IT3215 Introduction to JavaScript
Unit 01 Discussion
DQ1 Getting
Started With JavaScript
JavaScript
has been one of the most popular scripting languages for dynamic interactivity.
It is a completely different language from HTML5 and CSS3, and it can be
challenging for those without programming experience to begin. Research and
describe some tips for someone new to JavaScript to get started. In particular,
focus on at least two of the following points while providing sample code (with
comments) for each:
Explain how
different browsers handle JavaScript code. What considerations must be made
when developing for different browsers?
Describe
the use of JavaScript comments, including the process of "commenting
out" portions of JavaScript code.
Explain the
primary rules for creating a JavaScript identifier.
Explain the
use of variable declarations and assignment statements with numeric, string,
and Boolean data.
Explain the
syntax for referring to a method or property of an object.
Explain the
issue of cross-browser compatibility as it relates to JavaScript code.
Describe
the creation and use of event handlers, including an event handler for the load
event of the window object and how the HTML and JavaScript sections work
together using the DOM.
Describe
how the process flow for form submissions works between HTML, JavaScript, and a
server-side language like PHP.
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the post of at least two other learners. Offer insights, solutions, examples,
or opinions that add depth and value to the conversation.
Note
regarding discussions in this course: The discussion topic should determine the
length of your post, however, a minimum of 150 words is recommended. Refer to
the Discussion Participation Scoring Guide for post expectations. Make your
initial posts by Wednesday to allow time sufficient for peers to respond. The
expectation within the course discussions is to respond to at least two posts
by the end of the unit, but it is highly recommended that you extend the dialog
further. Responding over multiple days will help stimulate a lively discussion.
Learning
Components
This
activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
Study the
different variable data types.
Examine the
process flow of form submissions.
Understand
the basic concepts of the DOM and how HTML and the JavaScript sections of the
DOM work together.
View
examples of effective JavaScript comments that describe and explain variables
and functions.
Resources
Discussion
Participation Scoring Guide.
Toggle
Drawer
DQ2 Challenges
to Using Variables in a Form
Note: The
second discussion in each unit of this course is dedicated to community sharing
of challenges and solutions encountered while completing your weekly
assignment. You are encouraged to post and respond early in the week to share
experiences that you are having, and to help others with theirs. This is how
coders solve tough issues: they rely on one another!
Creating
and employing variables for the first time can be tricky. Putting them in a
form can make it even tougher. For some it is very intuitive; for others, less
so.
Discuss one
or more of the challenges or experiences that you encountered when trying to
complete this week's assignment. How did you try to address it or solve it?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the post of at least two other learners. Share suggestions to help your fellow
learners address their challenges.
Resources
IT3215 Introduction to JavaScript
Unit 02 Discussion
DQ1 Arrays,
Loops, and the DOM
You have
learned about working with the DOM with CSS, but you can also work with the DOM
using JavaScript. You will be able to alter and manipulate the DOM dynamically
with JavaScript to extend basic JavaScript functionality by using loops,
events, controls, arrays, and functions. Research and describe some tips for
someone new to JavaScript to get started. In particular, focus on at least two
of the following points while providing sample code (with comments) for each:
Explain how
arrays and loops be utilized effectively together versus separate variable
declarations.
Describe
the flow of control for while, do-while, and for loops.
Describe
the use of a JavaScript array, including the use of its index and length
property.
Describe
these methods for working with forms and controls: submit, reset, focus, blur.
Describe
the use of the Document Object Model in JavaScript applications.
Describe
these events for working with controls: onfocus, onblur, onclick, ondblclick,
onchange, onselect.
Describe
the process of creating and adding nodes to the DOM, including adding rows and
cells to a DOM table.
Distinguish
between a function expression and a function declaration, including which one can
be called before it is defined.
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the post of at least two other learners. Offer insights, solutions, examples or
opinions that add depth and value to the conversation.
Learning
Components
This
activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
Understand
how to dynamically add HTML elements to an existing page by manipulating the
DOM.
Examine
when arrays are utilized.
View
examples of effective JavaScript comments that describe and explain variables
and functions.
Know the
difference between an array and a variable.
Understand
the different types of loops.
Resources
Discussion
Participation Scoring Guide.
Toggle
Drawer
DQ2 Challenges
to Arrays and Loops
Note: The
second discussion in each unit of this course is dedicated to community sharing
of challenges and solutions you have encountered while completing your weekly
assignment. You are encouraged to post and respond early in the week to share
experiences that you are having and to help others with theirs. This is how
coders solve tough issues: they rely on one another!
Creating
and employing arrays and loops can be challenging. For some it is very intuitive;
for others, less so.
Discuss one
or more of the challenges or experiences that you encountered when trying to
complete the assignment this week. How did you try to address it or solve it?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the post of at least two other learners. Share suggestions to help them address
their challenges.
IT3215 Introduction to JavaScript
Unit 03 Discussion
DQ1 Events,
Dynamic Images, and Modularization
The ability
to animate graphics with JavaScript has resulted in increased interactivity of
Web sites. As we add more functionality into our scripts, it is important that
we take the time to modularize our code to make it more efficient. We want to
ensure our functions are split up for reuse.
Research
and describe some tips and suggestions for someone new to JavaScript to get
started. In particular, focus on at least two of the following points while
providing sample code (with comments) of each
Explain
which events and methods we can use to handle user interaction with images.
Distinguish
among HTML events, mouse events, and keyboard events.
Describe
the use of cross-browser compatible functions or methods for attaching and
detaching event handlers.
Describe
the use of images and preloaded images in applications like image rollovers and
slide shows.
Describe
setTimeout, setInterval, clearTimeout, and clearInterval.
Explain why
modularizing a program makes it more efficient.
Identify
the advantages and disadvantages of modularization.
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the posts of at least two other learners, offering insights, solutions,
examples, or opinions that add depth and value to the conversation.
Learning
Components
This
activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
View
examples of effective JavaScript comments that describe and explain variables
and functions.
Examine how
JavaScript functions can assist in creating fast-loading image galleries.
Understand
the use of the settimeout function.
Understand
principles of modular code.
Understand
JavaScript timers including how the setInterval timer is used.
Resources
Discussion
Participation Scoring Guide.
Toggle
Drawer
DQ2 Challenges
With Dynamic Images, Events, and the DOM
Note: The
second discussion in each unit of this course is dedicated to community sharing
of challenges and solutions you have encountered while completing your weekly
assignment. You are encouraged to post and respond early in the week to share
experiences that you are having, and to help others with theirs. This is how
coders solve tough issues: they rely on one another!
Dynamic
images and events can make a Web page pop. For some, creating this interactivity
is a snap; for others it can be a bit of a challenge.
Discuss one
or more of the challenges or experiences that you encountered when trying to
complete this week's assignment. How did you try to address it or solve it?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the post of at least two other learners. Share suggestions to help the posters
address their challenges.
Resources
IT3215 Introduction to JavaScript
Unit 04 Discussion
DQ1
Validating Form Input Data
Working
with and processing bad data generally means that a lot of work will have to be
done to clean up the data on the back end. To avoid the processing of bad or
incorrect data, we incorporate form validation into our Web pages. There are
numerous levels of data validation, from ensuring that input fields are not
empty to ensuring the user data entered conforms to a specified format.
Research
and describe some tips for someone new to JavaScript to get started. In
particular, focus on at least two of the following points while providing sample
code (with comments) of each:
How can we
set the focus to certain form elements? How do you check for empty input
fields?
What is the
purpose of using client-side validation versus server-side validation? Explain.
How does a
JavaScript function validate numeric and alphabetic inputs in specific fields?
How are
regular expressions used to match patterns with strings?
How can a
regular expression be used to validate data such as a Social Security number?
Under which
circumstances would you use a validation loop?
Why is
client-side validation prior to sending data to the server important?
What is the
potential problem of overly specific form validation?
How are the
+ operator and the \n escape sequence used when working with strings to
manipulate the DOM to add messages for errors?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the posts of at least two other learners. Offer insights, solutions, examples,
or opinions that add depth and value to the conversation.
Learning
Components
This
activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
Understand
how to set focus to certain form elements.
View
examples of effective JavaScript comments that describe and explain variables
and functions.
Understand
how to check for empty input fields.
Understand
how a JavaScript function validates numeric and alphabetic inputs in specific
fields.
Resources
Discussion
Participation Scoring Guide.
Toggle
Drawer
DQ2 Challenges
With Form Field Validation and Error Messages
Note: The
second discussion in each unit of this course is dedicated to community sharing
of challenges and solutions you have encountered while completing your weekly
assignment. You are encouraged to post and respond early in the week to share
experiences that you are having, and to help others with theirs. This is how
coders solve tough issues: they rely on one another!
Field
validation and its associated error messages are at the heart of creating an
effective form. It is important to both understand what information is required
in a form (and in which format), and anticipate the user's experience.
Discuss one
or more of the challenges or experiences that you encountered when trying to
complete this week's assignment. How did you try to address it or solve it?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the posts of at least two other learners. Share suggestions to help them
address their challenges.
Resources
IT3215 Introduction to JavaScript
Unit 05 Discussion
DQ1 Cookies:
Storing and Passing Information
On their
own, HTML and CSS are unable to store user information, so once the Web browser
is closed, any user information is lost. Cookies, Web storage, and sessions are
workarounds for this shortcoming. Research and describe some tips for someone
new to JavaScript to get begin to work with user information storage. In
particular, focus on at least two of the following points while providing
sample code (with comments) of each:
o Identify which storage situations
would be best resolved with sessions, local storage, and cookies to store
persistent data.
o Distinguish among session storage,
local storage, and cookies.
o Describe how to create, read, and
delete cookies with the document.cookie property.
o Explain how to parse a cookie
string.
o Describe the visibility, scope, and
lifetime of a cookie.
o Explain how cookies can create a
customized user experience.
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the posts of at least two other learners. Offer insights, solutions, examples,
or opinions that add depth and value to the conversation.
Learning
Components
This
activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
o Examine how to store, retrieve, and
pass data through query strings.
o Examine how to dynamically store
data into hidden input fields.
o View examples of effective
JavaScript comments that describe and explain variables and functions.
o Understand how to store data and
retrieve data from cookies.
Resources
o Discussion Participation Scoring
Guide.
• Toggle Drawer
DQ2 Challenges
with Query String and Storing Persistent Information
Note: The
second discussion in each unit of this course is dedicated to community sharing
of challenges and solutions you have encountered while completing your weekly
assignment. You are encouraged to post and respond early in the week to share
experiences that you are having, and to help others with theirs. This is how
coders solve tough issues: they rely on one another!
Modern Web
sites rely increasingly on processing queries. Saving that data and passing it
along to other Web pages is just as important.
Discuss one
or more of the challenges or experiences that you encountered when trying to
complete this week's assignment. How did you try to address it or solve it?
Response
Guidelines
Comment on
the posts of at least two other learners. Share suggestions to help them
address their challenges.
Resources
o Discussion Participation Scoring
Guide.
• Toggle Drawer
Updates and Handouts
Periodically,
information will be posted in this space for the good of the class.
• Toggle Drawer
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