1 Intro to Javascript

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 Client Side Scripting
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 Why use client-side programming?
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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 programming?
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 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?
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 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
 contained within a web page and integrates with its
HTML/CSS content

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

 JavaScript programs instead wait for user actions
called events and respond to them
 event-driven programming: writing programs
driven by user events
 Events in Javascript
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Event Description
onchange An HTML element has been changed
onclick The user clicks an HTML element
onmouseover The user moves the mouse over an HTML
element
onmouseout The user moves the mouse away from an
HTML element
onkeydown The user pushes a keyboard key
onload The browser has finished loading the page

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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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 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: + - * / % ++ -- = += -= *= /= %=
 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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 Special values: null and undefined
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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

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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
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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 = false;
if ("web development 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
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var sum = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
sum = sum + i;
} JS

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

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 while loops
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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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 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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 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
 e.g. make a paragraph red
 DOM element objects
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 Accessing elements:
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document.getElementById
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:
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document.getElementById
 document.getElementById returns the DOM object
for an element with a given id

 can change the text in form controls by setting the

value property

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 Changing element style:
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element.style

Attribute Property or style object

color color
padding padding
background-color backgroundColor
border-top-width borderTopWidth
Font size fontSize
Font famiy fontFamily
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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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 Javascript Objects
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 JavaScript is an Object based Programming

language.
 Objects are composed of attributes. If an attribute
contains a function, it is considered to be a method
of the object, otherwise the attribute is considered a
property.
 objectname.objectproperty= property value;
 Eg. Varname.length=10;
 Varname.toUpperCase();
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 User defined objects
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 output
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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
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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
 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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 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
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 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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 Date object
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 The Date object is a datatype built into the

JavaScript language. Date objects are created with
the new Date( )


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 Window
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 represent an open window in browser.

 not an object of javascript.
 A global variable window, which represents the
current browser window in which the code is
running.
 syntax:
 winobj= window.open(“url”, “windowname”,
“featurelist”); //like toolbar,status,ht,wdth….

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 Window Properties
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 Window Methods
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 getElementById() method
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 returns the element that has the id attribute with

the specified value.
 Null if no element with specified ID exists.
 innerHTML property
 Sets or returns html content (inner html) of an element
 Eg.
Document.getElementById(“1234”).innerHTML=“bo
gged down by coding”;
 Tells the browser to write “bogged down by coding”
inside html element with id 1234.
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 Frames and javascript
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 Links
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 Images
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 Table…….
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 Do it yourself
 change border using javascript
 change background using javascript
 change color using javascript
 change caption using javascript

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