Beginning JavaScript

Introduction xxv Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript and the Web 1 Introduction to JavaScript 1 Where Do My Scripts Go? 7 Your First Simple JavaScript Programs 8 A Brief Look at Browsers and Compatibility Problems 15 Summary 16 Chapter 2: Data Types and Variables 17 Types of Data in JavaScript 17 Variables -- Storing Data in Memory 20 Using Data -- Calculations and Basic String Manipulation26 Data Type Conversion 37 Arrays 40 Summary 49 Exercise Questions 50 Chapter 3: Decisions, Loops, and Functions 51 Decision Making -- The if and switch Statements 51 Looping -- The for and while Statements 71 Functions 79 Summary 84 Exercise Questions 86 Chapter 4: Common Mistakes, Debugging, and Error Handling87 D'oh! I Can't Believe I Just Did That: Some CommonMistakes 87 Error Handling 93 Debugging 103 Summary 131 Exercise Questions 131 Chapter 5: JavaScript -- An Object-Based Language133 Object-Based Programming 133 JavaScript's Native Object Types 139 Creating New Types of Objects (Reference Types) 177 Summary 187 Exercise Questions 188 Chapter 6: Programming the Browser 189 Introduction to the Browser's Objects 190 Responding to the User's Actions with Events 199 Summary 215 Exercise Questions 217 Chapter 7: HTML Forms: Interacting with the User 219 HTML Forms 219 Other Form Object Properties and Methods 222 Summary 260 Exercise Questions 262 Chapter 8: Windows and Frames 263 Frames and the window Object 264 Opening New Windows 284 Security 298 Summary 298 Exercise Questions 299 Chapter 9: String Manipulation 301 Additional String Methods 302 Regular Expressions 306 The String Object -- split(), replace(), search(), andmatch() Methods 327 Using the RegExp Object's Constructor 335 Summary 345 Exercise Questions 345 Chapter 10: Date, Time, and Timers 347 World Time 348 Timers in a Web Page 358 Summary 364 Exercise Questions 365 Chapter 11: Storing Information: Cookies 367 Baking Your First Cookie 367 Creating a Cookie 377 Getting a Cookie's Value 381 Cookie Limitations 386 Cookie Security and IE6+ 388 Summary 389 Exercise Questions 389 Chapter 12: Dynamic HTML and the W3C Document Object Model391 The Web Standards 392 The Document Object Model 397 Manipulating the DOM 422 Writing Cross-Browser DHTML 447 JavaScript and XML 453 Summary 467 Exercise Questions 468 Chapter 13: Using ActiveX and Plug-Ins with JavaScript469 Checking for and Embedding Plug-ins (Non-IE Browsers) 470 Checking for and Embedding ActiveX Controls on Internet Explorer474 Using Plug-ins and ActiveX Controls 480 Summary 488 Exercise Question 489 Chapter 14: Ajax 491 What Is Ajax? 491 Using the XMLHttpRequest Object 494 Creating a Simple Ajax Module 500 Validating Form Fields with Ajax 505 Things to Watch Out For 515 Summary 525 Exercise Questions 525 Chapter 15: JavaScript Frameworks 527 Picking a Framework to Work With 527 Getting Started 528 Digging Deeper Into jQuery 537 Diving into Prototype 558 Delving into MooTools 575 Summary 590 Exercise Questions 590 Appendix A: Answers to Exercises 591 Appendix B: JavaScript Core Reference 665 Appendix C: W3C DOM Reference 697 Appendix D: Latin-1 Character Set 725 Index 733