Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter Summary
• JavaScript was created in 1995 by Netscape.
• It became popular very quickly and is now considered the language of the Web.
• The browser wars caused many problems for JavaScript and resulted in lots of frag-
mented and code that was hard to maintain.
• The advent of Ajax and its use in web apps such as Gmail and Google Maps promp-
ted a resurgence in JavaScript.
• JavaScript's main environment is the browser, but it doesn't have to be used there.
• You only need a text editor and a browser (or other host environment with a
JavaScript interpreter) to write JavaScript.
• Graceful degradation and progressive enhancement are the process of ensuring that
users receive a decent experience even if they lack some of the requirements.
• Unobtrusive JavaScript is when the JavaScript functionality is separated from the
HTML content and CSS styling.
In the next chapter we're going to start looking at some programming fundamentals―let's
get to it, ninja!
