Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax From Novice to Professional

JavaScript is one of the most important technologies on the web. It provides the means to add dynamic functionality to your web pages and serves as the backbone of Ajax-style web development. Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax is an essential guide for modern JavaScript programming; it's practical but comprehensive. It covers everything you need to know to get up to speed with JavaScript development and add dynamic enhancements to web pages and program Ajax-style applications.

Experienced web developer Christian Heilmann begins gently by giving you an overview of JavaScriptits syntax, good coding practices, and the principles of DOM scripting. Then he builds up your JavaScript toolkit, covering dynamically manipulating markup, changing page styling on the fly using the CSS DOM, validating forms, dealing with images, and much more. Then he takes you to advanced territory, with a complete case study illustrating how many new JavaScript techniques can work together, plus a great introduction to Ajax development.

Getting Started with JavaScript.- Data and Decisions.- From DHTML to DOM Scripting.- HTML and JavaScript.- Presentation and Behavior (CSS and Event Handling).- Common Uses of JavaScript: Images and Windows.- JavaScript and User Interaction: Navigation and Forms.- Back-End Interaction with Ajax.- Data Validation Techniques.- Modern JavaScript Case Study: A Dynamic Gallery.- Using Third-Party JavaScript.

Christian Heilmann grew up in Germany and, after a year working with people with disabilities through the Red Cross, he spent a year as a radio producer. Beginning in 1997, he worked for several agencies in Munich as a web developer. In 2000, he moved to the U.S. to work for eToys and, after the dot-com crash, he moved to the U.K., where he currently works as a lead developer for Agilisys. He publishes an almost-daily blog at http://wait-till-i.com and runs an article repository at http://icant.co.uk. He is a member of the Web Standards Project's DOM Scripting Task Force.