Part 1: Javascript Basics
Part 1: Javascript Basics
JAVASCRIPT– OVERVIEW
What is JavaScript?
JavaScript was first known as LiveScript, but Netscape changed its name to
JavaScript, possibly because of the excitement being generated by Java. JavaScript
made its first appearance in Netscape 2.0 in 1995 with the name LiveScript. The
general-purpose core of the language has been embedded in Netscape, Internet
Explorer, and other web browsers.
Client-side JavaScript is the most common form of the language. The script should
be included in or referenced by an HTML document for the code to be interpreted by
the browser.
It means that a web page need not be a static HTML, but can include programs that
interact with the user, control the browser, and dynamically create HTML content.
The JavaScript code is executed when the user submits the form, and only if all the
entries are valid, they would be submitted to the Web Server.
JavaScript can be used to trap user-initiated events such as button clicks, link
navigation, and other actions that the user initiates explicitly or implicitly.
Advantages of JavaScript
• Less server interaction:You can validate user input before sending the
page off to the server. This saves server traffic, which means less load on
your server.
• Immediate feedback to the visitors: They don't have to wait for a page
reload to see if they have forgotten to enter something.
• Increased interactivity: You can create interfaces that react when the user
hovers over them with a mouse or activates them via the keyboard.
Limitations of JavaScript
2
We cannot treat JavaScript as a full-fledged programming language. It lacks the
following important features:
• Client-side JavaScript does not allow the reading or writing of files. This has
been kept for security reason.
To make our life simpler, various vendors have come up with very nice JavaScript
editing tools. Some of them are listed here:
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2.JAVASCRIPT– SYNTAX
The ECMAScript Edition 5 standard will be the first update to be released in over
four years. JavaScript 2.0 conforms to Edition 5 of the ECMAScript standard, and
the difference between the two is extremely minor.
The specification for JavaScript 2.0 can be found on the following site:
http://www.ecmascript.org/
JavaScript can be implemented using JavaScript statements that are placed within
the <script>... </script> HTML tags in a web page.
You can place the <script> tags, containing your JavaScript, anywhere within you
web page, but it is normally recommended that you should keep it within the
<head> tags.
The <script> tag alerts the browser program to start interpreting all the text
between these tags as a script. A simple syntax of your JavaScript will appear as
follows.
<script ...>
JavaScript code
</script>
Let us take a sample example to print out "Hello World". We added an optional
HTML comment that surrounds our JavaScript code. This is to save our code from a
browser that does not support JavaScript. The comment ends with a "//-->". Here
"//" signifies a comment in JavaScript, so we add that to prevent a browser from
reading the end of the HTML comment as a piece of JavaScript code. Next, we call a
function document.write which writes a string into our HTML document.
This function can be used to write text, HTML, or both. Take a look at the following
code.
<html>
<body>
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write ("Hello World!")
//-->
</script>
</body></html>
Hello World!
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Whitespace and Line Breaks
JavaScript ignores spaces, tabs, and newlines that appear in JavaScript programs.
You can use spaces, tabs, and newlines freely in your program and you are free to
format and indent your programs in a neat and consistent way that makes the code
easy to read and understand.
But when formatted in a single line as follows, you must use semicolons:
Case Sensitivity
6
JavaScript is a case-sensitive language. This means that the language keywords,
variables, function names, and any other identifiers must always be typed with a
consistent capitalization of letters.
So the identifiers Time and TIME will convey different meanings in JavaScript.
NOTE: Care should be taken while writing variable and function names in
JavaScript.
Comments in JavaScript
• Any text between a // and the end of a line is treated as a comment and is
ignored by JavaScript.
Example
The following example shows how to use comments in JavaScript.
/*
* This is a multiline comment in JavaScript
* It is very similar to comments in C Programming
*/
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3.JAVASCRIPT– ENABLING
//-->
</script>
All the modern browsers come with built-in support for JavaScript. Frequently, you
may need to enable or disable this support manually. This chapter explains the
procedure of enabling and disabling JavaScript support in your browsers: Internet
Explorer, Firefox, chrome, and Opera.
Here are the steps to turn on or turn off JavaScript in Internet Explorer:
JavaScript in Firefox
• Open a new tab -> type about: config in the address bar.
• Then you will find the warning dialog. Select I’ll be careful, I promise!
8
• Then you will find the list of configureoptions in the browser.
• There you will find the option to enable or disable javascript by right-clicking
on the value of that option ->select toggle.
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JavaScript in Chrome
• Click the Chrome menu at the top right hand corner of your browser.
• Select Settings.
• In the "Javascript" section, select "Do not allow any site to run JavaScript" or
"Allow all sites to run JavaScript (recommended)".
JavaScript in Opera
If you have to do something important using JavaScript, then you can display a
warning message to the user using <noscript> tags.
You can add a noscriptblock immediately after the script block as follows:
<html>
<body>
<noscript>
Sorry...JavaScript is needed to go ahead.
</noscript>
</body></html>
Now, if the user's browser does not support JavaScript or JavaScript is not enabled,
then the message from </noscript> will be displayed on the screen.
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4.JAVASCRIPT– PLACEMENT
If you want to have a script run on some event, such as when a user clicks
somewhere, then you will place that script in the head as follows.
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function sayHello()
{ alert("Hello World")
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
Click here for the result
<input type="button" onclick="sayHello()" value="Say Hello" />
</body>
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</html>
Say Hello
If you need a script to run as the page loads so that the script generates content in
the page, then the script goes in the <body> portion of the document. In this case,
you would not have any function defined using JavaScript. Take a look at the
following code.
<html><head>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World")
//-->
</script>
<p>This is web page body </p>
</body>
</html>
Hello World
This is web page body
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JavaScript in <body> and <head> Sections
You can put your JavaScript code in <head> and <body> section altogether as
follows.
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function sayHello()
{ alert("Hello World")
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World")
//-->
</script>
<input type="button" onclick="sayHello()" value="Say Hello" />
</body>
</html>
Say Hello
You are not restricted to be maintaining identical code in multiple HTML files. The
script tag provides a mechanism to allow you to store JavaScript in an external file
and then include it into your HTML files.
Here is an example to show how you can include an external JavaScript file in your
HTML code using script tag and its src attribute.
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript" src="filename.js" ></script>
</head><body>
.......
</body></html>
To use JavaScript from an external file source, you need to write all your JavaScript
source code in a simple text file with the extension ".js" and then include that file as
shown above.
For example, you can keep the following content in filename.js file and then you
can use sayHello function in your HTML file after including the filename.js file.
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5.JAVASCRIPT– VARIABLES
JavaScript Datatypes
Note: Java does not make a distinction between integer values and floating-point
values. All numbers in JavaScript are represented as floating-point values.
JavaScript represents numbers using the 64-bit floating-point format defined by the
IEEE 754 standard.
JavaScript Variables
Like many other programming languages, JavaScript has variables. Variables can be
thought of as named containers. You can place data into these containers and then
refer to the data simply by naming the container.
Before you use a variable in a JavaScript program, you must declare it. Variables
are declared with the var keyword as follows.
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var
money;
var name;
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//-->
</script>
You can also declare multiple variables with the same var keyword as follows:
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var money, name;
//-->
</script>
For instance, you might create a variable named money and assign the value
2000.50 to it later. For another variable, you can assign a value at the time of
initialization as follows.
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var name =
"Ali"; var
money; money =
2000.50;
//-->
</script>
Note: Use the varkeyword only for declaration or initialization, once for the life of
any variable name in a document. You should not re-declare same variable twice.
JavaScript is untyped language. This means that a JavaScript variable can hold a
value of any data type. Unlike many other languages, you don't have to tell
JavaScript during variable declaration what type of value the variable will hold. The
value type of a variable can change during the execution of a program and
JavaScript takes care of it automatically.
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JavaScript Variable Scope
• Global Variables: A global variable has global scope which means it can be
defined anywhere in your JavaScript code.
• Local Variables: A local variable will be visible only within a function where
it is defined. Function parameters are always local to that function.
Within the body of a function, a local variable takes precedence over a global
variable with the same name. If you declare a local variable or function parameter
with the same name as a global variable, you effectively hide the global variable.
Take a look into the following example.
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var myVar = "global"; // Declare a global variable function checkscope( )
{
var myVar = "local"; // Declare a local variable
document.write(myVar);
}
//-->
</script>
Local
While naming your variables in JavaScript, keep the following rules in mind.
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• You should not use any of the JavaScript reserved keywords as a variable
name. These keywords are mentioned in the next section. For example,
break or boolean variable names are not valid.
• JavaScript variable names should not start with a numeral (0-9). They must
begin with a letter or an underscore character. For example, 123test is an
invalid variable name but _123test is a valid one.
• JavaScript variable names are case-sensitive. For example, Name and name
are two different variables.
A list of all the reserved words in JavaScript are given in the following table. They
cannot be used as JavaScript variables, functions, methods, loop labels, or any
object names.
import
in
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6.JAVASCRIPT– OPERATORS
What is an Operator?
• Arithmetic Operators
• Comparison Operators
• Assignment Operators
Arithmetic Operators
1 + (Addition)
2 - (Subtraction)
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* (Multiplication)
/ (Division)
% (Modulus)
++ (Increment)
-- (Decrement)
Note: Addition operator (+) works for Numeric as well as Strings. e.g. "a" + 10 will
give "a10".
Example
The following code shows how to use arithmetic operators in JavaScript.
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a
= 33;
21
22
var b = 10; var c =
"Test"; var linebreak =
"<br />";
document.write("a + b + c = ");
result = a + b + c;
document.write(result);
document.write(linebreak);
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a = a++;
document.write("a++ = ");
result = a++;
document.write(result);
document.write(linebreak);
b =
b--;
document.write("b-- = ");
result = b--;
document.write(result);
document.write(linebreak);
//-->
</script>
Output
a + b = 43 a - b
= 23 a / b = 3.3
a % b = 3 a + b +
c = 43Test a++ =
33 b-- = 10
Set the variables to different values and then try...
Comparison Operators
24
JavaScript supports the following comparison operators:
1 == (Equal)
Checks if the value of two operands are equal or not, if yes, then
the condition becomes true.
2 != (Not Equal)
Checks if the value of two operands are equal or not, if the values
are not equal, then the condition becomes true.
Ex: (A != B) is true.
Checks if the value of the left operand is greater than the value of
the right operand, if yes, then the condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of the left operand is less than the value of the
right operand, if yes, then the condition becomes true.
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6 <= (Less than or Equal to)
Checks if the value of the left operand is less than or equal to the
value of the right operand, if yes, then the condition becomes
true.
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a
= 10; var
b = 20;
var linebreak = "<br />";
//-->
</script>
Output
(a == b) => false
(a < b) => true
(a > b) => false
(a != b) => true
(a >= b) => false
(a <= b) => true
Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...
Logical Operators
If both the operands are non-zero, then the condition becomes true.
2 || (Logical OR)
If any of the two operands are non-zero, then the condition becomes
true.
Ex:(A || B) is true.
3 ! (Logical NOT)
Reverses the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true, then the
Logical NOT operator will make it false.
Example
Try the following code to learn how to implement Logical Operators in JavaScript.
28
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a =
true; var b =
false;
var linebreak = "<br />";
//-->
</script>
<p>Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...</p></body>
</html>
Output
Bitwise Operators
Ex: (A & B) is 2.
2 | (BitWise OR)
Ex: (A | B) is 3.
3 ^ (Bitwise XOR)
Ex: (A ^ B) is 1.
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4 ~ (Bitwise Not)
It moves all the bits in its first operand to the left by the number of
places specified in the second operand. New bits are filled with zeros.
Shifting a value left by one position is equivalent to multiplying it by 2,
shifting two positions is equivalent to multiplying by 4, and so on.
Ex: (A << 1) is 4.
Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operand’s value is moved right by
the number of bits specified by the right operand.
Ex: (A >> 1) is 1.
This operator is just like the >> operator, except that the bits shifted in
on the left are always zero.
Ex: (A >>> 1) is 1.
Example
Try the following code to implement Bitwise operator in JavaScript.
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var a = 2; // Bit presentation 10 var
b = 3; // Bit presentation 11 var
linebreak = "<br />";
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document.write("(a >> b) => ");
result = (a >> b);
document.write(result);
document.write(linebreak);
//-->
</script>
Output
(a & b) => 2
(a | b) => 3
(a ^ b) => 1
(~b) => -4
(a << b) => 16
(a >> b) => 0
Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...
Assignment Operators
1 = (Simple Assignment )
Assigns values from the right side operand to the left side operand
It adds the right operand to the left operand and assigns the result to
the left operand.
Ex: C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
It subtracts the right operand from the left operand and assigns the
result to the left operand.
Ex: C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
It multiplies the right operand with the left operand and assigns the
result to the left operand.
Ex: C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
It divides the left operand with the right operand and assigns the result
to the left operand.
Ex: C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
It takes modulus using two operands and assigns the result to the left
operand.
Ex: C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
Note: Same logic applies to Bitwise operators, so they will become <<=, >>=,
>>=, &=, |= and ^=.
Example
Try the following code to implement assignment operator in JavaScript.
34
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a
= 33; var
b = 10;
//-->
</script>
Output
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Miscellaneous Operators
We will discuss two operators here that are quite useful in JavaScript: the
conditional operator (? :) and the typeofoperator.
Conditional Operator (? :)
The conditional operator first evaluates an expression for a true or false value and
then executes one of the two given statements depending upon the result of the
evaluation.
S.No Operator and Description
1 ? : (Conditional )
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a
= 10; var
b = 20;
var linebreak = "<br />";
45
//-->
</script>
Output
((a > b) ? 100 : 200) => 200
((a < b) ? 100 : 200) => 100
Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...
typeof Operator
The typeofoperator is a unary operator that is placed before its single operand,
which can be of any type. Its value is a string indicating the data type of the
operand.
Number "number"
String "string"
Boolean "boolean"
Object "object"
Function "function"
Undefined "undefined"
Null "object"
Example
The following code shows how to implement typeof operator.
<html>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- var a = 10; var b =
"String"; var linebreak
= "<br />";
//-->
</script>
<p>Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...</p></body>
</html>
Output
Result => B is String
Result => A is Numeric
Set the variables to different values and different operators and then
try...
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