Accelerated DOM Scripting with Ajax, APIs, and Libraries

If you're a web developer with previous JavaScript and DOM scripting experience, Accelerated DOM Scripting with Ajax, APIs, and Libraries is perfect for you to take your knowledge to the next level.

This book is about JavaScript and using the document object model―the conduit to the HTML document. This book is not about learning how to program JavaScript from scratch. It starts with the assumption that you have done some JavaScript development before and understand the JavaScript syntax. This book builds on that knowledge to give you a deeper understanding of DOM scripting and how to apply that to your projects. It uses this new understanding to describe what JavaScript libraries are and show you how they can be applied to your project. The book will also explain Ajax and how best to plan and apply it to your projects. It explains how to build simple animation objects for adding movement to elements on the page. There are straightforward examples that demonstrate the techniques used throughout the book.

JavaScript has seen a resurgence in popularity over the past few years, and with it has come an exploration of the power of the language as well as what it can do within the browser. This book will explain techniques new and old―such as closures, encapsulation, and inheritance―that many are using and how you can best apply them to your own projects.

By reading this book, you should have a greater understanding of how JavaScript works and be able to use advanced concepts such as closures and event delegation to build more flexible applications for the Web. You'll walk away with a greater appreciation for JavaScript libraries and how they can simplify and speed up your development. You'll also be able to implement Ajax effectively into your site, create special effects, use JavaScript libraries, and know how best to apply these libraries to your projects.

Aaron Gustafson pushed pixels and bits as a freelancer for many top companies (Aetna, Deloitte & Touche, Delta Airlines, Guinness, IBM and Scholastic, to name a few) before taking a position at Cronin and Company, a regional advertising agency. At Cronin, Aaron got the digital department off the ground and set the standards (pun intended) for all web development within the agency. His work on websites for Bertucci's, Konica Minolta, Mystic Aquarium, TriZetto and several Connecticut state agencies garnered numerous state, national and international awards for Cronin, for both design and web standards. In early 2006, Aaron left Cronin to focus on building his own web shop (Easy! Designs, LLC) and writing more. In addition to being a member of the Web Standards Project (WaSP), Aaron sits on the advisory panel for WOW (formerly World Organization of Webmasters) and is a member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS). He serves as production editor for A List Apart, is a contributing writer for Digital Web Magazine, and contributed several chapters to the newly-updated Web Design in a Nutshell, Third Edition (O'Reilly). Aaron has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences, including COMDEX, MacWorld and SXSW, and has been called on to provide web standards training in both government and corporations. He blogs at easy-reader.net.