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 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter
Blind Folio: i

JavaScript
A Beginner’s Guide

Fifth Edition
John Pollock

New York Chicago San Francisco

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Sydney Toronto

00-FM.indd 1 17/09/19 5:33 PM

Copyright © 2020 by McGraw-Hill Education (Publisher). All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States
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 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter
Blind Foli iii

To my wife, Heather, and children, Eva, Elizabeth, Elaine, and Evan,

Bruce and Joy Anderson, and Dr. J. D. and Linda Andrews

In memory of John and Betty Hopkins, James D. and

Livian Anderson, John William and Edith Hopkins,
Burley T. and Aline Price, “Doc” Flores, and Clifton Idom

00-FM.indd 3 17/09/19 5:33

 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter
Blind Foli iv

About the Author

John Pollock is employed as a software developer during
the day and works on Web sites and other projects during
the evening. You can find him on Twitter (@ScripttheWeb)
or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pollock-
82a2b074). John holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Sam
Houston State University and currently lives in New Waverly,
Texas with his wife, Heather, and children, Eva, Elizabeth,
Elaine, and Evan.

About the Technical Editor

Christie Sorenson is a senior software engineer at ZingChart.
She has worked on JavaScript-based systems since 1997 and
has been fascinated with the evolution of the language. She
has collaborated and been the technical editor on several
JavaScript and HTML books. She holds a Bachelor of Science
in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego,
and now lives in San Francisco with her husband, Luke, and
daughters, Ali and Keira.

00-FM.indd 4 17/09/19 5:33

 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
.
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
.
1 Introduction to JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
.
What You Need to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
.
Basic HTML and CSS Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
.
Basic Text Editor and Web Browser Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
.
Which Version? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
.
Client-Side and Server-Side Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
.
Beginning with JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
Prototype-Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
Interpreted Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
Numerous Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
Online Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
.
Try This 1-1: Use JavaScript to Write Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
.
Chapter 1 Self Test ................................................................. 11
.
2 Placing JavaScript in an HTML File ..................................... 15
.
Using the HTML Script Tags ....................................................... 16
.
Identifying the Scripting Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
.
Calling External Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
.
v

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 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter

vi JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Specifying when the Script Should Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

.
Using <noscript></noscript> Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

.
Creating Your First Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

.
Writing a “Hello World” Script ............................................... 20

.
Creating an HTML Document for the Script .................................. 21

.
Inserting the Script into the HTML Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

.
Try This 2-1: Insert a Script into an HTML Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

.
Using External JavaScript Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

.
Creating a JavaScript File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

.
Creating the HTML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

.
Viewing the Pages in Your Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

.
Try This 2-2: Call an External Script from an HTML Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

.
Using JavaScript Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
.
Inserting Comments on One Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
.
Adding Multiple-Line Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
Chapter 2 Self Test ................................................................. 30
.
3 Using Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Understanding Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
.
Why Variables Are Useful .......................................................... 35
.
Variables as Placeholders for Unknown Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
.
Variables as Time-Savers ..................................................... 35
.
Variables as Code Clarifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
.
Defining Variables for Your Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
.
Declaring Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
.
Assigning Values to Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
.
Naming Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
.
Understanding Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
.
Number ...................................................................... 41
.
String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
.
Boolean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
.
Null . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
.
Undefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
.
Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
.
Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
.
Try This 3-1: Declare Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
.
Using Variables in Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
.
Making a Call to a Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
.
Adding Variables to Text Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
.
Writing a Page of JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
.
Creating the Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
.
Defining the Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
.
Adding the Commands ....................................................... 55
.
Modifying the Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
.
00-FM.indd 6 17/09/19 5:33
 BeginNew-Tight / JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition / Pollock / 768-0 / Front Matter

Contents vii

Try This 3-2: Create an HTML Page with JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

.
Chapter 3 Self Test ................................................................. 60

.
4 Using Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

.
What a Function Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

.
Why Functions Are Useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

.
Structuring Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

.
Declaring Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

.
Defining the Code for Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

.
Naming Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
.
Adding Arguments to Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

.
Adding Return Statements to Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

.
Calling Functions in Your Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
.
Script Tags: Head Section or Body Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

.
Calling a Function from Another Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

.
Calling Functions with Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
76
Calling Functions with Return Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
.
Other Ways to Define Functions .............................................. 82
.
Try This 4-1: Create an HTML Page with Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
.
Scope/Context Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
.
Global Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
.
Function Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
.
Block Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
.
Try This 4-2: Write Your Own Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
.
Chapter 4 Self Test ................................................................. 91
.
5 JavaScript Operators ..................................................... 95
.
Understanding the Operator Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
.
Understanding Arithmetic Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
.
The Addition Operator (+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
.
The Subtraction Operator (–) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
.
The Multiplication Operator (*) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
.
The Division Operator (/) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
.
The Modulus Operator (%) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
.
The Increment Operator (++) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
.
The Decrement Operator (– –) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
.
The Unary Plus Operator (+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
.
The Unary Negation Operator (–) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
.
The Exponentiation Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
.
Understanding Assignment Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
.
The Assignment Operator (=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
.
The Add-and-Assign Operator (+=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
.
The Subtract-and-Assign Operator (–=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
.
The Multiply-and-Assign Operator (*=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
.
The Divide-and-Assign Operator (/=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
.
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viii JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

The Modulus-and-Assign Operator (%=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

.
The Exponent-and-Assign Operator (**=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

.
Try This 5-1: Adjust a Variable Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

.
Understanding Comparison Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

.
The Is-Equal-To Operator (==) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

.
The Is-Not-Equal-To Operator (!=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

.
The Strict Is-Equal-To Operator (===) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

.
The Strict Is-Not-Equal-To Operator (!==) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

.
The Is-Greater-Than Operator (>) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

.
The Is-Less-Than Operator (<) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

.
The Is-Greater-Than-or-Equal-To Operator (>=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

.
The Is-Less-Than-or-Equal-To Operator (<=) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

.
Understanding Logical Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
117
The AND Operator (&&) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
.
The OR Operator (||) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
.
The NOT Operator (!) ........................................................ 118
.
The Bitwise Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
.
Special Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
.
Understanding Order of Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
.
Try This 5-2: True or False? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
.
Chapter 5 Self Test ................................................................. 123
.
6 Conditional Statements and Loops ....................................... 125
.
Defining Conditional Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
.
What Is a Conditional Statement? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
.
Why Conditional Statements Are Useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
.
Using Conditional Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
.
Using if/else Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
.
Using the switch Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
.
Using the Conditional Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
.
User Input from a Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
.
Try This 6-1: Work with User Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
.
Defining Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
.
What Is a Loop? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
.
Why Loops Are Useful ....................................................... 144
.
Using Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
.
for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
.
while . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
.
do while . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
.
for in, for each in, and for of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
.
Using break and continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
.
Try This 6-2: Work with for Loops and while Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
.
Chapter 6 Self Test ................................................................. 160
.
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Contents ix

7 JavaScript Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

.
What Is an Array? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

.
Why Arrays Are Useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

.
Defining and Accessing Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

.
Naming an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

.
Defining an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Accessing an Array’s Elements ............................................... 167

.
Using the length Property and Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

.
Changing Array Values and Changing the Length ............................. 169

.
Try This 7-1: Use Loops with Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

.
Array Properties and Methods ...................................................... 172
.
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
.
Nesting Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
.
Defining Nested Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
.
Loops and Nested Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
.
Try This 7-2: Nested Arrays Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
.
Chapter 7 Self Test ................................................................. 193
.
8 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
.
Defining Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
.
Creating Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
.
Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
.
Single Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
.
Try This 8-1: Create a Computer Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
.
Object Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
.
Constructor Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
.
Using Prototypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
.
The class Keyword ........................................................... 209
.
Helpful Statements for Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
.
The for-in Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
.
The with Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
.
Try This 8-2: Practice with the Combination Constructor/Prototype Pattern . . . . . . . . . . 212
.
Understanding Predefined JavaScript Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
.
The Navigator Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
.
The History Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
.
Chapter 8 Self Test ................................................................. 218
.
9 The Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
.
Defining the Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
.
Using the Document Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Using the Properties of the Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
.
The cookie Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
.
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x JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

The dir Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

.
The lastModified Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

.
The referrer Property ......................................................... 227

.
The title Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

.
The URL Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

.
The URLUnencoded Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Using the Methods of the Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

.
The get Methods for Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

.
The open() and close() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

.
The write() and writeln() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

.
Using DOM Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
.
DOM Node Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
238
DOM Node Methods ......................................................... 241
.
Try This 9-1: Add a DOM Node to the Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

.
Creating Dynamic Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
.
Styles in JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
.
Simple Event Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
.
Coding a Dynamic Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
.
Try This 9-2: Try Out Property Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Chapter 9 Self Test ................................................................. 253
.
10 Event Handlers ........................................................... 255
.
What Is an Event Handler? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
.
Why Event Handlers Are Useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
.
Understanding Event Handler Locations and Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
.
Using an Event Handler in an HTML Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
.
Using an Event Handler in the Script Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
.
Learning the Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
.
The Click Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
.
Focus and Blur Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
.
The Load and Unload Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
.
The Reset and Submit Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
.
The Mouse Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
.
The Keyboard Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
.
Try This 10-1: Focus and Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
.
Other Ways to Register Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
.
The addEventListener() Method .............................................. 272
.
The attachEvent() Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
.
The Event Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
.
DOM and Internet Explorer: DOM Level 0 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
.
Using event with Modern Event Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
.
Properties and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
.
Event Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
.
Try This 10-2: Using addEventListener() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
.
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Contents xi

Creating Scripts Using Event Handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

.
Show Hidden Content ........................................................ 279

.
Change Content .............................................................. 280

.
Custom Events ............................................................... 284

.
Chapter 10 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

.
11 Introduction to Node.js ................................................... 289

.
Introducing Node.js . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
.
Installing Node.js . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
.
Check for a Current Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

.
Install Node.js . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
.
Write a “Hello World” Script ................................................. 292

.
Using Node Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
.
Using Native Node Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
295
Asynchronous Execution ..................................................... 296
.
Non-Native Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
.
Try This 11-1: Use a Custom Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
.
Installing a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
.
Database Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
.
Install PostgreSQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
.
Create a Database Using pgAdmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
.
Try This 11-2: Test Some SQL Queries ............................................. 312
.
Creating a Web Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
.
Chapter 11 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
.
12 Math, Number, and Date Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
.
Using the Math Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
.
What Is the Math Object? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
.
How the Math Object Is Useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
.
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
.
Try This 12-1: Display a Random Link on a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
.
Understanding the Number Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
.
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
.
Using the Date Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
.
Properties and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
.
Methods That Get Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
.
Methods That Set Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
.
Other Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
.
How About Some Date Scripts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
.
Try This 12-2: Create a JavaScript Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
.
Continuing Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
.
Getting to the Needed Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
.
Running Some Calculations on the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
.
Chapter 12 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
.
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13 Handling Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

.
Introduction to the String Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

.
The String Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

.
The String Literal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

.
What’s the Difference? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

.
Using the Properties and Methods of the String Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

.
The length Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

.
Methods of the String Object ....................................................... 360

.
Try This 13-1: Use indexOf() to Test an Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

.
Using Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
.
Setting a Cookie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
.
Reading a Cookie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
.
Try This 13-2: Remember a Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
376
Using Regular Expressions ......................................................... 377
.
Creating Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
.
Testing Strings Against Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

.
Adding Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
.
Creating Powerful Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
.
Grouping Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
.
The replace(), match(), matchAll(), and search() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

.
More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
.
Continuing Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
.
Chapter 13 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
.
14 Browser-Based JavaScript ................................................ 391
.
Window: The Global Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
.
Using the Properties of the Window Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
.
The closed Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
The frames Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
.
The innerWidth and innerHeight Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
.
The length Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
.
The location Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
.
The name Property ........................................................... 396
.
The opener Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
.
The parent, self, and top Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
.
The status and defaultStatus Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
.
Try This 14-1: Use the location and innerWidth Properties .......................... 398
.
Using the Methods of the Window Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
.
The alert(), prompt(), and confirm() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
The print() Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
.
The setInterval() and clearInterval() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
The setTimeout() and clearTimeout() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
.
Try This 14-2: Use the setTimeout() and confirm() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
.
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Contents xiii

The Main Window and New Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

.
The Tale of Pop-up Windows ................................................. 407

.
Opening New Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

.
Closing New Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

.
Moving, Resizing, and Scrolling New Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

.
The resizeBy() and resizeTo() Methods ....................................... 416

.
The scrollBy() and ScrollTo() Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

.
Working with Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
.
Rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
.
JavaScript and Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
420
Purpose of Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
.
Accessing Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
.
Breaking Out of Frames ...................................................... 423
.
Using iFrames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
.
Chapter 14 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
.
15 JavaScript Forms and Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
.
Accessing Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
.
Using the forms Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
.
Using an ID .................................................................. 431
.
Using the Properties and Methods of the Form Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
.
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
.
Ensuring the Accessibility of Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
.
Using Proper Element and Label Order ....................................... 438
.
Using <label></label> Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
.
Using <fieldset></fieldset> Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
.
Not Assuming Client-Side Scripting .......................................... 439
.
Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
.
Simple Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
.
Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
.
Check Boxes and Radio Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
.
Try This 15-1: Request a Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
.
HTML5 and Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
.
New Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
.
New Input Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
.
New Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
.
HTML5 Form Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
.
Try This 15-2: Validate a Phone Number with HTML5 or JavaScript ................ 455
.
AJAX and JSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
.
AJAX ........................................................................ 456
.
JSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
.
Chapter 15 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
.
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16 Further Browser-Based JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

.
Using jQuery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

.
Obtaining jQuery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

.
Getting Started: document.ready() ............................................ 471

.
Using Selectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

.
Altering Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

.
Methods for Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

.
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
.
Try This 16-1: Use jQuery to Create Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

.
Debugging Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
.
Types of Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
.
Using the Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
.
Using a Lint Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
.
Browser Developer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
.
JavaScript and Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
.
Separate Content from Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
486
Enhancing Content ........................................................... 488
.
Try This 16-2: Make This Code Accessible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
.
JavaScript Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
.
Page Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
.
JavaScript and APIs from HTML ................................................... 492
.
The <canvas> Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
.
Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
.
Try This 16-3: Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
.
Node.js App Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
.
Update the Node.js Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Update the Front-end Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
.
Need Help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
.
Chapter 16 Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
.
A Answers to Self Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
.
Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
.
Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
.
Chapter 3: Using Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
.
Chapter 4: Using Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
.
Chapter 5: JavaScript Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
.
Chapter 6: Conditional Statements and Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
.
Chapter 7: JavaScript Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
.
Chapter 8: Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
.
Chapter 9: The Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
.
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Contents xv

Chapter 10: Event Handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

.
Chapter 11: Introduction to Node.js . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

.
Chapter 12: Math, Number, and Date Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

.
Chapter 13: Handling Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

.
Chapter 14: Browser-Based JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

.
Chapter 15: JavaScript Forms and Data ....................................... 521

.
Chapter 16: Further Browser-Based JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

.
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

.
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Blind Folio vi

Acknowledgments
I would like to begin by thanking my wonderful wife, Heather Pollock, for all of her love,
support, and encouragement in all I do. I love you! I would also like to thank my three
daughters, Eva, Elizabeth, and Elaine, as well as my son, Evan. I love all of you!
I would like to thank my parents, Bruce and Joy Anderson, for their love and guidance, and
for always supporting my endeavors.
I would like to thank Dr. J. D. and Linda Andrews for their love, guidance, and support.
In addition, I would like to thank Richard Pollock (brother) and family, Misty Castleman
(sister) and family, Warren Anderson (brother) and family, Jon Andrews (brother) and family,
Lisa and Julian Owens (aunt/uncle) and family, and every aunt, uncle, cousin, or other relation
in my family. All of you have been a great influence in my life.
I would like to thank all of my editors at McGraw-Hill for their outstanding help and
support throughout the writing of this book. Thanks to Lisa McClain, Emily Walters, Claire Yee,
Snehil Sharma, Sarika Gupta, Bart Reed, and to all the editors who worked on this and previous
editions of the book.
Thanks to my technical editor, Christie Sorenson, for editing and checking over all the
technical aspects of the book and for helping me provide clear explanations of the topics that
are covered.
I would like to thank God for the ability He has given me to help and teach people by my
writing. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

xvi

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Introduction
W elcome to JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition! Years ago, I was surfing
the Web and noticed that people were publishing pages about themselves and calling
them homepages. After viewing a number of these, I decided to create a homepage myself. I
had no idea where to begin, but through trial and error I figured out how to code HTML and
publish my documents on a Web server. Over time, I saw some interesting effects used on other
homepages (like alert messages that popped up out of nowhere or images that would magically
change when I moved my mouse over them). I was curious and just had to know what was being
done to create those effects. Were these page creators using HTML tags I did not know about?
Eventually, one site revealed what was being used to create those effects: JavaScript. I
went in search of information on it and came across a few tutorials and scripts on the Web.
Since I had programmed in other languages (such as a relatively obscure language called Ada),
I was able to catch on to JavaScript fairly quickly by looking at these tutorials and scripts.
I learned enough that I decided to create a Web site that would teach HTML and JavaScript
to beginners. As soon as I began the project, I received questions from visitors that were
way over my head—forcing me to dig deeper and learn more about JavaScript. As a result,
I became completely familiar with this scripting language and what it can do. Not only can
you add fun effects to a Web page, you can create scripts that will perform useful tasks, like
validate form input, add navigational elements to documents, and react to user events.
The goal of this book is to help you to learn the basics of the JavaScript language with as
little hair pulling and monitor smashing as possible. You do not need any prior programming
experience to learn JavaScript from this book. All you need is knowledge of HTML and/or
XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and how to use your favorite text editor and Web
browser (see Chapter 1 for more information).

xvii

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xviii JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

What This Book Covers

The 16 chapters of this book cover specific topics on the JavaScript language. The first two
chapters cover the most basic aspects of the language: what it is, what you need to know to
begin using JavaScript, and how to place JavaScript into an HTML file. The middle of the
book (Chapters 3–14) covers beginning JavaScript topics from variables all the way to using
JavaScript with forms. The final two chapters (Chapters 15–16) introduce some advanced
techniques, and point you toward resources if you want to learn more about JavaScript once
you have completed the book.
This book includes a number of special features in each chapter to assist you in learning
JavaScript. These features include

● Key Skills & Concepts Each chapter begins with a set of key skills and concepts that
you will understand by the end of the chapter.
● Ask the Expert The Ask the Expert sections present commonly asked questions about
topics covered in the preceding text, with responses from the author.
● Try This These sections get you to practice what you have learned using a hands-on
approach. Each Try This will have you code a script through step-by-step directions
on what you need to do to in order to accomplish the goal. You can find solutions to
each project on the McGraw-Hill Professional Web site at www.mhprofessional.com/
computingdownload.
● Notes, Tips, and Cautions These elements call your attention to noteworthy statements
that you will find helpful as you move through the chapters.
● Code Code listings display example source code used in scripts or programs.
● Callouts Callouts display helpful hints and notes about the example code, pointing to the
relevant lines in the code.
● Self Test Each chapter ends with a Self Test, a series of 15 questions to see if you have
mastered the topics covered in the chapter. The answers to each Self Test can be found in
the appendix.

That is it! You are now familiar with the organization and special features of this book to
start your journey through JavaScript. If you find that you are stuck and need help, feel free to
contact me with your questions. To contact me, you can reach me on LinkedIn (https://www
.linkedin.com/in/john-pollock-82a2b074) or you can find me on Twitter (@ScripttheWeb).
Now it is time to learn JavaScript. Get ready, get set, and have fun!

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Chapter 1
Introduction to JavaScript

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2 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Key Skills & Concepts

● Using Text Editors, WYSIWYG Editors, and Web Browsers
● Defining JavaScript
● Differences Between Client-Side and Server-Side Programming

W elcome to JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition! You’re obviously interested in

learning JavaScript, but perhaps you’re not sure what you need to know to use it. This
chapter answers some basic questions about what JavaScript is, provides a brief history of the
language, and discusses the various environments that can use JavaScript for programming.
JavaScript is ubiquitous on the World Wide Web. You can use JavaScript both to make
your Web pages more interactive, so that they react to a viewer’s actions, and to give your Web
pages some special effects (visual or otherwise). JavaScript can now even be used to perform
input/output operations or build Web servers by using Node.js!
JavaScript often gets included with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading
Style Sheets (CSS) as the three recommended languages for beginning Web developers
(whether you build Web sites for business or pleasure). Of course, you can build a Web page
by using only HTML and CSS, but JavaScript allows you to add additional features that a
static page of HTML can’t provide without some sort of scripting or programming help.

What You Need to Know

Before you begin learning about JavaScript, you should have (or obtain) a basic knowledge of
the following:

●● HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

●● Text editors and Web browsers
●● The different versions of JavaScript
●● Differences in client-side and server-side programming

If you have this basic knowledge, you’ll do just fine as you work through this book. Knowing
another programming/scripting language or having previous experience with JavaScript isn’t
required. This book is a beginner’s guide to JavaScript.
If you think you don’t have enough experience in one of the aforementioned areas, a closer
look at each one may help you decide what to do.

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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 3

Basic HTML and CSS Knowledge

While you don’t need to be an HTML guru, you do need to know where to place certain
elements (like the head and body elements) and how to add your own attributes. This book
will reference scripts in the head section (between the <head> and </head> tags) and the body
section (between the <body> and </body> tags).
Sometimes, you will also need to add an attribute to a tag for a script to function properly.
For example, you may need to name a form element using the id attribute, as shown in the
following code:
<input type="text" id="thename">

If you know the basics of using tags and attributes, the HTML portion shouldn’t pose any
problems in learning JavaScript.
If you don’t have a basic knowledge of HTML, you can learn it fairly quickly through
a number of media. For example, you can buy a book or look for some helpful information
on the Web. A good book is HTML: A Beginner’s Guide, Fifth Edition by Wendy Willard
(McGraw-Hill, 2013). To find information about HTML on the Web, check out developer
.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/HTML/Introduction_to_HTML/Getting_started.
Occasionally, you will need to use CSS to add or change presentation features on a Web page.
We will mainly use CSS for the purposes of dynamically changing CSS properties via
JavaScript in this book. A good place to learn CSS is developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/
CSS/Introduction_to_CSS/How_CSS_works.

Basic Text Editor and Web Browser Knowledge

Before jumping in and coding with JavaScript, you must be able to use a text editor or HTML
editor, and a Web browser. You’ll use these tools to code your scripts.

Text Editors
A number of text editors and HTML editors support JavaScript. If you know HTML, you’ve
probably already used an HTML editor to create your HTML files, so you might not have
to change.
However, some HTML editors have problems related to adding JavaScript code (such as
changing where the code is placed or altering the code itself when you save the file). This is
more often the case when using WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. It is
best to use a code editor such as Sublime or Visual Studio Code (recommended) or a plain text
editor. Some examples of text editors are Notepad, TextPad, and Simple Text.

Web Browsers
Again, if you’ve been coding in HTML, you probably won’t need to change your browser.
However, some browsers have trouble with the newer versions of JavaScript. The choice of

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4 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Web browser is ultimately up to you, as long as it’s compatible with JavaScript. I recommend
the latest version of one of following browsers to test your JavaScript code:

●● Google Chrome
●● Mozilla Firefox
●● Microsoft Edge

New versions of these browsers continue to be produced. The newest versions will continue
to support more features.
To give you an idea of what some browsers look like, Figure 1-1 shows a Web page when
viewed in Chrome, and Figure 1-2 shows a Web page when viewed in Mozilla Firefox.
If you have an older browser and you can’t upgrade, a number of features (mostly discussed
later in the book) may not work in that browser. Even so, the book can still help you learn the
JavaScript language itself (especially when you’re using Node.js instead of a browser), so you
don’t need to give up if you have an older browser.

Figure 1-1 A Web page viewed in Google Chrome

 
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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 5

Figure 1-2 A Web page viewed in Mozilla Firefox

 
NOTE
Even if you have one of the latest browsers, your web site viewers may not, so it
is always appropriate to understand what features may not be supported in older
browsers. This book will cover how to handle a number of these issues.

Which Version?
The version of JavaScript being used by a browser is typically associated with what version
of ECMAScript it supports. You can see what ECMAScript versions are supported by each
browser at kangax.github.io/compat-table/es6/.
ECMAScript is the international standard name and specification used for the JavaScript
language, so it’s not a new language but a standard that is set for JavaScript, JScript, and other
implementations of the language. For more on ECMAScript, see www.ecma-international.org/
publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm.
At the time of this writing, the browsers recommended earlier in this chapter should support
at least ECMAScript 7. Node.js uses the V8 JavaScript engine, and the latest version of Node.js
should also support at least ECMAScript 7.

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6 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Remember, It’s Not Java

JavaScript and Java are two different languages. Java is a programming language that must be
compiled (running a program through software that converts the higher-level code to machine
language) before a program can be executed. More information on the Java language can be
found at docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/.

Similarities to Other Languages

JavaScript does have similarities to other programming and scripting languages. If you
have experience with Java, C++, or C, you’ll notice some similarities in the syntax, which
may help you to learn more quickly. Because it’s a scripting language, JavaScript also has
similarities to languages like PHP—which can also be run through an interpreter rather than
being compiled.
If you have programming or scripting experience in any language, it will make learning
JavaScript easier—but it isn’t required.

Client-Side and Server-Side Programming

The addition of Node.js allows JavaScript to be run on the server side in addition to its traditional
space on the client side. Learning a little about these different environments will help you to
understand the type of programming that will need to be done when working on the client side
versus working on the server side.
A client-side language is run directly through the client being used by the viewer. In the
case of client-side JavaScript, the client is typically a Web browser. Therefore, client-side
JavaScript is run directly in the Web browser and doesn’t need to handle any requests on a Web
server. The limitation is that client-side JavaScript cannot directly save information (though it
can send information to a server-side program to do so).

NOTE
Using the XMLHttpRequest object and the Fetch API allows JavaScript to send and
request data from the server. These will be covered briefly in Chapter 14.

A client-side language is useful for tasks that deal with the content of a document or that
allow information to be validated before it is sent to a server-side program or script. For instance,
JavaScript can change the content of one or more elements on a Web page when the user clicks a
link or presses a button (many other user actions can also be activated).
JavaScript can also be used to check the information entered into a form before the form
is sent to a server-side program to be processed. This information check can prevent strain
on the Web server by not allowing submissions with inaccurate or incomplete information.
Rather than the program running on the server until the information is correct, that data can
be sent to the server just once with correct information. This also benefits the user, since
client-side validation can provide feedback much more quickly to allow the user to make any
corrections.

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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 7

NOTE
While client-side JavaScript is able to help validate information sent to the server,
it cannot replace server-side validation since users may have JavaScript disabled
or unavailable in the device being used (which allows them to bypass the client-
side validation). For security reasons, you should always use server-side validation,
regardless of whether or not you incorporate client-side validation.

For client-side JavaScript, the Document Object Model (DOM) is provided so that you can
access the different elements in a document. This is typically accessible within a browser for
HTML documents.
A server-side language runs on a server. For example, a server-side language can be used
to receive information from the user of a Web browser and then take an action using that
information. The server-side program can send information back to the Web browser, save it
to a database, or do any number of other things that the Web browser cannot do on its own.
However, a server-side language is likely to be limited in its ability to deal with special
features of the client that can be accessed with a client-side language (like the width of the
browser window or the contents of a form before it’s submitted to the server).
Traditionally, server-side programming was done in languages other than JavaScript,
such as PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Java, and a number of others. When Node.js came along, it
allowed the opportunity to use JavaScript on the server side in addition to the client side.
Depending on the needs of you or your company, you may or may not use Node.js, but this
book will cover it in order to provide a more complete introduction to the JavaScript language
and the different environments in which JavaScript can be used.

Ask the Expert

Q: You mentioned that I could use a text editor or HTML editor of my choice, but I’m
not quite sure what that means. What is a text editor and where can I find one?
A: A text editor is a program that you can use to save and edit written text. Text editors range
from simple to complex, and a number of choices are available: Notepad, WordPad, and
Simple Text, to name a few. You can also purchase and download some from the Web, like
NoteTab or TextPad.
An HTML editor is either a more complex text editor or an editor that allows you to
add code by clicking buttons or by other means—often called a What You See Is What You
Get (WYSIWYG) editor.
For the purposes of JavaScript coding, you may decide to use a more code-oriented
program that can offer features such as code highlighting, completion, debugging tools, and
more, such as Visual Studio or Sublime. I recommend one of these tools since they offer
more features to assist with programming.
(continued)

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8 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Q: What exactly do I need to know about using a text editor?

A: Basically, you only need to know how to type plain text into the editor, save the file with
an .html, .css, or .js extension, and be able to open it again and edit it if necessary. Special
features aren’t needed because HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files are made up of plain text,
but the features of coding tools like Visual Studio and Sublime can be extremely helpful as
you write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code.

Q: What do I need to know about using a browser?

A: All you absolutely need to know is how to open a local HTML file on your computer (or on
the Web) and how to reload a page. If you don’t know how to open an HTML file from your
own computer, open your browser and go to the address bar. Type in file:///C:/ and press
enter. If you are using a drive letter other than C, type that letter instead of C in the example.
The browser will display files and folders from the drive and allow you to navigate to the file
you want to open. Click an HTML file to open it. The following illustration shows how this
might look after navigating into a few folders from the C drive using Google Chrome:

Q: Where do I get those browsers you mentioned?

A: Here are links for the browsers:
●● Google Chrome www.google.com/chrome/
●● Mozilla Firefox www.mozilla.com/firefox
●● Microsoft Edge https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-edge

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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 9

Beginning with JavaScript

JavaScript came about as a joint effort between Netscape Communications Corporation and Sun
Microsystems, Inc. The news release of the new language was issued on December 4, 1995,
back when Netscape Navigator 2.0 was still in its beta version. JavaScript version 1.0 became
available with the new browser. (Before its release as JavaScript, it was called LiveScript.)
JavaScript is a prototype-based interpreted language that can be used in numerous
environments. To expand on this definition, let’s look at its important parts one by one.

Prototype-Based
Prototype-based means that JavaScript is an object-oriented programming language that can use
items called objects. However, the objects are not class-based, so no distinction is made between
a class and an instance; instead, objects inherit from other objects via the prototype property.
JavaScript has made changes in ES6 to allow you to use the class keyword, but the language is
not technically class-based. You’ll learn how to work with JavaScript objects in Chapter 10. You
don’t need to understand them in detail until you know a few other features of the language.

Interpreted Language
An interpreted language doesn’t require a program to be compiled before it is run. All the
interpretation is done on-the-fly by the client. The client, such as a Web browser or the Node.js
environment, is what is being used to interpret the language.
With a compiled programming language, before you can run a program you have written,
you must compile it using a special compiler to be sure there are no syntax errors. With a
scripting language, the code is interpreted as it is loaded in the client. Thus, you can test the
results of your code more quickly. However, errors won’t be caught before the script is run and
could cause problems with the client if it can’t handle the errors well. In the case of JavaScript,
the error handling is up to the client being used by the viewer.

Numerous Environments
JavaScript can be run in numerous environments. Most commonly, the environment is a Web
browser since JavaScript has basically become the default scripting language used when
adding dynamic interactivity to a Web page.
While JavaScript is often thought of in relation to Web browsers, a number of other
environments use it for programming, such as Adobe Acrobat and Flash (based on ECMAScript).
In addition to this, Node.js allows JavaScript to be used as a server-side language or to perform
input/output operations on an operating system. This book will cover JavaScript in Node.js
and in the Web browser at a beginner level to help you get started with programming in both
environments.

Putting It All Together

To begin, you might wonder how JavaScript is run in a browser. Where should you write your
JavaScript code, and what tells the browser it is different from anything else on a Web page?
The answers are general for now, but the next chapter provides more details.

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10 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

JavaScript runs in the browser by being added into an existing HTML document (either
directly or by referring to an external script file). You can add special tags and commands to
the HTML code that will tell the browser that it needs to run a script. When the browser sees
these special tags, it interprets the JavaScript commands and will do what you have directed
it to do with your code. Thus, by simply editing an HTML document, you can begin using
JavaScript on your Web pages and see the results.
For example, the following code adds some JavaScript to an HTML file that writes some
text onto the Web page. Notice the addition of <script> and </script> tags. The code within
them is JavaScript.
<html> This tag tells the browser
<body> that JavaScript follows
<script> This line writes the
document.write("This writes text to the page"); text inside the quote
</script> marks on the page
</body> This line tells the browser that
</html> this is the end of the script

The next chapter looks at how to add JavaScript in an HTML file by using the <script> and
</script> HTML tags. This will be your first step on the road to becoming a JavaScript coder!

Online Resources
To find additional information online to help you with JavaScript, here are some useful resources:

●● Projects/code for this book: github.com/JohnPollock/JSABG-ED-5

●● An excellent tutorial site that includes cut-and-paste scripts: www.javascriptkit.com
●● A place where you can address questions about JavaScript to fellow coders: stackoverflow
.com/questions/tagged/javascript

Try This 1-1 Use JavaScript to Write Text

pr1_1.html This project shows you JavaScript in action by loading an HTML document in
your browser. The script writes a line of text in the browser using JavaScript.

Step by Step
1. Copy and paste the code shown here into your text editor:
<html>
<body>
<script>
document.write("This text was written with JavaScript!");
</script>
</body>
</html>

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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 11

2. Save the file as pr1_1.html and open it in your Web browser. You should see a single line
of text that was written with JavaScript. (To open a file in your Web browser, go to the File
menu and look for an option that says something like Open, or Open File, and select it. You
should be able to browse for the file you want to open as you would with other programs.)

Try This Summary

In this project, you copied and pasted a section of code into a text editor and saved the file.
When you opened the saved file in your Web browser, a line of text was displayed in the
browser. This text was written in the browser window using JavaScript. You will see more
about how this type of script works in Chapter 2.

✓
Chapter 1 Self Test
1. You must know which of the following to be able to use JavaScript in a Web browser?

A. Perl

B. C++

C. HTML

D. SGML

2. Which of the following is something you should have to use JavaScript in a Web page?

A. A Web browser

B. A C++ compiler

C. A 500GB hard drive

D. A DVD-RW drive

3. The choice of a Web browser is up to you, as long it’s compatible with __________.

A. Flash

B. VBScript

C. JavaScript

D. Windows XP

4. JavaScript and Java are the same language.

A. True

B. False

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12 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

5. __________ is the international standard name and specification used for the JavaScript
language.
A. JScript

B. LiveScript

C. ECMAScript

D. ActionScript
6. JavaScript has similarities to other programming and scripting languages.

A. True

B. False

7. Before its release as JavaScript, JavaScript was called __________.

A. Java

B. JavaCup

C. LiveScript

D. EasyScript

8. JavaScript is __________.

A. prototype-based

B. class-based

C. object deficient

D. not a language that uses objects

9. A fancy code editor is necessary to edit JavaScript files.

A. True

B. False

10. In what ways can a fancy code editor help a JavaScript programmer?

A. It may offer features such as movies and video games.

B. It may offer features such as code highlighting, completion, debugging tools, and more.

C. It may offer features such as electronics repairs and warranties.

D. It can’t help at all.

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Chapter 1: Introduction to JavaScript 13

11. A(n) __________ language doesn’t require a program to be compiled before it is run.

A. programming

B. server-side

C. interpreted

D. computer

12. JavaScript can only be used in a Web browser environment.

A. True

B. False

13. In JavaScript, what handles errors in a script?

A. The operating system

B. A compiler

C. A program on the Web server

D. The client

14. How is JavaScript added to a Web page?

A. It isn’t. It must be compiled and loaded separately.

B. It is taken from a compiled program on the server.

C. You place the code in a file by itself and open that file.

D. It is added to an HTML document.

15. What is added to a Web page to insert JavaScript code?

A. <script> and </script> HTML tags

B. The JavaScript code word

C. <javascript> and </javascript> HTML tags

D. <java> and </java> HTML tags

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Chapter 2
Placing JavaScript
in an HTML File

15

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16 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Key Skills & Concepts

● Using the HTML Script Tags
● Creating Your First Script
● Using External JavaScript Files
● Using JavaScript Comments

N ow that you have been introduced to JavaScript, you’re ready to start coding. This chapter
introduces front-end (browser-based) JavaScript, while Chapter 3 will introduce how
JavaScript can be used with Node.js.
Since front-end JavaScript code is included in HTML documents, you need to know how
to tell Web browsers to run your scripts. The most common way to set off a script is to use the
HTML <script> and </script> tags in your document. You can place your script tags in either
the head or the body section of an HTML document.
This chapter first shows you how to use the script tags to begin and end a segment of
JavaScript code. Then, you will get started creating and running your first scripts. At the end
of the chapter, you will learn how to add JavaScript comments to document your scripts.

Using the HTML Script Tags

Script tags are used to tell the browser where code for a scripting language will begin and end
in an HTML document. In their most basic form, script tags appear just like any other set of
HTML tags:
<script> Tells the browser where
script code begins
JavaScript code here
</script> Tells the browser where
script code ends

As you can see, there is the opening <script> tag, the JavaScript code, and then the closing
</script> tag. When you use just the basic opening and closing tags like this, almost all browsers
will assume that the scripting language to follow will be JavaScript.
In HTML, the script tag is not case sensitive. However, in XHTML, the script tag must be
in lowercase. JavaScript is case sensitive in all versions, so you will need to be more careful
with it. In this book, I will use HTML5 for the HTML code (even though HTML5 is not case
sensitive, I will write the tag and attribute names in lowercase). For the JavaScript code, I will
use the case that is needed for it to function correctly.
The <script> tag has six possible attributes: type, language (deprecated), charset, src, defer,
and async. These attributes give the browser additional information about when the script should
load, the scripting language, and the location of an external JavaScript file (if any).

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Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File 17

Identifying the Scripting Language

The scripting language between the opening and closing script tags could be JavaScript,
VBScript, or some other language, though JavaScript is almost always set as the default scripting
language in browsers. If desired, you can explicitly identify JavaScript as the scripting language
by adding the type attribute with the value of “text/javascript” to the opening script tag:
<script type="text/javascript"> Tells the browser the scripting
language will be JavaScript
JavaScript code here
</script>

NOTE
The type attribute in the opening script tag is required in XHTML in order for the Web
page to validate, but is optional in HTML.

In the past, the language attribute was used to identify the scripting language, but is ignored
in modern browsers and will cause the page to be invalid in XHTML and HTML5. It should no
longer be used.
The charset attribute, which allows for the character set of the JavaScript code to be specified,
is not recognized by most browsers and is not recommended.
You will see additional important attributes discussed in the following sections.

Calling External Scripts

Script tags allow you to call an external JavaScript file in your document. An external JavaScript
file is a text file that contains nothing but JavaScript code, and it is saved with the .js file extension.
By calling an external file, you can save the time of coding or copying a long script into each page
in which the script is needed. Instead, you can use a single line on each page that points to the
JavaScript file with all of the code.
You can call external scripts by adding the src (source) attribute to the opening script tag:
<script src="yourfile.js"></script>

This example calls a JavaScript file named yourfile.js from any HTML document in which
you place this tag. Be sure there are no spaces or code between the opening and closing script
tags, as this may cause the script call to fail.
If the script is extremely long, using the src attribute to add the script to multiple pages can
be much quicker than inserting the entire code on each page. Also, the browser will cache the
external JavaScript file the first time it is loaded, making subsequent Web pages that use the
script render faster. Using an external script is also helpful when dealing with page validation
and when trying to keep script code separated from markup (HTML) code. In addition, the src
attribute allows you to include other people’s script files as libraries in the very same way.
By default, script files are loaded in the order in which they are placed in the HTML code
(synchronously). There are some options for altering this behavior, which are described in the
next section.

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18 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Specifying when the Script Should Load

The last two attributes, defer and async, allow you to specify when an external script should be
loaded. These attributes are not fully supported by older browsers, or may behave differently,
so be aware that an older browser may not execute the script when it is expected to do so.

The defer Attribute

The defer attribute allows you to specify that an external script file should be loaded, but should
not execute until the page has completed parsing (the </html> tag has loaded). The following
<script> tag would defer the execution of the external JavaScript code:
<script src="file.js" defer></script>

NOTE
If you are using XHTML, set this attribute using defer=“defer”.

Support for this attribute is available in Internet Explorer 4+, Firefox 3.5+, and Chrome 7+.
Internet Explorer 4–7 will allow this attribute to work on inline scripts as well, but versions 8
and above only support this attribute on external scripts as other browsers do.

The async Attribute

When the async attribute is set, the page can continue to load without waiting for the script to
load, and the script will execute after it completely loads. Here is an example:
<script src="file.js" async></script>

NOTE
If you are using XHTML, set this attribute using async="async".

Support for this attribute is available in Firefox 3.5+ and Chrome 7+.

Using <noscript></noscript> Tags

One way of providing alternate content for those viewers without JavaScript (or with JavaScript
turned off) is to use the noscript tag. The <noscript></noscript> tags may be placed anywhere
in the HTML document and can contain any content needed for those viewers browsing without
JavaScript. For example:
<script>
Displays for those viewers
document.write("The color is red."); with JavaScript
</script>
<noscript> Begins noscript content for those
viewers without JavaScript
The color is red.
</noscript> Ends noscript content

This example displays the phrase “The color is red.” to the viewer either through JavaScript
or through the text within the <noscript></noscript> tags.

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Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File 19

CAUTION
Some older browsers may not handle the noscript tag correctly and won’t display the
content in either section. If your users have older browsers, another alternative is to
display the content on the page and then use JavaScript to enhance the content for
those who are able to display it with JavaScript on.

The <noscript> tag can be useful at times, but there are often better ways to provide the
same content to those without JavaScript (avoiding the document.write() method, for instance).
You will learn more about accessible JavaScript as you progress through this book.

Ask the Expert

Q: Do I always need to use script tags to add JavaScript to a page?
A: It’s possible to use event handlers that allow you to write short bits of script within the
event-handling attribute of an HTML tag. You’ll learn about event handlers in Chapter 13.

Q: What about the language attribute?

A: The language attribute once was used to specify the scripting language to be used,
and for a time some browsers allowed a JavaScript version to be specified (for
example, language=“JavaScript1.2”). This is no longer the case, and the attribute has been
deprecated. Since it is completely ignored in modern browsers and causes pages not to
validate in XHTML and HTML5, it should no longer be used.

Q: My page won’t validate in XHTML strict (or transitional) when I add a script to it.
How do I get the page to validate?
A: If the script contains characters used in XHTML such as < (which is used for “less than”
in JavaScript but is seen as the beginning of a new tag in XHTML), then the page won’t
validate with the script directly in the document without adding a CDATA section:
<script>
<![CDATA[ Begins the CDATA section
var x = 5;
var y = 10;
if (x < y) {
window.alert("x is less than y");
}
]]> Ends the CDATA section
</script>
(continued)

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20 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

This will allow the page to validate, but because the <![CDATA[ and ]]> characters
are in the script, the script will no longer work. To fix this, you need JavaScript comments
(/* and */) around those characters when they are within the script tags:
<script>
Opening and closing JavaScript comments
/*<![CDATA[*/ are placed around <![CDATA[
var x = 5;
var y = 10;
if (x < y) {
window.alert("x is less than y");
}
Opening and closing JavaScript
/*]]>*/ comments are placed around ]]>
</script>

As you can see, this can get quite tedious very quickly! Typically, the better option is to
use an external script file if you are using XHTML, which eliminates this problem because
only the script tags themselves are needed in the XHTML document.

Creating Your First Script

Now that you know how to use the HTML script tags to tell browsers about the JavaScript in
a document, you’re ready to learn how to add the actual JavaScript code between those script
tags. The first coding example often given to teach any language is one that writes some sort
of text to the default output area, commonly known as a basic “Hello World” script. Following
that convention, your first script will write a string of text to a Web page.

Writing a “Hello World” Script

Rather than write “Hello World,” you’ll use another line of text for this script: “Yes! I am now a
JavaScript coder!” This requires only a single line of code, using the document.write() method,
which writes a string of text to the document:
<script>
document.write("Yes! I am now a JavaScript coder!");
</script>

Notice the parentheses and the quotation marks around the text. The parentheses are required
because the document.write() method is a JavaScript function, which takes an argument contained
in parentheses. You will learn more about JavaScript functions in Chapter 5.
The quotation marks denote a string of text. A string is a data type defined in JavaScript
by placing the value inside quotation marks. Chapter 4 provides details on strings and other
JavaScript data types.
The last thing to notice about your script is the semicolon at the end of the line. The
semicolon signals the end of a JavaScript statement. A statement is a portion of code that does
not need anything added to it to be complete in its syntax (its form and order). A statement can
be used to perform a single task, to perform multiple tasks, or to make calls to other parts of

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Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File 21

the script that perform several statements. Most JavaScript statements end with a semicolon, so
it is a good idea to get in the habit of remembering to add one.

NOTE
In later chapters, you will see various lines that do not end in semicolons because
they open or close a block of code. Also, many scripts you encounter may not end
statements with semicolons. JavaScript is lenient about the use of a semicolon in most
cases; however, it is best to use the semicolon to end a statement because it can prevent
possible errors and aid in debugging (removing errors from) the script later.

So, to write a text string to the page, you use the document.write() method, followed by the
text, surrounded by quotation marks and enclosed in parentheses. End the line (the statement)
with a semicolon. JavaScript will handle the rest of the job.

Creating an HTML Document for the Script

In order to make this example complete and test the script, you need to insert it into an HTML
document. First, create the following HTML document with the basic tags (using any text
editor you prefer):
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Save the document as test1.html in your text editor. You will open it later with a Web
browser to see the results of the script. Next, you’ll add your JavaScript code to this HTML
document, so leave the file open.

Inserting the Script into the HTML Document

Now you need to insert the script in the document. Where should it go? You can place a script
between the <head> and </head> tags, or between the <body> and </body> tags. Since this
example writes a text string directly to the page, you want to insert the script between the
<body> and </body> tags, wherever you want the text string to appear. It can come before,
after, or between any HTML code on the page.
To make it clear how the script results appear, you’ll add HTML code to write lines of text
before and after the script. The script tags and the script itself are inserted between those lines.
Add the lines shown next between the <body> and </body> tags:
<p>This is the first line, before the script results.</p>
<p>
<script>
document.write("Yes! I am now a JavaScript coder!");
</script>
</p>
<p>This line comes after the script.</p>

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22 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Figure 2-1 The test.html file in a Web browser

 
Save the test1.html document again. You should now be able to open the document in your
Web browser to see the results of the script. Figure 2-1 shows how the text should look in your
browser when you load the Web page.
Congratulations, you have now finished your first script!

NOTE
The example code in this section uses the entire HTML document and all of its tags. In
order to keep things as relevant as possible, from this point on the example code will
use only the HTML tags involved with the scripts rather than the entirety of its tags.
Project code may use entire HTML documents as needed.

Ask the Expert

Q: Why is there a dot (.) in the document.write() command?
A: Document is one of JavaScript’s predefined objects, and write() is a predefined method
of the document object. The dot puts the object and the method together to make the
function work. Chapter 10 explains JavaScript objects, and Chapter 13 introduces front-end
JavaScript and the document object in more depth.

Q: How do I know when to add the script inside the head section and when to add it
inside the body section?
A: In the past, JavaScript code was almost always placed inside the head section, which kept it
in a separate area from the rest of the HTML code. Modern coding practice is typically to
place all JavaScript code in an external .js file and to place the <script> tag(s) right before
the closing </body> tag. This ensures that the HTML page has loaded in the browser (since
large scripts can delay the loading of the page if placed elsewhere), giving the user a better
experience.

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Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File 23

Try This 2-1 Insert a Script into an HTML Document

pr2_1.html This project gives you practice adding a script to your page. You will create an
HTML document and insert a script that displays a short sentence in the browser
window when the page loads.

Step by Step
1. Set up an HTML document so that you have a simple file with nothing between the <body>
and </body> tags yet.
2. Put the following line of text into the Web page within a <p> tag:
I am part of the HTML document!
3. Insert a <p> tag after this line.

4. After the <p> tag, insert a script that will write the following line on the page:
This came from my script, and is now on the page!
5. After the script, add a </p> tag. Add another opening <p> tag.

6. Put the following line of text into the Web page after the last <p> tag, and make it
emphasized (using <em></em> tags):
I am also part of the HTML document, after the script results!
7. Add a </p> tag to complete the paragraph.

8. Here is what your HTML document should look like:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>JavaScript Project 2-1</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>I am part of the HTML document!</p>
<p>
<script>
document.write("This came from my script, and is now on the page!");
</script>
</p>
<p><em>I am also part of the HTML document, after the script results!</em></p>
</body>
</html>

9. Save the file as pr2_1.html and view the page in your browser to see the results.

(continued)

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24 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Try This Summary

In this project, you created an HTML file. Using the knowledge that you acquired thus far in
this chapter, you inserted within the HTML file a script that writes a specific line of text on the
page. When the HTML page is opened in a Web browser, the result of the script is displayed
between two lines of text.

Using External JavaScript Files

Now suppose that you want to use your “Hello World” script (the one you created earlier in this
chapter) on more than one page, but you do not want to write it out on each page. You can do this
by putting the script in an external script file and calling it with the src attribute of the script tag.
For this method, you need to create a JavaScript text file to hold your script. You also need one or
more HTML files into which you will place the script tags to call your external script file.

Creating a JavaScript File

For this example, you will create a JavaScript file that contains only one line. For practical
applications, you would use this approach for lengthier scripts—the longer the script is, the
more useful this technique becomes (especially if you are trying to validate your Web pages or
you are separating your script code from your markup).
Open a new file in your text editor and insert only the JavaScript code (the document.write()
statement) itself. The script tags are not needed in the external JavaScript file. The file should
appear like this:
document.write("Yes! I am now a JavaScript coder!");

Save the file as jsfile1.js in your text editor. To do this, you may need to use the Save As option
on the File menu and place quotation marks around your filename, as shown in Figure 2-2 (using
Notepad with Windows). If you are using an editor such as VS Code or Sublime, you won’t need
to add quotes around the filename since .js files are already supported.
Once the file has been saved, you can move on to the next step, which is to create the HTML
files in which to use the script.

Creating the HTML Files

You will create two files in which to place your script. The technique should work for any
number of HTML files, though, as long as you add the required script tags to each file.
For the first file, create your base HTML document and insert the script tags into the body
section of the document, using the src attribute to point to the jsfile1.js file, and add some HTML
text to the body of the page to identify it as the first HTML document:
<body>
<script src="jsfile1.js"></script>
<p>
This is page 1, and the script works here!
</p>
</body>

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Chapter 2: Placing JavaScript in an HTML File 25

Figure 2-2 An example of saving a file with a .js extension using quote marks so it will save
 
with the correct file extension

Save this file as jsext1.html in your text editor. Be sure to save it in the same directory as
your jsfile1.js file.
The second HTML document looks the same as the first one, except that the HTML text
says that it’s page 2:
<body>
<script src="jsfile1.js"></script>
<p>
This is page 2, and the script also works here!
</p>
</body>

Save this file as jsext2.html in your text editor. Again, be sure to place it in the same
directory as the other files.

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26 JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide

Figure 2-3 The result of calling the script in the jsext1.html file, the first HTML page
 
Viewing the Pages in Your Browser
Open the jsext1.html file in your Web browser. It should appear as shown in Figure 2-3, with
the JavaScript inserted in the page from the external script file.
Next, open the jsext2.html file in your Web browser. It should appear as shown in Figure 2-4,
with only the small difference of the text you added to the HTML file to say that this is page 2.
The JavaScript should write the same text to this page as it did to the first HTML page.
Although we used a short script in this example, it should give you an idea of how using an
external file could be a great time-saver when you have a large script.

Figure 2-4 The result of calling the script in the jsext2.html file, the second HTML page

02-ch02.indd 26 27/09/19 10:05

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Turjanlinnan
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Turjanlinnan satukirja

Author: Ilmari Kianto

Release date: September 3, 2017 [eBook #55481]

Language: Finnish

Credits: Produced by Tapio Riikonen

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURJANLINNAN

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 Produced by Tapio Riikonen

TURJANLINNAN SATUKIRJA
Omille ja muille Suomen lapsille tehnyt opiksi ja huviksi

ILMARI KIANTO

Helsingissä, Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, 1915.

SISÄLLYS:

Kirjantekijän esipuhelma
1. Tutteliini
2. Kissa Mirri Valkonen
3. Kotikoiramme Hurtta Pystykorva Fox…
4. Uni-Matti
5. Ruoka-Jussi
6. Itku-Iikka
7. Ämmy
8. Porosta ja porolla-ajaja-tytöstä
9. Pappilan kanakammiosta
10. Pöksy-Paavo ja Paita-Maija ja Puuro-Petteri ja Pörrö-Kerttu
ja Klosu-Klisu-Kaaperi
11. Punaiset posket
12. Tiukukoipi tyttö
13. Pikku Pojan kirkko
14. Kaiken Kyselijä Tyttö
15. Tuittupäät ja Keijut
16. Pojat ja tytöt järvenrannassa eli Kesälän uimakoulu
17. Turjanlinnan akkunaruudut
18. Sotapukki
19. Sääskensyömäri Poika
20. Miten kesävieraita saadaan
21. Kummitus on kultainen herra!

Kirjantekijän esipuhelma.

"Jylhää jymymiestä" olivat ystävät joskus kehoittaneet sorvaamaan

satuja. Vasta sitten kun itselläni oli lapsiliuta, joka ahdisteli
sadunkerronnalla, kiinnitin huomiota satukokoelmiimme. Moniaat
Suomen kansan vanhat tarinat olivat mainioita luettavia, mutta
suurin osa herrassatuja sekä entis- että nykyajalta oli minusta
jonninjoutavia. Huomasin että niitä sepittävätkin enimmäkseen
sellaiset kynäniekat, joilla ei itsellään ollut onni olla isiä eikä äitejä.
Ikävintä oli se — ja on yhä edelleen — että sadut olivat
vaikeatajuisia, ainakin maalaislapsille, jotka niin vähän tuntevat
"kuninkaita tai prinssityttöjä". Tai olivat ne kovin teennäisiä, väkisin
pinnistettyjä loruja. Minä kaipasin kirjahyllylläni sellaisia satuja, joita
lapset ymmärtävät. Niitä ei ollut…

Viisivuotias tyttöni sanoi: Isäpä kirjoittaisi itse!

Oli pitkä talvi ja kovat pakkaset. Elimme täydellisesti erillään

sivistyneestä maailmasta. Lapseni ottivat tavakseen sunnuntaisin
rynnistää huoneeseeni ja silloin ei auttanut muu kuin että minäkin
otin tavakseni ennen heidän tuloaan koettaa sepittää jotakin, jota
voisin heille lukea. Tietysti tahdoin kirjoittaa sellaisia satuja että
ainakin omat lapseni niitä ymmärtäisivät ja että he samalla, kun
saisivat naurun tai ihmettelyn aihetta, myös jotakin oppisivat. Tiesin
että didaktisuus on vaarallinen elementti, mutta tokihan olin herra
omassa linnassani. Pääasiaksi jäi että jutut kelpasivat omille
lapsilleni. Ja itseäni huvitti antaa niille sellainen leima että ne
jotenkin kuvastaisivat sitä erämaata, johon kohtalo meidät oli
sijoittanut. Näin ruvettiin satuja tekemään. Yksi viikossa oli määränä,
vaan saduntekijä usein karkasi porollaan pois juuri pyhäpäivänä.
Sommitteluja sentään karttui vähitellen ja niitä luettiin useampaankin
kertaan. Omat lapseni ovat ankaria arvostelijoita. Kyllä he nauravat
makeasti Pörrö-Kertun puurosaaville ja nauttivat Uni-Matin
töppösistä, mutta muutamia satuja he haikeasti hautovat: "Miksi isä
sillä lailla?" Minulla on tapana kysyä heti luettuani, onko satu hauska
vai ikävä, jolloin saatan saada "ikävänkin" vastauksen. Satuni eivät
siis kaikki liene ensiluokkaisia, mutta hyvin ne sentään ovat kaluksi
käyneet.

Muutamille jutuille ovat lapset itse aiheet keksineet, josta heille

olen sangen kiitollinen. Kirjoittaa paksu kokoelma "sellaisia satuja,
joita lapset ymmärtävät", sehän olisi sadunkerronnan kultaisin
huippu. Jos uhraisi siihen koko elämänsä ajan ja tutkimuksen,
kenties onnistuisi. Mutta — nykyaikana ei ole "aikaa"…

Nämä minun sepitykseni eivät ole tarkoitetut lasten itsensä

luettaviksi, vaan lapsia-rakastavien aikaihmisten esitettäviksi — ja
taidolla esitettäviksi — lapsille. Kolmea juttua enempää kerrallaan ei
mielestäni pitäisi lukea.

Erityisesti huomautan että nämä sadut ovat tulleet kirjoitetuiksi

lapsille, joista vanhin on vasta 7-vuotias — mitä he sanonevatkaan,
kunhan pääsevät toiselle kymmenelle? Jos he kehoittavat minua
jatkamaan, niin jatkan — sunnuntailukemiseksi — jos pitävät kaikkea
huonona ja kuuntelevat mieluummin muita kertojia, niin luovun
kilpailusta. Eläköön lasten valintavapaus! Kaikissa tapauksissa
tahtoisinkin että tätä Turjanlinnan tarukirjaa pidettäisiin vain
"Turjalasten" omana koekokoelmana, jonkunlaisena Pohjoissuomen
satukonttina. Vai ottanevatko muiden lapset vastaan tätä meidän
lasten lorukirjaa?

"Turjanlinnassa" syksyllä sotavuonna 1915.

Ilmari Kianto.

1.

Tutteliini.

Olipa kerran pikku lapsi, jonka nimi oli Tutteliini. Sen nimen se oli
saanut siitä että se aina vain imi tuttia, tyhjää tuttia, jota kasteltiin
vesilasiin, taikka myös tuttipulloa, jossa oli lämmintä maitoa. Kun
isommat lapset söivät voileipää ja puuroa, niin pikku Tutteliini
ainoastaan imi tuttia. Jos ei sillä ollut tuttia suussa, niin se oli hirveän
tyytymätön ja huusi aivankuin porsas. Keskellä yötäkin, kun muut
lapset nukkuivat, alkoi Tutteliini uikuttaa, jos tutti putosi suusta.
Tutti! Tutti! huusi se. Missä onkaan taas minun tuttini? Ja kun äiti oli
hypännyt ylös vuoteestaan ja pistänyt tutin Tutteliinin suuhun, niin
Tutteliini tyyntyi ja nauroi äidille niin makeasti että äiti ei
muistanutkaan kuinka hirveän väsynyt äiti oli, kun hänen aina piti
hypätä tuota tuttia hakemaan. Nuku nyt Tutteliini! sanoi äiti — ja näe
makeaa unta!

Ja Tutteliini nukkui ja näki makeaa unta. Semmoista unta näki nyt

pikku Tutteliini että koko maailma oli täynnä tuttipulloja. Niitä tippui
taivaalta, niitä tippui katolta, niitä tippui kattolampustakin. Ja ne
tuttipullot olivat aivankuin eläviä nukkeja, jotka keräytyivät Tutteliinin
lullun ympärille ja pyörivät piiriä ja lauloivat kilisevällä äänellä:

Tutteliini, Tutteliini!
Ota kiinni, ota kiinni!

Tutteliini katsoi niitä suurilla silmillä ja koetti tarrata käsillään kiinni

kaikista isointa tuttipulloa. Ja kun oli saanut sen kiinni, niin alkoi
vimmatusti imeä. Mutta voi hyvä ihme sentään, mikä tapahtui!
Tutteliini, kun oli juonut ison tuttipullon pohjaan asti, potkaisikin
samassa pois peittonsa ja hyppäsi alas lattialle ja alkoi kävellä
aivankuin iso ihminen. Pitkät hiukset kasvoivat Tutteliinin päähän, ja
suuhun tuli kolmekymmentä hammasta ja koko ruumis kasvoi niin
pitkäksi kuin isällä ja äidillä tai niinkuin tädillä tai niinkuin
lapsenhoitaja-neidillä tai niinkuin tuolla Anna-Marialla. Ja Tutteliini
itsekin alkoi tanssia ja hyppeli niin korkealle että pää paukkui
laipioon ja niin että kattolamppu heilahti. Ja Tutteliini, joka vielä
äsken ei osannut puhua, lauloi nyt hurjasti kovalla äänellä että:

Minä olen se Tutteliini,

Vaan pitäkää suunne kiinni,
Niin ettei äiti herää.

Mutta samassa heräsikin äiti! Ja kun näki Tutteliinin lattialla niin

isona ja hurjana huutamassa ja sata tuttipulloa ympärillä
pyörimässä, niin säikähti äiti rukka niin pahanpäiväisesti ettei
tuntenutkaan pikku Tutteliinia, vaan luuli sitä naapurin Isoksi Liisaksi
ja juoksi toiseen huoneeseen kutsumaan isää.

Mutta ennenkuin isä ennätti tulla, ryyppäsi Tutteliini kaikista

pienimmästä tuttipullosta ja voi ihmettä: — yhtäkkiä muuttui
Tutteliini taas pieneksi ja kiipesi lulluunsa, ja kun äiti isän kanssa tuli
katsomaan, niin ei huoneessa Isoa Liisaa ollutkaan, vaan Tutteliini
yksin huutamassa niinkuin ennenkin että: Tutti! Tutti! Missä tutti?

— Voi sinua sen pientä penskaa! sanoi äiti. — Katsohan isä, kun
on kapalonsakin potkinut ja peitot kaikki lattialla.

Mutta Tutteliini iski silmää äidille aivankuin olisi muka tahtonut

sanoa että "eipä äiti tiedäkkään, mitä minä olen tehnyt ja mitä minä
olen nähnyt!"

Semmoista unta Tutteliini näki!

2.

Kissa Mirri Valkonen.

Kis kis kis kissa rukka! Tules tänne Mirri. Missä olet taas ollut,
Mirri kulta?

— Miau, miau! vastasi kissa.

Mitä sinä sanot, samettikäpälä? Miksis näytät niin surkialta? Etkös

ole saanut yhtään hiirtä? Vai onko koira sinua purrut partaan? Ethän
vain ole pikkulintuja tappanut? Ethän vain lihapuodissa käynyt?
Kuule sinä Mirri ketkale! Tunnustappas, tunnustappas!

— Mirnau, mirnau! sanoi Mirri vain ja nuoleskeli viiksiään ja nosti

häntänsä pystyyn ja katseli lapsia kirkkain silmin ja oli olevinaan
hyvin viaton.
 Oletpas sinä oikea veijari. Eilen kaasit kermakannun ja toissa
päivänä nuolit tuttipulloa ja kesällä kaappailit pikkukaloja verkosta.
Muistatkos, muistatkos?

— En mie mitään muista! maukasi kissa ja hyppäsi pirtin uunin

päälle.

Kuulkaas lapset, kun Mirrikin puhuu. Tulkaa tänne leivinuunin

juurelle, niin kuuntelemme, sanooko Mirri vielä jotakin muutakin.

Kis kis kis, kissa kulta, kerroppas sieltä uunin päältä meille jotakin
hauskaa, niin annamme sinulle maitoa.

Ja kissa Mirri nuolaisi pehmeitä käpäliään, pyyhkäisi viiksiään kuin

mikäkin herrasmies ja alkoi jutella leivinuunin päältä:

Kerran minä olin kissojen kinkerissä. Siellä oli sata mustaa kissaa
— minä yksin valkea. Kissa pastori saarnasi ja Kissa lukkari veisata
luikkasi. Ja sitten meitä kaikkia luetettiin että osaammekos lukea
kirjaa. Ne mustat kissat kyllä tunsivat kaikki kirjaimet A:sta Ö:hon
asti ja osasivat myös veisata. Kissa pastori ja Kissa lukkari kiittelivät
niitä ja silittivät selkää. Vaan sitten tuli minun vuoroni.

— Mirri Valkonen! tuleppas lukemaan! käski Kissa pastori ja minä

astuin oven suusta Kissa pastorin eteen pitkän pöydän päähän.
Minua pelotti, jalkani ihan vapisivat.

— Ohoh, sanoi Kissa pastori, eikös sinulla olekaan mustaa takkia?

— Se jäi kotiin, vastasin minä.

— No lueppas tuosta, sanoi Kissa pastori ja rypisti silmälasien

takaa ja pani eteeni aapisen.
 — Miau! sanoin minä.

— Se on oikein! sanoi pastori. — Entäs sitten?

— Niu nau! sanoin minä.

— Hyvä tulee! sanoi pastori. — Lueppas lisää!

— Kurnau moru-moru! panin minä hädissäni. Mutta silloinkos

herra Kissa pastori tarttui minua häntään ja lennätti lukkarin eteen ja
huusi hirveästi:

— Laulattakaa sitä kelvotonta morupäätä, jos tuo osaa laulaakaan!

— Virsi seitsemän tuhatta seitsemän sataa seitsemän kymmentä

seitsemän? komensi lukkari, koppalasit nenällä.

Ja minä aloin laulaa niin kauniisti kuin suinkin osasin. Että:

Kissa olen kis kis kis,

Mirri muuan miss miss miss,
Hiirtä himoon, kalaa myös,
Koiraa pelkään konnan työss',
Metsämies — lintu ties,
Lämmin mulle kotilies,
Kissa-kullat riemuitkaa,
Kermat kaikki latkikaa!

Niinpä minä vain lauloin ja — tiedättekös: Kissa pastori leppyi ja

Kissa lukkari katseli minua vesissä silmin ja koko kissain seurakunta
alkoi itkeä että minä niin kauniisti lauloin, vaikka en lukea osannut.
 Ja kun kissain kinkerit sitten loppuivat, niin Kissa pastori sanoi
kaikkien kuullen:

— Mirri Valkonen saapi anteeksi sen ettei osaa lukea kirjaa ja että
ei ole muistanut ottaa mustaa takkia, sillä Mirri Valkonen osaa laulaa
kauniimmin kuin kukaan muu. Ja sentähden minä kissain
seurakunnan päämiehenä käsken kaikkia läsnäolevia kunnioittamaan
Mirri Valkosta ja annan hänelle arvonimen: Direktor Kantuus. se
tahtoo suomeksi sanoa Kissakoraalin kuningas, naukumisen
tirehtööri.

Siihen loppuivat kinkerit ja minä juoksin kotiin.

Semmoisen hauskan tarinan jutteli kotikissa pirtin uunin päältä

lapsille, jotka totisina uunin juurella kuuntelivat.

Ja kissa Mirri sai maitoa palkaksi.

3.

Kotikoiramme Hurtta Pystykorva Fox…

Minä olen vain koira. Nimeni on Hurtta Martta Sopuli Kopuli

Pystykorva Jyskyleuka Fox. Minä puhun koirankieltä. Hau! hau! hau!
Vou vou vou! Prrr ja buh! Se merkitsee niin paljon kuin: Hyvää
päivää, pirpanat! Tervetulemaan, vierahat! Kukas oletkaan sinä?
Varoppas itseäsi, ihminen! Minä olen tämän talon vahtimestari.
Minun nenäni on niin herkkä että jo kaukaa vainuan, kun vieras
kulkee. Minun korvani on niin tarkka että jo kolmen kukkulan takaa
kuulen, kun kärryt jyrisee ja reki ritisee. Jos lintu pörähtää lentoon
metsässä, senpä vasta kuulenkin! Linnun lemun tunnen yhtä hyvin
kuin lihapullan hajun. Ai ai kuinka se haiskahtaa makealta, jospa
tietäisitte, lapset!

Olen Hippa-Heikki, serkkuni on Kettu-Mikko, mutta pikkuserkkuni

— herra Susi Hukkanen. Minä olen aina hippasilla. Minä ajan takaa
Pappilan Ruunaa ja Toppilan Tammaa, minä juoksen leskeä Jänis-
Jussin kanssa ja koetan kopaista kärppää kiinni hännästä. Ahdistan
minä lehmääkin, jos niin tarvitaan, kyyditsen toki poroakin ja puren
kintusta. Olen urhoollinen kuin sotasankari — koko lammaslauman
hätistän järveen. Mutta rakas ruustinna on minua kieltänyt
höyhentämästä pappilan kanoja. Antakaa minulle luupalanen, niin
olen aika kiltti.

Minä olen Jumalan armosta hännänheiluttajataiteilija. Hännälläni

nauran ja itken — naurakaa te suullanne, mutta se on tosi että minä
hännälläni hymyilenkin. Ja hännällänipä sanon hyvää huomenta.
Joskus ihan ingelskaksi: gud bai!

Olette kai nähneet, minkämoinen painimestari olen, kuinka minä

pitelen jalkaini alla naapurin Nallia?

Minä olen loikka-leijona ja harppa-tiikeri. Ja uimamaisterikin olen

— enkä minä koskaan riisu uimapöksyjäni. Osaan minä laulaakkin,
olettekos sitä kuulleet? Vetelen aarioita, molleja ja duureja. Silloin
kun minulla on oikein ikävä, menen istumaan perunakuopan päälle
ja katselen metsään tai järvelle tai autiolle tielle, nuuskaan ilmaa ja
laulan esimerkiksi näin:

Oi voi voi kuinka ikävä on mulla!

Ei maistu maito, ei limppu, ei pulla!
Saispa nyt kultani kaukaa tulla,
 Kuutamo kuiskaa: tui tussalulla!
Hei hali lali laa,
Voi tätä mailmaa!
Missä on koirien taivas? —

Niin, niin. Mutta kissaa en kärsi! Kyllähän Mirri kaunis on, mutta
minun mielestäni Mirri on koketti. Ymmärrättekös lapset, mikä se on
— koketti? Kun hipsuttaa ja sipsuttaa ja muikistaa ja kuikistaa ja
nostaa häntänsä pystyyn tai panee silmät sirrilleen, pyörittää
päätään ja hieroo poskiaan ihmisen polvia vasten: niin se se on
koketti. Hyi kuinka minusta Mirri on koketti — ja sentähden minä sitä
komennan.

*****

Vaan minäpä kerron teille kummallisen jutun. Kerran huomasin,

kuinka kissa Mirri istui puussa ja vahtasi pikkulintua. Se oli juuri
sieppaamaisillaan pikkulinnun kynsiinsä, kun minä satuin puun alle.
Hau! huusin minä ja samalla pikkulintu läksi lentoon. Kutti parahiksi!
huusin minä. — Tule alas! — Enpäs tule! ilkkui kissa — paha koira,
pötki kotiisi! — Tule heti! haukuin minä. — Etpäs saa minua kiinni!
pilkkasi kissa. Pah! sanoin minä ja kiipesin puuhun. Kissa kiipesi ihan
puun latvaan ja alkoi surkeasti naukua. Mutta minä — kiipesin
perässä. Silloin kissa Mirri pörhisti häntänsä paksuksi ja — läksi
lentämään. Mutta minä ennätin tarttua hampaillani hännän huipusta
kiinni ja — niin lensimme molemmat. Mutta voi ihmettä: kissa
lensikin ylöspäin, lensi kuin hullu enkä minä uskaltanut heittää irti,
jotta en putoaisi maahan. Heipparallaa! huusi kissa ja pian oltiin
kuun päällä. Tämäpä koko reissua! murisin minä ja päästin irti kissan
hännästä, sillä sieraimissani haisi niin kauheasti juustolta. Koko kuu
oli hirmuinen juusto! Samalla tuli kuun tonttu ja sanoi: syökää vaan
lenturit-häntyrit juustoa, jotta jaksatte! Niin me aloimme kissan
kanssa molemmat jyrsiä sitä juustoa, toinen toisesta kyljestä. Mutta
kun juusto loppui, niin — voi hirveä paikka: ei ollut minkä päällä
enää seistä.

— Miau, kurnau? kysyi kissa.

— Hau-huut! vastasin minä hermostuneesti. Meillä oli melkoinen

hätä. Mutta Mirri se oli, joka keinon keksi. Hän hyppäsi nyt
vuorostaan minun niskaani, löi ruoskalla selkään ja huusi:
Heipparallaa, moksista vaan! Näin sitä sessulla ratsastetaan! Ja niin
me putosimme molemmat vinhaa vauhtia alaspäin ja —
molskahdimme järveen tuonne saunan eteen. Hulahti hieman vettä
nokkaan, mutta minähän olen uimamaisteri ja Mirri on vanha
perämies. Ja niin sitä taas päästiin kuivalle maalle.

— Kyllä minä sinut opetan! ärisin minä ja lipsautin kissaa korvalle.

— Kiitos kyydistä! vastasi Mirri kuivaillen itseänsä pyyheliinalla ja

voiteli viiksiään juuston rasvalla.

En minä mahtanut hänelle paljon mitään!

Siispä me menimme molemmat pirttiin emmekä hiiskuneet

isännälle halaistua sanaa että jo olimme syöneet päivällistä — tuolla
taivaan valtakunnassa.

Niin, rakkaat lapset, saattaa sitä kissankin kanssa kuuhun lentää,

vaan ei silti tarvitse joka pojan naskalin puun latvaan kiivetä!

4.
 Uni-Matti.

Olkaa hiljaa lapset, niin Uni-Matti tulee! Ei Uni-Matti tule, jos

huutaa ja heittää häränpyllyä sängyssä. Vaan kun on aivan hiljaa
eikä puhele toisen kanssa ja panee silmät sirrilleen ja vuottaa,
vuottaa, niin silloin hän pian tulee, se Uni-Matti.

Isähän sen äsken näki sen Uni-Matin! Tuollahan tuo kyykisteli

ulkona nurkan takana ja kuunteli seinän läpi että jokos lapset
nukkuvat sisällä. Vaan kun kuuli hirveätä melskettä ja häränpyllyn
heittoa, niin juoksi metsään ja sanoi että "eipä kannata vielä
mennäkkään" ja murisi kovasti. Vaan nyt se taas tupsahti takaisin ja
hiipii paraikaa ympäri taloa ja kuuntelee, kuuntelee. Kyykistelee joka
nurkassa ja kurkistelee, kurkistelee. Taitaapa akkunaankin kiivetä!
Kunhan ei vain pukkaisisi päällään ruudun läpi? Olkaapas
vähemmällä. Nyt se hyppäsi alas maahan, kun ei kynnet kestäneet,
ja kiersi pihan puolelle! Nyt se jo tuli sisään keskiportaista ja hiipii
tuolla kylmässä etehisessä. Nyt se on ihan oven takana! Painaa
korvansa ovea vasten ja kuuntelee… Jos nyt yhtäkkiä aukaisisi oven,
niin paukahtaisi ovi sen nokkaan ja Uni-Matti loukkaisi nenänsä. Tai
saisi sinisen sarven otsaansa! Mutta eihän kukaan halua Uni-Matille
pahaa tehdä, sehän on oikein hyvä mies, se vanha setä, se lyhyt
lyllerö, jolla on niin kauniit silmät kuin lemmikin kukat ja niin pehmyt
parta kuin linnun untuva. Antaa Uni-Matin vain kuunnella oven
takana! Kohta se sieltä tulee tännekkin, aukaisee oven niin ettei
lukkokaan rasahda ja kävellä hössyttää sängyn viereen. Ensin se
tulee kontallaan eikä sen kengän kärjet panekkaan klop klop klop,
vaan sillä on huopasyylingit jalassa, oikein semmoiset paksut,
valkoiset poromiehen syylingit, joita tehdään tuolla Paltaniemessä.
Kyllä sillä metsässä on paulapieksutkin, vaan se jättää ne aina
portaille ja tissuttaa, tassuttaa, sipsuttaa ja hipsuttaa tossuillaan.

Sitten kun lapset ovat ihan hiljaa ja panevat silmät sirrilleen, silloin
Uni-Matti nousee kontaltaan ja puhaltaa silmiin. Sitten kun on
puhaltanut, niin sitten pehmeällä parrallaan hipaisee otsaan ja
poskiin ja suuhun ja leukaan ja rintaankin — ja niin se lapsen
nukuttaa ja sitten se alkaa sitä kuletella, kuletella…

Ohhoh! Minnekkäs viet minut, Uni-Matti kulta? Annappas minulle

tänä yönä pikkunen pulkka ja pikkunen poro, niin että minä saan
ajaa huristaa tuolla Kuusamon tuntureilla. Viime yönä se Uni-Matti
antoi meille lapsille oikein kauniin veneen ja me soutelimme kuin
vesilinnut ympäri kaunista saarta ja siitä saaresta me poimimme
sinisiä ja punaisia ja vaikka minkä värisiä kukkasia ja monenlaisia
marjoja, mustikoita ja mansikoita. Kiitoksia, Uni-Matti, kiitoksia vaan
paljon! Danke schön! Saatamme me saksaksikin kiittää. Ja anna
huomeniltana Pojalle komia hevonen ja Tytölle lehmä ja pikkutytölle
karitsa, joka kimeästi määkyy että: mää-mää-mää! Voi sinua Uni-
Matti, juoksitkos sinä taas pois, kun luulit että minä herään?
Höpsistä töppöseen, tule takaisin! En minä sinuun katso, katson vain
kattoon.

Uni-Matti, setä kulta,

Väännä hiukan lampun tulta,
Tule viereen istumaan,
Korvan juureen kuiskimaan:
Annatkos, annatkos,
Minulle sen poron, jos
Pysyn aivan hiljaa,
Katson taivaan liljaa?
 Tule Matti, joudu nyt,
Kyllä oonkin väsynyt,
Niinpä niin, niinpä niin,
Paina nyt jo silmät kiinn'!

— Mutta mikä kumma siinä onkaan ettette te nuku, lapsukaiset?

Minäpä kerron teille niistä Uni-Matin paulapieksuista. Kerronkos?

Kerran kun Uni-Matti oli lasten huoneessa lapsia nukuttamassa ja

parrallaan hipomassa, niin isä luuli niitä Uni-Matin pieksuja omikseen
ja sanoi äidille että: kas kun on koira veitikka — se Hurtta Sopuli
Jyskyleuka Pystykorva Fox — kuljettanut minun paulapieksuni
pihalle.

Ja isä pisti ne pieksut jalkoihinsa ja läksi metsään kävelemään.

Mutta voi ihmettä kuinka nuo Uni-Matin pieksut rupesivat
hyppelemään ja hyppyyttivät isää niin kauhiasti että isä ihan säikähti
että minkä kummituksen töppöset hän oli saanut. Eikä voinut
pysähtyäkään, vaan hyppeli, hyppeli vain niinkuin suuri jänis ja
loikkasi oikein korkealle ilmaan ja putosi alas ja taas heti pinkaisi
ilmaan aivankuin kumipallo niin että päätä huimasi. Mutta sitten alkoi
kuulua pieksunnokista vikinää ja aivankuin hiiret olisivat puhuneet ja
kutittelivat isä rukkaa:

Kutti kutti parahiksi!

Miksis otit, miksi miksi?
Hypi nyt, hypi nyt —
Niin on Matti määrännyt.

Ja isä vain hyppeli puiden välissä eikä tiennyt että miten

pysäyttää, vaan silloin Jänis-Jussi, se taiteilija-hyppymestari, alkoi
pensaan juuressa ääneensä nauraa ja nauroi niin makiasti että Uni-
Matti kuuli taloon asti ja jätti lapset ja läksi takaa ajamaan omia
pieksujaan. Hiidenhamppua! Hiidenhamppua!

Töppöseni — seis seis seis!

Minne reissu, hipsun heis!
Nipsis napsis tui tui tui,
Untis antis ui ui ui!

Niin se Uni-Matti pieksujansa kutsui ja isä herkesi hyppimästä ja

potkaisi Matin kengät jaloistansa korkealle ilmaan ja Matti sieppasi
ne kiireenvilkkaa ja solahutti jalkoihinsa ja melkein lentämällä meni
isää pakoon niin ettei isä ennättänyt nähdä kuin parran heilahtavan
ja kantapäiden vilahtavan puiden välistä.

Ja kun isä tuli kotiin metsästä, niin oli isä niin ihmeissään niistä
Uni-Matin pieksuista ettei saattanut nukkua koko yönä, kun niitä vain
mietti ja kummasteli että minkälaiset paulapieksut ne oikein
olivatkaan, kun niin hullusti hyppelivät?

Isä on sitten kieltänyt kaikkia ettei saa suinkaan milloinkaan, ei

erehdyksissäkään, ottaa niitä Uni-Matin saappaita.

— Jokos te nukutte lapset, vai vieläkö kerron uudestaan?

5.

Ruoka-Jussi.

Ruoka-Jussi on Uni-Matin velimies.

 Se aina vahtii, syövätkö lapset kiltisti!

Mutta se on semmoinen kummallinen vanha setä ettei sitä näe,

vaikka hän usein istuu vieressä ja nauraa.

Se Ruoka-Jussi aina nauraa niin makiasti, kun näkee lasten

syövän. Mutta silloin kun lapset eivät syö, vaan mököttävät ja
juonittelevat ja sotkevat ja huutavat ja puhelevat toisilleen — silloin
Ruoka-Jussi itkee ja on vihoissaan.

Ui ui ui! se uikuttaa. Hyi hyi hyi! se hyitittää. Voi noita nokineniä.

Pumppis, pumppis puuroposki. Vellityttö, pottupoika, maitomaija,
piimäpiltti! Nassu naurusuut, sussut surriaiset! Sillä lailla! Sillä lailla!
Vieläkös oot muuta vailla? Sotku-Saara! Metku-Mikko! Mäiskis mäski!
Kuka käski? Syöppäs läski! Voitaleipä! Älä heitä! Pistä, pistä! Kasta,
kasta! Voipas lasta! Sepäs vasta! Hotsis, hotsis! Ratsis, ratsis!
Joutukaapas, joutukaapas! Muuten lentää — Jussin saapas!!

Näin se Ruoka-Jussi lapsia kiirehtii, kiittää ja toruu sekaisin ja

aikoo lennättää saappaansa, jos eivät lapset joudu, vaan istuvat liian
kauan pöydässä.

Kerran se potkasi sen saappaansa, kun Melulan lapset oikein

melusivat eivätkä totelleet Ruoka-Jussia!

Pitääkö se kertoa se tarina?

No niin. Kun ei Melulan Maijalle ja Pellervolle ja Kullervolle ja

Kaarina-Taarinalle eräänä pyhäaamuna talkkuna kelvannut, niin
yhtäkkiä
Ruoka-Jussin saapas lensi keskelle talkkunakulhoa ja — arvatkaapas
mitä tapahtui?
 Koko talkkunamöhkäle muuttui suureksi kiviläjäksi ja Ruoka-Jussi
alkoi pistellä joka tytön ja joka pojan poskeen niitä pikku kiviä ja
huusi hirveällä äänellä:

Kilkkis! Kalkkis!
Naksista vaan!
Näin niitä lapsia syötetään!
Kratsis! Krätsis!
Purkaa vaan!
Näin niitä hampaita hijotaan!

Ja lapsirukat olivat niin kauhuissaan että pikku Pellervolta pääsi

itkun poru ja Kaarina-Taarinalta katkesi kolme kaunista hammasta, ja
kaikki huusivat ja kirkuivat ja vatsa tuli niin kipeäksi ettei kukaan
saattanutkaan syödä päivälliseksi lettuja, joita äiti oli paistanut.

Mutta Ruoka-Jussi istui pöydän alla ja virnisteli ja sanoi että: Näin

minä tekemä jokama kertama jos eivät lapset tottelema!

Vaan senjälkeenpä ne Melulan lapset aina söivätkin siivosti

talkkunansa ja tulivat Ruoka-Jussin kanssa hyviin väleihin.

Ja Ruoka-Jussi antoi niille joskus pannukakkuakin, semmoista

Jussin kakkua, jota ei joka pojan mamma osaa laittaakaan ja joka on
oikein herkullista ja jolla on niin mukava nimikin. Että mitenkä se
olikaan:

Kakkara — Sakkara — Nisu — Krisu — Makkara — Manteli Kanteli

—
Rusina — Rapa — Daadeli — Tilulilu — Päärynä — Appelsiini —
Aprikoosi — Pium — Paum — Pähkinä — Siirappi — Kartemumma —
Höly
— Pöly — Pippuri — Inkivääri — Pitkäsääri — Viinitilkka —
Hillahilkka — Ooterklongi — Sinappi — Anoppi — Galoppi —
Schnaps!

Hullun pitkä nimi! Mutta semmoista pannukakkua se vain Ruoka-

Jussi syötti noille Melulan lapsille.

Ja pitäisipä meidän lasten varoa ettei Ruoka-Jussi potkaisisi

saapastaan huomenaamuna puurokuppiin ja että saisimme tulevana
pyhänä maistaa sitä ihmeellistä Jussin pannukakkua!

6.

Itku-Iikka.

Se on hyvin hyvin hyvin pieni pikkarainen poikaressu se Itku-Iikka!

Se on niin pieni että se mahtuu avaimen reijästä ja lattian raosta ja
kaikkien lasten jalkain välistä. Ja se on niin surkian ja hullunkurisen
näköinen että sen surkiampaa pikku poikaa ei taida olla koko tässä
maailmassa! Sillä on aina suu ristissä kuin jänisjussilla ja aina leuka
väärässä ja aina naama kurtussa ja nokka kippurassa ja posket
pollollaan ja silmät vesissä. Oi voi sentään kuinka surkia, surkia
surkia se on, ja kun häntä vain katsoo, niin silloin sitä vasta itsekkin,
ihminen, tulee surkiaksi.

— Kenenkä poikia sinä olet, Itku-Iikka?

— Minä olen Iisakki Itkosen poika!

— Vai niin, vai niin, kyllä tunnetaan, vieläkös äitisi elää?

 — Vielä se elää, ui ui ui!

— Missä mökissä te asutte?

— Mököttäjän mökissä, Itikkalammin rannalla.

— Vai niin, vai niin. Onko sinulla yhtään siskoa?

— O-o-o-onhan mi-mi-mi-minulla y-y-y-yksi siukku!

— Mikä sen nimi on, vastaa sinä selvästi, poika, äläkä volise!

— Ti-ti-ti-ti! Pi-pi-pi-pi! Tilli-Pilli-Piipari sen siukun nimi on.

— Vai niin, vai niin. Ja sinun nimesi on Itku-Iikka. Onko se oikein

niin ristitty?

— Ky-ky-ky-kyllä!

— Oletpa sinä koko surkia kun aina voliset. Heitä pois!

— I-i-i-isä on sanonut että mi-mi-mi-minun aina aina pitää itkeä.

— Voi surkiata joukkoa! Ja mitä sinulla, Iikka raiska, on käsissä!

— Ve-ve-vesikuppi!

— Mitä sinä sillä teet?

— Minä pir-pir-pirskottelen!

— Mihin sinä pirskottelet?

— La-lasten silmiin!
 — Kuka sinun on käskenyt?

— I-isä ja äiti ja se Tilli-Pilli-Piipari!

— No voi hyvänen aika! Sinähän surkia poika olet! Kun aina vikistä
vollotat ja muita itketät! — Pane pois tuo vesikuppi ja tule meijän
lasten kanssa leikkimään ja naura makiasti ja ole kiltti, niin saat
pullaa!

———

Mutta silloinkos Itku-Iikka säikähti!!! Kun hänelle näin sanottiin!

Säikähti niin hirveästi että vesikuppi läikähti ja ihan muuttui siniseksi
koko poika rukka, ja huulet menivät huipparaan ja leuka vääntyi
vänkkyrään ja tukkakin tutisi ja koko poika vapisi ja alkoi ihan
silmäin edessä laihtua ja muuttui niin laihaksi ja litteäksi kuin mikä
liera ja — yhtäkkiä pujahti ulos avaimen reijästä ja katosi koko poika
niin ettei koirakaan nähnyt että minne se hupeni se Itku-Iikka.

Se meni pakoon tuo Itku-Iikka, kun hänen käskettiin nauraa!

Surkia poika.

Ei siitä nyt viitsi sen enempää kertoa semmoisesta itikasta, joka

aina itkeä tillittää tyhjästä.

7.

Ämmy.