Free eBook - Basic JavaScript Programming

One thing I learned as an Electronics Engineer is to substitute software for hardware as much as possible. Why? Because software is cheaper and easier to modify. At some point though, you find a limit to how much hardware you can replace with software. For one thing, eventually you have to interface with the real world. For another thing, only hardware can achieve the highest operating speeds. What does this have to do with JavaScript?

One thing I learned as a Web Programmer is to substitute client side processing for server side processing as much as possible. Why? Because client side processing takes the load off the server and distributes it among the client systems. Before JavaScript, all processing was done on the server side. If one client was using your Web site the server had one processing operation. If a thousand clients were using your Web site the server had a thousand times as much processing.

With client side JavaScript, all the server does is send the Web page to the client. If a thousand clients are using your Web site, the server doesn't have much more processing to do than if just one client is using your Web site. Instead a thousand processes are distributed to client systems.

At some point though, you find a limit to how much processing you can push off to the client. For one thing, eventually the server has to processes requests sent from the client. For another thing, it's difficult and unreliable for a Web site to store information on a client.

Maybe you are not ready to tackle the concept of trade offs between server side processing and client side processing. The point that I am trying to make is that client side processing is very important.

There are other proprietary methods of performing client side processing, like VBScript, ActiveX, and Java. But all these methods either require a plug-in or they don't work in all browsers. Only JavaScript is built-in to all modern browsers. The only practical way to accomplish client side processing is with JavaScript. That's why JavaScript is the most popular language for programming the Web.

JavaScript is an amazingly eloquent and cooperative language. It's easy to learn, easy to use, and easy to debug. If you have been experimenting with HTML, now is the time to start using the power of JavaScript to make your Web pages dynamic.

With JavaScript you can turn a Web page into a powerful multimedia application or even into a database application. And you can do it without a complicated compiler. All you need is a simple ASCII text pad and your favorite Web browser. So lets proceed now to put the power of JavaScript into your hands.

This popular free eBook has been moved to the Easy Java Script Code section. Click here to go to the Easy Java Script Code section.