Book Image

Object-Oriented JavaScript - Second Edition - Second Edition

Book Image

Object-Oriented JavaScript - Second Edition - Second Edition

Overview of this book

JavaScript is the behavior, the third pillar in today's paradigm that looks at web pages as something that consists of clearly distinguishable parts: content (HTML), presentation (CSS) and behavior (JavaScript). Using JavaScript, you can create not only web pages but also desktop widgets, browser and application extensions, and other pieces of software. It's a pretty good deal: you learn one language and then code all kinds of different applications. While there's one chapter specifically dedicated to the web browser environment including DOM, Events and AJAX tutorials, the rest is applicable to the other environments Many web developers have tried coding or adopting some bits of JavaScript, but it is time to "man up" and learn the language properly because it is the language of the browser and is, virtually, everywhere. This book starts from zero, not assuming any prior JavaScript programming knowledge and takes you through all the in-depth and exciting futures hidden behind the facade. Once listed in the "nice to have" sections of job postings, these days the knowledge of JavaScript is a deciding factor when it comes to hiring web developers. After reading this book you'll be prepared to ace your JavaScript job interview and even impress with some bits that the interviewer maybe didn't know. You should read this book if you want to be able to take your JavaScript skills to a new level of sophistication.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Object-Oriented JavaScript Second Edition
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Built-in Functions
Regular Expressions
Index

Coding patterns


Let's start with some patterns that reflect JavaScript's unique features. Some patterns aim to help you organize your code (for example, namespacing), others are related to improving performance (such as lazy definitions and init-time branching), and some make up for missing features such as private properties. The patterns discussed in this section include:

  • Separating behavior

  • Namespaces

  • Init-time branching

  • Lazy definition

  • Configuration objects

  • Private variables and methods

  • Privileged methods

  • Private functions as public methods

  • Immediate functions

  • Chaining

  • JSON

Separating behavior

As discussed previously, the three building blocks of a web page are as follows:

  • Content (HTML)

  • Presentation (CSS)

  • Behavior (JavaScript)

Content

HTML is the content of the web page, the actual text. Ideally, the content should be marked up using the least amount of HTML tags that sufficiently describe the semantic meaning of that content. For example, if you're working on a navigation menu it's a good idea to use...