Learn How to Program Using Any Web Browser - Softcover

Davis, Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590591135 ISBN 13: 9781590591130

Publisher: Apress, 2003

Synopsis

This is a book about general principles of good programming practice for complete novices of all ages.

About this title

From the Author

If you want to learn to program, this book is for you. It’s that simple. I don’t assume any particular knowledge on your part, although to get the most out of this book you will have to think carefully about the text and follow the examples. I’ve tried to make this painless by keeping the examples fun and interesting. In fact, you may find that reading and working through this book is a very enjoyable experience indeed. Personally, I love programming, and think that programming (and learning new programming techniques) is the most fun thing in the whole world.

You don’t need any special hardware or software to learn to program with this. Anybody, with any computer, can follow the examples provided by this book.

Understanding computer programming is the great digital divide that faces our society. Some of those among us understand how computer programs work, but many of us do not. If you read this book and work through the examples it provides, you’ll gain practical skills that can be of great use. You may even be on your way to a career as a professional programmer. But most important of all, you’ll join the select few that truly understand how computers think.

This book teaches modern computer programming and explains concepts such as object-oriented programming so that everyone can understand them. Most of all, I’ve tried to share the knowledge and experience, and sheer joy in the process, that I’ve gained through a lifetime of programming.

From the Inside Flap

Foreword by Gary Cornell, Apress, Publisher/Author/Cofounder

Programs drive the world. Literally. Heck, there’s more software in the average car than was used to run an airline when I grew up in the ’60s. But it sure is a different world than when I grew up. And that’s nowhere more so than in the programming world. When I learned programming in the ’70s, it was all punch cards and big machines—no PCs and no Internet.

But, too many books that try to teach you programming haven’t gotten

the message that it’s a different world: It’s the world of the Internet! Why, they still use an archaic language called BASIC that’s 40 years old and was designed for Teletype machines to teach you programming. The book you have in your hand is unusual because it accepts that the programming world has changed. The browser is all-important: Controlling your browser isn’t only an exciting way to learn to program, it’s darn useful if you ever want to make your own home page interactive.

But that isn’t the only way this book is different from all the other beginning programming books out there that use BASIC. Feeding you BASIC as your first programming language is a terrible idea. Why? Because the BASIC programming language is old and tired and doesn’t use objectoriented programming (OOP) as its fundamental paradigm. OOP was developed in the ’80s and ’90s, and every programmer must be familiar with it. OOP is how programmers can hope to piece together the very large

programs they need to build in the 21st century.

(If you’re wondering what OOP is, well, you’ll just have to read this book—I won’t try to explain it here because then I’d have to do a better job than Harold Davis does in this book, and that’s not likely to happen.)

So sit back in front of any computer (heck, even some personal digital assistants) and learn to program by taking full control of your browser (fun!) and learning OOP (useful!) with one of the best writers I know.

Edition details

• Publisher: Apress
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1590591135
• ISBN 13: 9781590591130
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304