JavaScript Introduction

JavaScript is the most popular scripting language on the internet, and works in all major browsers, such as
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari.

What is JavaScript?
JavaScript was designed to add interactivity to HTML pages
JavaScript is a scripting language
A scripting language is a lightweight programming language
JavaScript is usually embedded directly into HTML pages
JavaScript is an interpreted language (means that scripts execute without preliminary compilation)
Everyone can use JavaScript without purchasing a license

Are Java and JavaScript the same?

NO!
Java and JavaScript are two completely different languages in both concept and design!
Java (developed by Sun Microsystems) is a powerful and much more complex programming language - in the
same category as C and C++.

What can a JavaScript do?

JavaScript gives HTML designers a programming tool
HTML authors are normally not programmers, but JavaScript is a scripting language with a very simple
syntax! Almost anyone can put small "snippets" of code into their HTML pages
JavaScript can put dynamic text into an HTML page
A JavaScript statement like this: document.write("<h1>" + name + "</h1>") can write a variable text into an
HTML page
JavaScript can react to events
A JavaScript can be set to execute when something happens, like when a page has finished loading or
when a user clicks on an HTML element
JavaScript can read and write HTML elements
A JavaScript can read and change the content of an HTML element
JavaScript can be used to validate data
A JavaScript can be used to validate form data before it is submitted to a server. This saves the server from
extra processing
JavaScript can be used to detect the visitor's browser
A JavaScript can be used to detect the visitor's browser, and - depending on the browser - load another
page specifically designed for that browser
JavaScript can be used to create cookies
A JavaScript can be used to store and retrieve information on the visitor's computer
Features
The following features are common to all conforming ECMAScript (JavaScript is an implementation of the
ECMAScript language standard) implementations, unless explicitly specified otherwise.

Imperative and structured

JavaScript supports all the structured programming syntax in C (e.g., if statements, while loops, switch statements, etc.). One

partial exception is scoping: C-style block-level scoping is not supported (instead, JavaScript has function-level scoping). JavaScript

1.7, however, supports block-level scoping with the let keyword. Like C, JavaScript makes a distinction between expressions and

statements. One syntactic difference from C is automatic semicolon insertion, in which the semicolons that terminate statements

can be omitted.

Dynamic

dynamic typing

As in most scripting languages, types are associated with values, not variables. For example, a variable x could be bound to a

number, then later rebound to a string. JavaScript supports various ways to test the type of an object, including duck typing.

object based

JavaScript is almost entirely object-based. JavaScript objects are associative arrays, augmented with prototypes (see below).

Object property names are string keys: obj.x = 10 and obj["x"] = 10 are equivalent, the dot notation being syntactic sugar.

Properties and their values can be added, changed, or deleted at run-time. Most properties of an object (and those on its

prototype inheritance chain) can be enumerated using a for...in loop. JavaScript has a small number of built-in objects such as

Function and Date.

run-time evaluation

JavaScript includes an eval function that can execute statements provided as strings at run-time.

Functional

first-class functions

Functions are first-class; they are objects themselves. As such, they have properties and can be passed around and

interacted with like any other object.

inner functions and closures

Inner functions (functions defined within other functions) are created each time the outer function is invoked, and variables of

the outer functions for that invocation continue to exist as long as the inner functions still exist, even after that invocation is

finished (e.g. if the inner function was returned, it still has access to the outer function's variables) — this is the mechanism

behind closures within JavaScript.

Prototype-based

prototypes

JavaScript uses prototypes instead of classes for inheritance. It is possible to simulate many class-based features with

prototypes in JavaScript.

functions as object constructors

Functions double as object constructors along with their typical role. Prefixing a function call with new creates a new object

and calls that function with its local this keyword bound to that object for that invocation. The constructor's prototype property

determines the object used for the new object's internal prototype. JavaScript's built-in constructors, such as Array, also have

prototypes that can be modified.

functions as methods
 Unlike many object-oriented languages, there is no distinction between a function definition and a method definition. Rather,

the distinction occurs during function calling; a function can be called as a method. When a function is called as a method of

an object, the function's local this keyword is bound to that object for that invocation.

Miscellaneous

run-time environment

JavaScript typically relies on a run-time environment (e.g. in a web browser) to provide objects and methods by which scripts

can interact with "the outside world". In fact, it relies on the environment to provide the ability to include/import scripts (e.g.

HTML <script> elements). (This is not a language feature per se, but it is common in most JavaScript implementations.)

variadic functions

An indefinite number of parameters can be passed to a function. The function can access them through formal parameters

and also through the local arguments object.

array and object literals

Like many scripting languages, arrays and objects (associative arrays in other languages) can each be created with a succinct

shortcut syntax. In fact, these literals form the basis of the JSON data format.

regular expressions

JavaScript also supports regular expressions in a manner similar to Perl, which provide a concise and powerful syntax for text

manipulation that is more sophisticated than the built-in string functions.

Vendor-specific extensions

JavaScript is officially managed by Mozilla Foundation, and new language features are added periodically. However, only some

non-Mozilla JavaScript engines support these new features:

property getter and setter functions (also supported by WebKit, Opera, ActionScript, and Rhino)

conditional catch clauses

iterator protocol adopted from Python

shallow generators/coroutines also adopted from Python

array comprehensions and generator expressions also adopted from Python

proper block scope via new let keyword

array and object destructuring (limited form of pattern matching)

concise function expressions (function(args) expr)

ECMAScript for XML (E4X), an extension that adds native XML support to ECMAScript