Chapter 14: JavaScript and DHTML

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Overview

Adding interactivity to a Web site is not limited to server-side programs. The client side of the Web ¾ the browser ¾ generally can execute code in the form of scripting or embedded programmed objects. For Web developers, often the easiest way to begin adding dynamic aspects to a Web page is through client-side scripting, primarily using JavaScript. In the case of JavaScript, code is either directly inserted into or referenced from an HTML/XHTML document, and is executed when the page is loaded by the browser. This chapter discusses the intersection between scripting and markup, but does not attempt to teach scripting techniques in depth. In-depth coverage of JavaScript can be found in the companion book JavaScript: The Complete Reference (Powell & Schneider, Osborne, 2001). However, we will present the material required for developers to incorporate canned script code properly and to appreciate the important role JavaScript will play in Web pages in the future as markup, style sheets, and scripting intersect in the Document Object Model (DOM).

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