This chapter introduces you to Underscore and explains the main problems addressed by this library together with a quick introduction to functional programming. The chapter describes some of the concepts and patterns that are used by Underscore or are helpful when using Underscore. The final part is a walkthrough to set up the development environment used throughout the book.
The topics covered in this chapter are as follows:
Why Underscore
Getting started with Underscore by example
Key Underscore functions
Functional programming fundamentals
Useful patterns and practices for JavaScript applications targeting ECMAScript 5
Setting up a development workflow to explore Underscore
Testing JavaScript code with Jasmine
The chapter assumes that you know JavaScript programming fundamentals and how to create basic web pages using HTML, CSS, and jQuery.
The source code for all the examples from this chapter is also hosted online on GitHub at https://github.com/popalexandruvasile/underscorejs-examples/tree/master/getting-started.