[...]... programming Why Now? In 1999, when HTML Goodies (http://www.htmlgoodies.com) was dedicated solely to HTML, I would get e-mail asking, “When are you going to put together a series of lessons for JavaScript Goodies ➤ writing JavaScript? ” Most readers of my sites know that I already have primers for HTML and for creating advertising banners, so why not JavaScript? Good question! In an effort to put lessons... 317-581-4666 E-mail: feedback@quepublishing.com Mail: Publisher Que 201 West 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 USA xxvi An Introduction by Joe Burns Welcome to JavaScript Goodies, Second Edition I never thought I’d write a book, let alone a second edition How about that? The purpose of this book’s lessons is to get you started writing your own JavaScript events If you’ve tried to learn JavaScript through a... messages, and tell the world what time it is What Is JavaScript? First off, JavaScript is not Java It’s easy to get confused and think that Java and JavaScript are one and the same Not so Java is a programming language developed at Sun Microsystems On the other hand, JavaScript is a programming language created by the good people at Netscape JavaScript Goodies With Java, you create fully standalone programs... the Web My purpose for starting JavaGoodies.com was to create the largest possible download source for JavaScript I figured that instead of teaching you to make your own JavaScripts, I would supply you with as many ready-to-go scripts as I could Well, it seemed like a smart idea at the time JavaGoodies.com once had more than 1,000 scripts, and readers still wanted JavaScript lessons I should have seen... August 1998, as the HTML Goodies 30Step JavaScript Primer series at http://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/ Wow! What a response The bulk of the e-mail from the site didn’t concern the content or the teaching method as much as the format for teaching JavaScript E-mail after e-mail stated, “I understand this.” Mission accomplished How You Will Learn My own method of learning the JavaScript language is... future JavaScripts 5 Chapter 1 The Basics This chapter contains the following lessons and scripts: What Is JavaScript? Lesson 1: Writing Text to a Web Page Lesson 2: Error Messages Lesson 3: Object Properties Lesson 4: Chapter Wrap-Up and Review The purpose of this chapter is to get you started on the right JavaScript foot In this chapter you’ll learn how to work with JavaScript and how to create JavaScripts... them, read them again, and gave up JavaScript books, at least the four I’ve bulled through, are dry and hard to follow They’re textbooks, and we all know how fun those are to read So, in an effort to not have to write JavaScript lessons at all, I created the Java Goodies Web site at http://www.javagoodies.com There’s no need to look for it—it has since been combined into JavaScripts.com Ah, it’s the way... Web page JavaScript, on the other hand, is simply text you type into your Web page much as you type in HTML tags and text For JavaScript to work, the Web page it is in must be viewed with a browser that understands the JavaScript language, such as all Netscape browsers 2.0 and above Some earlier versions of the Internet Explorer browsers have trouble with advanced JavaScript commands found in JavaScript. .. your first JavaScript! Lesson 1: Writing Text to a Web Page This first script is meant to introduce you to the very basics of creating and placing a JavaScript on your page Simply type the following JavaScript into any existing HTML page of your Web site: document.write(“This Is Red Text”) The concept of this script is to use JavaScript. .. Variable 423 vlinkColor Property 424 while Loop 424 window Object 424 write Method 425 writeln Method 425 xxi JavaScript Goodies C JavaScript Reserved Variable Words 427 D Scripts Available on htmlgoodies com 429 Alert Scripts 430 Button, Links, and E-mail Scripts 432 The Three Cs: Clocks, Calendars, and Calculator Scripts 436 Color . Image Display 373 Appendixes AJavaScript Basic Concepts 383 BJavaScript Command Reference 389 CJavaScript Reserved Variable Words 427 D Scripts Available on htmlgoodies.com 429 Index 459 00 0789726122_FM. 10/2/01 8:29 AM Page vi 00 0789726122_FM 10/2/01 8:29 AM Page vii viii JavaScript Goodies, Second Edition Copyright © 2002 by Que Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be repro- duced,. Indianapolis, Indiana 46290 JavaScript Goodies by Joe Burns, Ph.D. Second Edition 00 0789726122_FM 10/2/01 8:29 AM Page i ii Praise for Joe’s most recent book, Web Site Design Goodies Those looking