Bruce Von Stiers

There is a series by Sams Publishing that teaches you different software programs in a format that is designed to stretch out over a span of several days. 21 days to be exact. The latest and greatest from that series is titled Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 21 Days. The book was written by Andrew Watt and Jonathan Watt with the help of Jinjer Simon and Jim O’Donnell.

The book has four sections to it. There is Week 1, A Sound Foundation, Week 2, Let’s Take It Further, Week 3, Advanced Topics and then the Appendix. There is also a 26 page index. The book has a total of 755 pages.

As I mentioned earlier, the book is laid out so that the material can be learned over a 21 day period. The book is grouped into sections set up like weeks. Then there are individual days that are grouped within the week. Each day is set up as a different lesson for learning JavaScript.

Week 1, A Sound Foundation, takes you through some of the more basic steps in JavaScript.In Day 1, we find out what JavaScript is and how to use it for web pages and applications. You will find out about the different types of Java and which text editor might serve your needs the best. The book goes through some of the data types that will be used in JavaScript and a few of the more common and useful functions that the JavaScript program will utilize.

Day 2 is all about working with data. Learn what a Conditional Operator is and how it might affect both input and output functions. You will learn the difference between a Logical and a String Operator. Day 3 goes deeper into things and you will learn about what a program statement is and what how it can impact the operation of your JavaScript while it is running. There are conditional statements like While and Do While that is discussed in Day 3 as well. Days 4 and 5 go into more of the objects that are used in writing a JavaScript and you get introduced to a program element called an array. And moving on to Day 7 find you learning about the various math functions that are essential for some program elements to work properly.

In Week 2, Let’s Take It Further, you will learn things like being able to write a JavaScript that will be able to be viewed on more than one browser. You will find that there is something called the Cross-Browser Compatibility Scripting. In Day 9 the authors show you about working with time and dates in your JavaScript. Day 11 goes into Dynamic HTML and Day 12 works with browser frames and Windows. Day 14 delves into arrays a little further, showing you some specific Object Methods.

In Week 3 there are the last 7 days of JavaScript learning. Day 15 tells you about debugging your JavaScript and how to fix the errors. Day 16 deals with those dreaded cookies that everybody wants to eat but nobody wants on their computer. Day 17 is all about the privacy and security issues that surround both webmasters and users of web sites. Learn abut creating your own JavaScript objects in Day 19. And Day 20 works in using JavaScript in an E-Commerce web site. On the last day of the training you will learn about Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and how they can greatly enhance your web pages.

Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 21 Days is a good book to learn the basic concepts and inner workings of JavaScript. When you complete this book, you won’t be the world’s best expert on JavaScript, but you’ll have a good understanding about what it does and how to program in it.

The book can be found at most major book retailers. It has a list price of $ 34.99 U.S. It can also be ordered online from Sams Publishing at www.samspublishing.com

.