1 Intro to Javascript

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 Client Side Scripting
2

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 Why use client-side
3
programming?
PHP already allows us to create dynamic web
pages. Why also use client-side scripting?

client-side scripting (JavaScript) benefits:

usability: can modify a page without having to

post back to the server (faster UI)

efficiency: can make small, quick changes to
page without waiting for server

event-driven: can respond to user actions like
clicks and key presses

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 Why use client-side
4
programming?

server-side programming (PHP) benefits:

security: has access to server's private data;
client can't see source code

compatibility: not subject to browser
compatibility issues

power: can write files, open connections to
servers, connect to databases, ...

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 What is Javascript?
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a lightweight programming language

("scripting language")

used to make web pages interactive

insert dynamic text into HTML (ex: user name)

react to events (ex: page load user click)

get information about a user's computer (ex:

browser type)

perform calculations on user's computer (ex: form
validation)

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 What is Javascript?
6

a web standard (but not supported identically

by all browsers)

NOT related to Java other than by name and
some syntactic similarities

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 Javascript vs Java
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interpreted, not compiled

more relaxed syntax and rules

fewer and "looser" data types

variables don't need to be declared

errors often silent (few exceptions)

key construct is the function rather than the

class

"first-class" functions are used in many situations

contained within a web page and integrates
with its HTML/CSS content
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 Javascript vs Java
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+ =

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 JavaScript vs. PHP
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similarities:

both are interpreted, not compiled

both are relaxed about syntax, rules, and
types

both are case-sensitive

both have built-in regular expressions for
powerful text processing

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 JavaScript vs. PHP
10

differences:

JS is more object-oriented: noun.verb(), less
procedural: verb(noun)

JS focuses on user interfaces and interacting
with a document; PHP is geared toward HTML
output and file/form processing

JS code runs on the client's browser; PHP
code runs on the web server

JS <3
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 Linking to a JavaScript file:
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script
<script src="filename" type="text/javascript"></script>
HTML

script tag should be placed in HTML page's

head

script code is stored in a separate .js file

JS code can be placed directly in the HTML
file's body or head (like CSS)

but this is bad style (should separate content,
presentation, and behavior

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 Event-driven programming
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split breaks apart a string into an array using a

delimiter

can also be used with regular expressions (seen
later)

join merges an array into a single string,
placing a delimiter between them
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 A JavaScript statement: alert
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alert("IE6 detected. Suck-mode enabled.");

JS

a JS command that pops up a dialog box with

a message
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 Event-driven programming
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you are used to programs start with a main

method (or implicit main like in PHP)

JavaScript programs instead wait for user
actions called events and respond to them

event-driven programming: writing programs
driven by user events

Let's write a page with a clickable button that
pops up a "Hello, World" window...

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 Buttons
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<button>Click me!</button> HTML

button's text appears inside tag; can also

contain images

To make a responsive button or other UI
control:
1. choose the control (e.g. button) and event (e.g.
mouse 1. click) of interest
2. write a JavaScript function to run when the
event occurs
3. attach the function to the event on the control
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 JavaScript functions
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function name() {
statement ;
statement ;
...
statement ;
} JS
function myFunction() {
alert("Hello!");
alert("How are you?");
} JS

the above could be the contents of example.js

linked to our HTML page

statements placed into functions can be
evaluated in response to user events
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 Event handlers
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<element attributes onclick="function();">...

HTML

<button onclick="myFunction();">Click me!</button>

HTML

JavaScript functions can be set as event

handlers

when you interact with the element, the function will
execute

onclick is just one of many event HTML
attributes we'll use

but popping up an alert window is disruptive and
annoying
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A better user experience would be to have the

 Document Object Model (DOM)
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most JS code
manipulates elements on
an HTML page

we can examine
elements' state

e.g. see whether a box is
checked

we can change state

e.g. insert some new text
into a div

we can change styles
 DOM element objects
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 Accessing elements:
document.getElementById
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var name = document.getElementById("id");

JS

<button onclick="changeText();">Click me!</button>

<span id="output">replace me</span>
<input id="textbox" type="text" /> HTML

function changeText() {
var span = document.getElementById("output");
var textBox = document.getElementById("textbox");

textbox.style.color = "red";

} JS

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 Accessing elements:
document.getElementById
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document.getElementById returns the DOM

object for an element with a given id

can change the text inside most elements by
setting the innerHTML property

can change the text in form controls by setting
the value property

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 Changing element style:
element.style
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 Preetify
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function changeText() {
//grab or initialize text here

// font styles added by JS:

text.style.fontSize = "13pt";
text.style.fontFamily = "Comic Sans MS";
text.style.color = "red"; // or pink?
} JS

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24 More Javascript Syntax

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 Variables
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var name = expression; JS

var clientName = "Connie Client";

var age = 32;
var weight = 127.4; JS

variables are declared with the var keyword

(case sensitive)

types are not specified, but JS does have
types ("loosely typed")

Number, Boolean, String, Array, Object,
Function, Null, Undefined

can find out a variable's type by calling typeof
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 Number type
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var enrollment = 99;

var medianGrade = 2.8;
var credits = 5 + 4 + (2 * 3);
JS

integers and real numbers are the same type

(no int vs. double)

same operators: + - * / % ++ -- = += -= *= /=
%=

similar precedence to Java

many operators auto-convert types: "2" * 3 is 6
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 Comments (same as Java)
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// single-line comment
/* multi-line comment */
JS

identical to Java's comment syntax

recall: 4 comment syntaxes

HTML: <!-- comment -->

CSS/JS/PHP: /* comment */

Java/JS/PHP: // comment

PHP: # comment

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 Math object
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var rand1to10 = Math.floor(Math.random() * 10 + 1);

var three = Math.floor(Math.PI);
JS

methods: abs, ceil, cos, floor, log,

max, min, pow, random, round, sin,
sqrt, tan

properties: E, PI

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 Special values: null and
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undefined
var ned = null;
var benson = 9;
// at this point in the code,
// ned is null
// benson's 9
// caroline is undefined
JS

undefined : has not been declared, does not

exist

null : exists, but was specifically assigned an
empty or null value

Why does JavaScript have both of these?
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 Logical operators
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> < >= <= && || ! == != === !==

most logical operators automatically convert
types:

5 < "7" is true

42 == 42.0 is true

"5.0" == 5 is true

=== and !== are strict equality tests; checks

both type and value

"5.0" === 5 is false
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 if/else statement (same as
31
Java)
if (condition) {
statements;
} else if (condition) {
statements;
} else {
statements;
}
JS

identical structure to Java's if/else statement

JavaScript allows almost anything as a
condition

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 Boolean type
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var iLike190M = true;

var ieIsGood = "IE6" > 0; // false
if ("web devevelopment is great") { /* true */ }
if (0) { /* false */ }
JS

any value can be used as a Boolean

"falsey" values: 0, 0.0, NaN, "", null, and
undefined

"truthy" values: anything else

converting a value into a Boolean explicitly:

var boolValue = Boolean(otherValue);

var boolValue = !!(otherValue);
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 for loop (same as Java)
33

var sum = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
sum = sum + i;
} JS

var s1 = "hello";
var s2 = "";
for (var i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
s2 += s1.charAt(i) + s1.charAt(i);
}
// s2 stores "hheelllloo" JS

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 while loops (same as Java)
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while (condition) {
statements;
} JS

do {
statements;
} while (condition);
JS

break and continue keywords also behave as

in Java

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 Popup boxes
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alert("message"); // message
confirm("message"); // returns true or false
prompt("message"); // returns user input string
JS

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 Arrays
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var name = []; // empty array

var name = [value, value, ..., value]; // pre-filled
name[index] = value; // store element
JS

var ducks = ["Huey", "Dewey", "Louie"];

var stooges = []; // stooges.length is 0
stooges[0] = "Larry"; // stooges.length is 1
stooges[1] = "Moe"; // stooges.length is 2
stooges[4] = "Curly"; // stooges.length is 5
stooges[4] = "Shemp"; // stooges.length is 5
JS

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 Array methods
37

var a = ["Stef", "Jason"]; // Stef, Jason

a.push("Brian"); // Stef, Jason, Brian
a.unshift("Kelly"); // Kelly, Stef, Jason, Brian
a.pop(); // Kelly, Stef, Jason
a.shift(); // Stef, Jason
a.sort(); // Jason, Stef
JS

array serves as many data structures: list,
queue, stack, ...

methods: concat, join, pop, push, reverse,
shift, slice, sort, splice, toString, unshift

push and pop add / remove from back

unshift and shift add / remove from front

shift and pop return the element that is removed
 String type
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var s = "Connie Client";

var fName = s.substring(0, s.indexOf(" ")); // "Connie"
var len = s.length; // 13
var s2 = 'Melvin Merchant';
JS

methods: charAt, charCodeAt, fromCharCode,
indexOf, lastIndexOf, replace, split,
substring, toLowerCase, toUpperCase

charAt returns a one-letter String (there is no char
type)

length property (not a method as in Java)

Strings can be specified with "" or ''

concatenation with + :
 More about String
39

escape sequences behave as in Java: \' \" \&

\n \t \\

converting between numbers and Strings:
var count = 10;
var s1 = "" + count; // "10"
var s2 = count + " bananas, ah ah ah!"; // "10 bananas, ah
ah ah!"
var n1 = parseInt("42 is the answer"); // 42
var n2 = parseFloat("booyah"); // NaN JS

accessing the letters of a String:

var firstLetter = s[0]; // fails in IE
var firstLetter = s.charAt(0); // does work in IE
var lastLetter = s.charAt(s.length - 1); JS
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 Splitting strings: split and join
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var s = "the quick brown fox";

var a = s.split(" "); // ["the", "quick", "brown", "fox"]
a.reverse(); // ["fox", "brown", "quick", "the"]
s = a.join("!"); // "fox!brown!quick!the"
JS

split breaks apart a string into an array using a

delimiter

can also be used with regular expressions (seen
later)

join merges an array into a single string,
placing a delimiter between them