Over the course of 21 episodes, you will paught the fundamentals of Javascript programming. Tune in to learn concepts applicable to web based videogames, enhanced user interfaces, and dynamic web pages.
Walk you through getting the tools, writing code, and much more! Each concept is broken into its own video so you can search for and focus on the information you need.
01 - Series Introduction
In this introductory video, Bob sets some high-level goals and explains how JavaScript is used in web development as well as how to get the most out of this video series.
02 - Writing your First JavaScript Application
We get started by setting up our development environment and an HTML5 template webpage before building a simple 'Hello World' example. Then we create a more interesting example discussed at length in the next lesson.
03 - Dissecting the First JavaScript Application You Wrote
In the previous video, Bob created an interesting JavaScript example, and in this video he walks through the example line by line, explaining the purpose of the various key words and operators and providing a general overview of topics for the next eight lessons.
04 - Writing JavaScript in Visual Web Developer Express Edition
Before discussing JavaScript proper, Bob demonstrates how to ease JavaScript development by downloading, installing, and utilizing the free Visual Web Developer Express Edition from Microsoft.
05 - JavaScript Variables, Types, Operators, and Expressions
Most programming languages have a notion of variables, data types, and syntax rules including statements, expressions, operators, keywords, and operands. In this video, Bob provides a quick overview of the most important topics related to basic syntax rules. He explains how JavaScript variables and types are different than those in other programming languages, explaining the purpose of "undefined." Finally, he shows how to use escape sequences in string literals.
06 - Conditional Logic in JavaScript
In this lesson, Bob demonstrates the use of the if ... else if statement, the ternary (or conditional) operator, and the case ... select statements. Along the way, we learn about the && and || operators as well as the Date object in JavaScript.
07 - JavaScript Functions
Functions are central to JavaScript, much in the same way classes are central to Object Oriented Programming languages like Visual Basic or C#. In this lesson, Bob demonstrates the basics of creating and calling functions, passing arguments, using the arguments object, and creating function literals as well as anonymous functions.
08 - JavaScript Arrays
You can think of arrays as variables that hold other variables. In this lesson, Bob demonstrates how to create, initialize, and retrieve elements of arrays using indexes. He also demonstrates how to loop through all elements in an array (foreshadowing the topic of the next lesson) and how to create associative arrays.
09 - Looping Statements in JavaScript
Looping (or rather, iteration) statements allow your application to individually access each item in an array or other collection of object properties. In this lesson we demonstrate four different looping statements pointing out the nuanced differences between each: the while, do ... while, for, and for ... in.
10 - Understanding Function versus Global Scope
One often misunderstood topic that leads to errors in programs is how JavaScript treats variables declared inside and outside of functions. This video explains the ramifications of variable scope at both the functional and global levels. For developers coming from other programming languages, it demonstrates how your familiarity with block scope will lead you to erroneous conclusions about JavaScript's functional and global scope. Also briefly discussed is the notion of hoisting in JavaScript.
11 - Working with External JavaScript Files
Up to now, we've been mixing our JavaScript with our HTML5 code. However, to write better organized and more accessible applications, we must learn a new technique -- how (and why) to reference external JavaScript files.
12 - Organizing and Simplifying JavaScript with Object Literals
Developers coming from Object Oriented Programming backgrounds may notice similar constructs (objects, the new keyword, etc.), but in JavaScript these ideas are implemented much differently. This video demonstrates the creation of simple objects called "object literals" to keep related properties and functions (methods) together in one structure. Finally, Bob demonstrates using constructors and the new keyword to show how different these ideas are from other programming languages.
13 - Understanding the Document Object Model
In this video, we discuss the Document Object Model, explaining how the web browser parses and creates the DOM from HTML5 code, the purpose of the window and document objects, the built-in API functions for accessing parts of the DOM, and more.
14 - Getting Started with jQuery
We've said several times how jQuery helps smooth over JavaScript's rough edges. In this lesson, Bob shows how to include and reference the jQuery library in your web page as well as explaining how to get a reference to the jQuery object, demonstrating the use of the .ready method as a means of bootstrapping the onload event, and more.
15 - jQuery Selectors
jQuery utilizes CSS3 style selectors to access DOM objects. This video demonstrates both simple and more advanced uses of jQuery selectors to help you get creative when selecting DOM elements as well as discussing where to go when you want to pack more selectors into your arsenal.
16 - jQuery Events
This lesson shows how to utilize jQuery Events to create a simple game by writing and attaching anonymous functions to events fired on a web page.
17 - Installing and Utilizing jQuery Plugins
jQuery Plugins are like mini-libraries of code that provide some extra functionality. There are thousands of jQuery Plugins available—most of them provide some user interface widget to display information or retrieve input in creative ways. In this lesson, Bob demonstrates the use of the jQueryUI Plugins from the jQuery team as a means of showing how to include and use jQuery Plugins in your web applications.
18 - Unobtrusive JavaScript
Writing unobtrusive JavaScript is considered a best practice by most developers. In this lesson Bob explains some core ideas as well as three techniques that can help you write code to make your JavaScript application more accessible and maintainable while avoiding errors.
19 - Using jQuery to Retrieve JSON via AJAX
AJAX allows web pages and web servers to communicate without requiring a full page refresh. JSON is a data format that closely resembles object literals in JavaScript. Most modern web applications utilize some form of AJAX and in this lesson we demonstrate how easy it is to do so via jQuery.
20 - Fundamentals of JavaScript Closures
Closures are a slightly advanced topic, but are at the core simply a means by which you can marry a function along with its environment variables and input parameters. This video demonstrates the basics of closures as a first step toward mastering this important structure in JavaScript.
21 - Series Wrap-Up
In this last video, Bob provides a road-map of additional topics that you may want to investigate in order to round out your budding expertise in JavaScript. Bob also suggests (since many people ask) a list of books that might prove helpful as you to take your JavaScript knowledge to the next level.
