Christian Heilmann

The table of contents of “Beginning JavaScript with DOM scripting and Ajax”

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 11:56 am

Some people asked me at @media about detailed content of my upcoming book. So without further ado, here is the table of contents with page numbers:

  • Foreword xiii
  • About the Author xv
  • About the Technical Reviewer xvii
  • Introduction xix
  • CHAPTER 1 Getting Started with JavaScript 1
    • The Why of JavaScript 3
    • What Is JavaScript? 4
    • Problems and Merits of JavaScript 5
    • Why Use JavaScript If It Cannot Be Relied On? 6
    • JavaScript in a Web Page and Essential Syntax 7
      • JavaScript Syntax 8
      • Code Execution 9
      • An Aside About Functions 11
    • Objects 12
    • A Simple JavaScript Example 13
    • Summary 16
  • CHAPTER 2 Data and Decisions 17
    • Data, Data Types, and Data Operators 18
      • The String Data Type 18
      • Operators 21
      • JavaScript Variables 23
      • Converting Different Types of Data 26
    • The Composite Data Types: Array and Object 30
      • Objects JavaScript Supplies You with: String, Date and Math 30
    • Arrays 39
      • The Array Object’s Methods and Properties 42
    • Making Decisions in JavaScript 45
      • The Logical and Comparison Operators 45
      • Conditional Statements 49
      • Testing Multiple Values: the switch Statement 52
      • Repeating Things: Loops 54
    • Summary 59
  • CHAPTER 3 From DHTML to DOM Scripting 61
    • JavaScript As the Behavior Layer 63
      • Object Detection vs. Browser Dependence 65
      • Progressive Enhancement 68
    • JavaScript and Accessibility 69
    • Good Coding Practices 71
      • Naming Conventions 71
      • Code Layout 72
      • Commenting 74
      • Functions 76
      • Short Code via the Ternary Operator 79
      • Sorting and Reuse of Functions 80
      • Variable and Function Scope 80
      • Keeping Scripts Safe with the Object Literal 81
    • Summary 83
  • CHAPTER 4 HTML and JavaScript 85
    • The Anatomy of an HTML Document 85
    • Providing Feedback in Web Pages via JavaScript: The Old School Ways 89
      • Using window Methods: prompt(), alert(),and confirm() 90
    • Accessing the Document via the DOM 96
    • Of Children, Parents, Siblings, and Values 99
      • From the Parents to the Children 100
      • From the Children to the Parents 102
      • Among Siblings 103
    • Changing Attributes of Elements 107
    • Creating, Removing, and Replacing Elements 109
      • Avoiding NOSCRIPT 113
      • Shortening Your Scripts via InnerHTML 115
      • DOM Summary: Your Cheat Sheet 116
      • DOMhelp: Our Own Helper Library 118
    • Summary 122
  • CHAPTER 5 Presentation and Behavior (CSS and Event Handling) 123
    • Changing the Presentation Layer via JavaScript 123
      • Helping the CSS Designer 131
    • Changing the Document’s Behavior via Event Handling 153
      • Events in the W3C-Compliant World 156
      • Fixing Events for the Non-W3C-Compliant World 165
      • Never Stop Optimizing 172
      • The Ugly Page Load Problem and Its Ugly Solutions 173
      • Reading and Filtering Keyboard Entries 174
      • The Dangers of Event Handling 179
    • Summary 180
  • CHAPTER 6 Common Uses of JavaScript: Images and Windows 183
    • Images and JavaScript 183
      • Basics of Image Scripting 184
      • Preloading Images 186
      • Rollover Effects 187
      • Slide Shows 196
      • Summary of Images and JavaScript 211
    • Windows and JavaScript 212
      • Window Properties 213
      • Window Methods 215
      • Summary: Windows and JavaScript 238
    • Summary 239
  • CHAPTER 7 JavaScript and User Interaction: Navigation and Forms 241
    • Navigation and JavaScript 241
      • The Fear of the Page Reload 242
      • Basics of Navigation and JavaScript 242
      • Browser Navigation 245
      • In-Page Navigation 246
      • Site Navigation 255
      • Pagination 263
      • Summary of Navigation with JavaScript 272
    • Forms and JavaScript 272
      • Basics of Forms with JavaScript 274
      • Form Elements 275
      • Interactive Forms: Hiding and Showing Dependent Elements 291
      • Custom Form Elements 297
      • Summary of Forms and JavaScript 297
    • Summary 297
  • CHAPTER 8 Back-End Interaction with Ajax 299
    • Household Cleaning Liquid, Football Club, or Flash Gordon’s Spacecraft: What Is Ajax? 300
    • Et Tu, Cache? 309
    • Putting the X Back into Ajax 309
      • Replacing XML with JSON 314
      • Using Server-Side Scripts to Reach Third-Party Content 316
      • XHR on Slow Connections 320
      • A Larger Ajax Example: Connected Select Boxes 323
      • Optional Dynamic Ajax Menus 331
    • Summary 340
  • CHAPTER 9 Data Validation Techniques 343
    • Pros and Cons of Client-Side JavaScript Validation 343
    • A Quick Reminder About Protecting Content with JavaScript 344
    • The One-Size-Fits-All Validation Myth 345
    • Basic JavaScript Validation with String and Numeric Methods 346
      • String Validation Methods 346
      • Numeric Validation Methods 352
    • Regular Expressions 357
      • Syntax and Attributes 357
      • Wildcard Searches, Constraining Scope, and Alternatives 358
      • Restricting the Number of Characters with Quantifiers 359
      • Word Boundaries, Whitespace, and Other Shortcuts 360
      • Methods Using Regular Expressions 361
      • The Power of Parenthesis Grouping 361
      • Regular Expression Resources 363
    • Summary of Validation Methods 363
    • Form Validation Techniques 364
      • Designating Mandatory Fields 364
      • The Hidden Field Method 364
      • The Indicator Element Method 365
      • The CSS Classes Method 366
      • The Custom Attribute Method 366
      • Failures of These Methods 367
      • Sharing Validation Rules 367
    • Giving Users Validation Feedback 369
      • Showing a List of Erroneous Fields 369
      • Replacing the Main Form with a Clickable Error Message 374
      • Highlighting Erroneous Fields Individually 376
      • Instant Validation Feedback 379
    • Other Dynamic Validation Methods 381
    • Summary 385
  • CHAPTER 10 Modern JavaScript Case Study: A Dynamic Gallery 387
    • Basics of Thumbnail Galleries 387
    • What Is a Thumbnail Gallery and What Should It Do? 388
    • Static Thumbnail Galleries 388
    • Faking Dynamic Galleries with JavaScript 389
    • Displaying Captions 396
    • Dynamic Thumbnail Galleries 401
    • Creating an Image Badge From a Folder 406
    • Summary 414
  • CHAPTER 11 Using Third-Party JavaScript 415
    • What the Web Offers You 415
    • Code Snippets, RSS Feeds, APIs, and Libraries 416
      • RSS Feeds and REST APIs 417
      • Examples of REST APIs 418
    • Using a Library: Short, Shorter, jQuery 419
      • Dangers of jQuery and Other Libraries Using Their Own Syntax 426
    • Using an API: Adding a Map to Your Site with Google Maps 427
    • Full Service: The Yahoo Developer Network and User Interface Library 438
      • Bouncy Headlines Using YUI 439
      • Replacing Pop-Up Windows Using the YUI Connection Manager and Container Components 444
      • Yahoo User Interface Library Summary 449
    • Summary 450
  • APPENDIX Debugging JavaScript 451
    • Common JavaScript Mistakes 451
      • Misspellings and Case-Sensitivity Issues 451
      • Trying to Access Undefined Variables 452
      • Incorrect Number of Closing Braces and Parentheses 454
      • Concatenation Gone Wrong 456
      • Assigning Instead of Testing the Value of a Variable 458
    • Tracing Errors with alert() and Console Elements 458
    • Error Handling with try and catch() 459
    • Sequential Uncommenting 462
    • Error Reporting in Browsers 463
      • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 463
      • Safari 464
      • Opera 8.5 466
      • Firefox 1.5.0.3 466
    • JSLint and JSUNIT 470
    • Summary 470
    • INDEX 471

You can get the book either in a local bookstore (from 17th of July onwards) – which is the preferable option as bookstores are great places to test before you buy, drink coffee, socialize with real human beings and meet your future partners (optional) – or on the web for example on Amazon (US, UK, DE).

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