You will first be introduced to object-oriented programming, then to the basics of objects in JavaScript. This book takes a do-it-yourself approach when it comes to writing code, because the best way to really learn a programming language is by writing code. You are encouraged to type code into Firebug's console, see how it works and then tweak it and play around with it. There are practice questions at the end of each chapter to help you review what you have learned.For new to intermediate JavaScript developer who wants to prepare themselves for web development problems solved by smart JavaScript!

Table of Contents:
Preface Chapter 1: Object-oriented JavaScript Chapter 2: Primitive Data Types, Arrays, Loops, and Conditions Chapter 3: Functions Chapter 4: Objects Chapter 5: Prototype Chapter 6: Inheritance Chapter 7: The Browser Environment Chapter 8: Coding and Design Patterns Appendix A: Reserved Words Appendix B: Built-in Functions Appendix C: Built-in Objects Appendix D: Regular Expressions Index Preface Up Chapter 1: Object-oriented JavaScript A bit of history Browser wars and renaissance The present The future ECMAScript 5 Object-oriented programming Objects Classes Encapsulation Aggregation Inheritance Polymorphism OOP summary Setting up your training environment WebKit's Web Inspector JavaScriptCore on a Mac More consoles Summary Up Chapter 2: Primitive Data Types, Arrays, Loops, and Conditions Variables Variables are case sensitive Operators Primitive data types Finding out the value type the typeof operator Numbers Octal and hexadecimal numbers Exponent literals Infinity NaN Strings String conversions Special strings Booleans Logical operators Operator precedence Lazy evaluation Comparison Undefined and null Primitive data types recap Arrays Adding/updating array elements Deleting elements Arrays of arrays Conditions and loops The if condition The else clause Code blocks Checking if a variable exists Alternative if syntax Switch Loops While loops Do-while loops For loops For-in loops Comments Summary Exercises Up Chapter 3: Functions What is a function? Calling a function Parameters Predefined functions parseInt() parseFloat() isNaN() isFinite() eval() Scope of variables Variable hoisting Functions are data Anonymous functions Callback functions Callback examples Immediate functions Inner (private) functions Functions that return functions Function, rewrite thyself! Closures Scope chain Breaking the chain with a closure Closure #1 Closure #2 A definition and closure #3 Closures in a loop Getter/setter Iterator Summary Exercises Up Chapter 4: Objects From arrays to objects Elements, properties, methods, and members Hashes and associative arrays Accessing an object's properties Calling an object's methods Altering properties/methods Using the this value Constructor functions The global object The constructor property The instanceof operator Functions that return objects Passing objects Comparing objects Objects in the WebKit console console.log Built-in objects Object Array A few array methods Function Properties of function objects Methods of function objects The arguments object revisited Inferring object types Boolean Number String A few methods of string objects Math Date Methods to work with date objects RegExp Properties of RegExp objects Methods of RegExp objects String methods that accept regular expressions as arguments search() and match() replace() Replace callbacks split() Passing a string when a RegExp is expected Error objects Summary Exercises Up Chapter 5: Prototype The prototype property Adding methods and properties using the prototype Using the prototype's methods and properties Own properties versus prototype properties Overwriting a prototype's property with an own property Enumerating properties isPrototypeOf() The secret __proto__ link Augmenting built-in objects Augmenting built-in objects discussion Prototype gotchas Summary Exercises Up Chapter 6: Inheritance Prototype chaining Prototype chaining example Moving shared properties to the prototype Inheriting the prototype only A temporary constructor new F() Uber access to the parent from a child object Isolating the inheritance part into a function Copying properties Heads-up when copying by reference Objects inherit from objects Deep copy object() Using a mix of prototypal inheritance and copying properties Multiple inheritance Mixins Parasitic inheritance Borrowing a constructor Borrow a constructor and copy its prototype Summary Case study drawing shapes Analysis Implementation Testing Exercises Up Chapter 7: The Browser Environment Including JavaScript in an HTML page BOM and DOM an overview BOM The window object revisited window.navigator Your console is a cheat sheet window.location window.history window.frames window.screen window.open()/close() window.moveTo() and window.resizeTo() window.alert(), window.prompt(), and window.confirm() window.setTimeout() and window.setInterval() window.document DOM Core DOM and HTML DOM Accessing DOM nodes The document node documentElement Child nodes Attributes Accessing the content inside a tag DOM access shortcuts Siblings, body, first, and last child Walk the DOM Modifying DOM nodes Modifying styles Fun with forms Creating new nodes DOM-only method cloneNode() insertBefore() Removing nodes HTML-only DOM objects Primitive ways to access the document document.write() Cookies, title, referrer, domain Events Inline HTML attributes Element Properties DOM event listeners Capturing and bubbling Stop propagation Prevent default behavior Cross-browser event listeners Types of events XMLHttpRequest Sending the request Processing the response Creating XMLHttpRequest objects in IE prior to Version 7 A is for Asynchronous X is for XML An example Summary Exercises Up Chapter 8: Coding and Design Patterns Coding patterns Separating behavior Content Presentation Behavior Example of separating behavior Asynchronous JavaScript loading Namespaces An Object as a namespace Namespaced constructors A namespace() method Init-time branching Lazy definition Configuration object Private properties and methods Privileged methods Private functions as public methods Immediate functions Modules Chaining JSON Design patterns Singleton Singleton 2 Global variable Property of the Constructor In a private property Factory Decorator Decorating a Christmas tree Observer Summary Up Appendix A: Reserved Words Keywords Future reserved words Previously reserved words Up Appendix B: Built-in Functions Up Appendix C: Built-in Objects Object Members of the Object constructor The Object.prototype members ECMAScript 5 additions to Object Array The Array.prototype members ECMAScript 5 additions to Array Function The Function.prototype members ECMAScript 5 additions to a function Boolean Number Members of the Number constructor The Number.prototype members String Members of the String constructor The String.prototype members ECMAScript 5 additions to String Date Members of the Date constructor The Date.prototype members ECMAScript 5 additions to Date Math Members of the Math object RegExp The RegExp.prototype members Error objects The Error.prototype members JSON Members of the JSON object Up Appendix D: Regular Expressions