JavaScript/jQuery Training Outline

• Introducing JavaScript
  • Evolution of JavaScript since 1996
  • Current uses of JavaScript in web applications
• Where JavaScript goes
  • Placing JavaScript code in separate .js files
  • Using unobtrusive JavaScript principles to separate event handlers from HTML
• JavaScript language fundamentals
  • Statements
  • Variables and data types
  • Operators (for both numbers and strings)
  • Conditionals (if-else if-else and switch-case)
  • Loops (while, do-while, for)
  • Functions
    • Creating functions
    • Calling functions
    • Returning values
• Understanding JavaScript objects
  • The role of objects in JavaScript programming
  • Working with methods and properties
  • The JavaScript object hierarchy
  • The implicit window object
  • Event handlers
• JavaScript with forms
  • How forms fit into the JavaScript DOM
  • Setting focus on a specific field
  • Blocking a field from being edited
  • Setting field values based on user input
  • Basic validation: requiring field values to be filled in
  • Handling calculations within forms (useful for totaling orders and other quantitative form operations)
    • Includes a discussion of the Math object, which provides useful methods for making calculations
• JavaScript with links and images
  • Using onMouseOver and onMouseOut to detect the presence of the mouse
  • Using onClick to process clicks on hyperlinks
  • Having hyperlinks call functions via javascript: URLs
  • Conditionally navigating the user to a page when they click a link
  • Dynamically swapping one or more images on a page based on the position of the mouse
• JavaScript for navigation
  • Overview of the history and location objects
  • Building a jump menu (a pulldown menu that takes the user to a page based on their selection)
  • Navigating the user to a specific page based on their input in a form
• JavaScript for pop-up help
  • Pros and cons of having JavaScript open another window
  • Generating and sizing a new (child) window via JavaScript
  • Communication between the child window and the parent window
  • Implementing attractive pop-up help or information windows using JavaScript
• Advanced form validation with regular expressions
  • Overview of regular expressions as a powerful language for validating form submissions
    • Note: Regular expressions are supported by almost all major programming languages -- learning them in this class will be a boon to students who will later learn other languages
  • Using the RegExp object in JavaScript
    • To test whether a string matches a pattern
    • To extract pieces of a string (e.g., the month, day, and year from a date the user has entered)
    • To clean up illegal characters the user has entered
• Getting Started with jQuery
  • Downloading the Most Recent Version of jQuery
  • Using jQuery with Other Libraries
  • Starting Processing When the DOM Tree is Ready
  • jQuery Utility Functions
• Forming Wrapped Sets with jQuery Selectors
  • CSS Selectors
  • Hierarchical Selectors
  • Basic Filters
  • Content Filters
  • Visibility Filters
  • Attribute Filters
  • Child-Specific Filters
  • Form Element Filters
  • Additional Wrapped Set Methods
• Event-Driven Programming with jQuery
  • Event Helpers
  • Interaction Helpers: toggle() and hover()
  • jQuery Event Objects
  • jQuery Live Events
• jQuery and Ajax
  • The load() Wrapped Set Method
  • Basic Ajax Requests with $.get() and $.post()
  • $.getJSON() and $.get Script()
  • Exercising Complete Control with $.ajax()
  • Global Ajax Events
  • Ajax Helper Methods
• Developing jQuery Plugins
  • Best Practices
  • Utility Function Plugins
  • Wrapped Set Method Plugins
  • Providing Default Argument Values