jQuery in Action
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Audience
This book is aimed at novice to advanced web developers who want to take con-
trol of the JavaScript on their pages and produce great, interactive Rich Internet
Applications without the need to write all the client-side code necessary to
achieve such applications from scratch.
trol of the JavaScript on their pages and produce great, interactive Rich Internet
Applications without the need to write all the client-side code necessary to
achieve such applications from scratch.
All web developers who yearn to create usable web applications that delight,
rather than annoy, their users by leveraging the power that jQuery brings to
them will benefit from this book.
them will benefit from this book.
Although novice web developers may find some sections a tad involved, this
should not deter them from diving into this book. We've included an appendix
on essential JavaScript concepts that help in using jQuery to its fullest potential,
and such readers will find that the jQuery library itself is novice-friendly once
they understand a few key concepts--all without sacrificing the power available
to the more advanced web developers.
on essential JavaScript concepts that help in using jQuery to its fullest potential,
and such readers will find that the jQuery library itself is novice-friendly once
they understand a few key concepts--all without sacrificing the power available
to the more advanced web developers.
Whether novices or veterans of web development, client-side programmers
will benefit greatly from adding jQuery to their repertoire of development tools.
We know that the lessons within this book will help add this knowledge to your
toolbox quickly.
We know that the lessons within this book will help add this knowledge to your
toolbox quickly.
Roadmap
This book is organized to help you wrap your head around jQuery in the quick-
est and most efficient manner possible. It starts with an introduction to the
design philosophies on which jQuery was founded and quickly progresses to fun-
damental concepts that govern the jQuery
est and most efficient manner possible. It starts with an introduction to the
design philosophies on which jQuery was founded and quickly progresses to fun-
damental concepts that govern the jQuery
API
. We then take you through the
various areas in which jQuery can help you write fabulous client-side code, from
the handling of events all the way to making Ajax requests to the server. To top it
all off, we take a survey of some of the most popular jQuery extensions.
the handling of events all the way to making Ajax requests to the server. To top it
all off, we take a survey of some of the most popular jQuery extensions.
In chapter 1, we'll learn about the philosophy behind jQuery and how it
adheres to modern principles such as Unobtrusive JavaScript. We examine why
we might want to adopt jQuery and run through an overview of how it works, as
well as the major concepts such as document-ready handlers, utility functions,
Document Object Model (
we might want to adopt jQuery and run through an overview of how it works, as
well as the major concepts such as document-ready handlers, utility functions,
Document Object Model (
DOM
) element creation, and how jQuery extensions
are created.
Chapter 2 introduces us to the concept of the jQuery wrapped set--the core
concept around which jQuery operates. We'll learn how this wrapped set--a col-
lection of
lection of
DOM
elements that's to be operated upon--can be created by selecting
elements from the page document using the rich and powerful collection of