You'll Learn in This Hour: What web scripting is and what it's good for How scripting and programming are different (and similar) What JavaScript is and where it came from How to include JavaScript commands in a web page How different browsers handle JavaScript What JavaScript can do for your web pages How to choose between JavaScript and alternative languages

The World Wide Web (WWW) began as a text-only mediumthe first browsers didn't even support images within web pages. Although it's still not quite ready to give television a run for its money, the Web has come a long way since then.

Today's websites can include a wealth of features: graphics, sounds, animation, video, and occasionally useful content. Web scripting languages, such as JavaScript, are one of the easiest ways to spice up a web page and to interact with users in new ways.

The first hour of this book introduces the concept of web scripting and the JavaScript language. It also describes how JavaScript fits in with other web languages.