What is Javascript?
Javascript is the programming language of the web browser, simply put. It allows for functionality that “static” (immovable, not responsive to user input) HTML simply cannot output. Javascript is a way to manipulate the DOM, or (like web document)Document Object Model. This is the framework of a webpage. If you thought of every “piece” (also called elements) of a webpage as separate, sort of like legos, all the legos put together is the overall (Document Object) Model. Now imagine you build a structure out of legos. Wouldn’t it be neat if you could change the colors of the individual bricks? Maybe at timed intervals — to create illustrative effects?
This is kind of how Javascript can interact with your browser. It can “inject” code that’s relevant to you into your browser, such as when you’re logged into Facebook or Twitter and new things come up on your newsfeed. Javascript can also perform functions like simple and complex math, which combined with its power over webpages can result in very artful and functionally useful technology.
Here are a couple of links and resources for what is JavaScript to JavaScript projects which are sweeping the tech world:
There are of course many more projects that are changing the world today, and will certainly be many more to come. These advancements are really important because it helps developers and designers raise the bar on efficiency, speed, and aesthetic enjoyment when using the internet. I bet the web felt much more clunky even 2 years ago to you! Right? That’s what I thought!
What is jQuery and How Does it Affect The Web?
We all use so many different technologies when simply opening a browser, typing something into Google, and pushing enter. Just that action alone uses Javascript (libraries like Jquery, Ajax, and probably many more secret Google ones unbeknownst to me), HTML5, CSS3, HTTP and TCP/IP. Really — there are many more also but for simplicity’s sake I’ll list those 3. I’m going to focus on Jquery primarily here. Although I talked about Jquery in my last article, I thought that it deserved a contribution of it’s own.
What is jQuery?
jQuery is a set of tools made within Javascript (also known as a library) that makes manipulating “pieces” of a webpage (also known as “elements”) much easier. It’s possible to do this with ‘raw’ Javascript, but Jquery compresses commands that might take 20 lines into just one or 2.
Check this out for some really informative JQ examples:
You can check out this awesome book if you want to learn more about Javascript:
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-JavaScript-Developers-Nicholas-Zakas/dp/1118026691
Or these awesome resources
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript (Mozilla actually created Javascript in the 90’s!)