Learning JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language that allows you to implement complex things on web pages. This includes
- Display static information for you to look at
- Displaying timely content updates, or interactive maps, or animated 2D/3D graphics
- Scrolling video jukeboxes, etc.
JavaScript is probably the third layer of the layer cake of standard web technologies, two of which (HTML and CSS).
Why JavaScript?
- All browsers process JavaScript
- Many web services rely on JavaScript in browser
- JavaScript can be used in your own web pages
- Understand what other web pages are doing
- It is easy to start
- It is easy to do useful things with it
- In JavaScript programming ideas carry over into other languages
Syntax
We will describe basic syntactic principles of JavaScript.
Note the two different uses of the equals sign:
- A single equals sign (=) is used to assign a value to a variable.
- A triple equals sign (===) is used to compare two values (see Equality Operators).