Chapter 1 Summary

In chapter one of Head First JavaScript I learned about alerts, events, and functions. I also learned some basic ingredients of interactivity - onclick and onload. I am unclear what "var" means (though I know it's important in the code) and am looking forward to learning this later in the text.

The next chapter is entitled "storing data" so it seems a little more important than how to annoy users with an automatic greeting on page load. I'll let you all know how it goes.

(edited to add: variable is explained on page 44)

Javascript, Part 1: Buying a Book

After reading through a few internet tutorials, I decided it would be best for me to buy a beginners book to at least get a few of the basic concepts of programming down. I looked at quite a few books and settled on Head First Javascript.

I chose this book for a variety of reasons. At first, I was put off but how picture-heavy it was. It looked like it was designed for a kindergartner, practically. But then I realized that being such a right-brained thinker, a tutorial like this could be extremely helpful... at least to get started. Most programming books are impossible to grok. This one seemed like a good place to start, at least. And reviews on Amazon say pretty much just that... "If you are taking a class in javascript or want to know how to make your web pages more interactive, this is a great introduction to javascript."

After reading through the intro, I now understand that all those silly pictures have a purpose in the Head First series. The book style is supposedly designed for "learning" based on education theory. They encourage all sorts of tricks that helps you understand and *remember* what you learn. One of those tricks is reading your work out loud, and doing the examples. So, I'm adding in my own twist and sharing what I learn with the interwebs. I'll start with chapter one.