Before we can begin a detailed discussion of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript, you need to have an understanding of some of the fundamental HTML, CSS, and JavaScript concepts. This chapter has provided just that, but you will need to continue learning many additional concepts related to these topics. Right now you know just enough to be dangerous.
The visual appearance of your application is defined through the HTML and CSS code that you develop, while its functionality is controlled using JavaScript. These are very different skill sets and many people are good at one but not necessarily the other. Most application developers will focus on developing the functionality of the application through JavaScript and leave HTML and CSS to the designers! Nevertheless it is important that you have a good understanding of at least the basic concepts of all these topics. In the next chapter, we'll dive into the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and begin learning how to create the Map object and add dynamic and tiled map service layers to the map.