Advanced Web Design

1
Advanced Web Design

• Scripting Tutorial Chapters

2
Scripting Intro

• The scripting part of the forthcoming Advanced
  Web Design textbook introduces you to the concept
  of scripting and steps you through a programming
  primer in which you learn how to create different
  kinds of scripts. To get started, you should go
  to Chapter 9 and work through it at your own
  pace.

3
What Is Scripting?

• Scripting is the act of writing little computer
  programs that can enhance the appearance and
  functionality of a web page.
• Browsers render web pages by placing objects
  onscreen.
• Scripts let you grab hold of those objects to
  make them do special things.

4
What Can Scripts Do?

• You can grab hold of the browsers status bar,
  for example, and write a message into it.
• You can make text on your web pages display
  active content, such as the current date and
  time.
• You can create rollover effects that highlight a
  graphic, make sounds, and pop out explanatory
  messages when the user moves the mouse over an
  object onscreen.

5
Scripts Can Process Forms

• When the user clicks a button to submit something
  typed into a text field, you can grab hold of the
  text field and validate what the user entered
  into it.
• You can also write scripts that use cookies to
  remember things as the user navigates from screen
  to screen.

6
Scripting Languages

• There are many different brands of scripting
  languages.
• This course teaches you how to use the four
  leading brands, which are JavaScript, VBScript,
  JScript, and a new language called C.
• The book divides into columns devoted to the
  different scripting languages.

7
Where Do Scripts Go?

• You can put scripts in the head or in the body
  section of a web page.
• Scripts can also reside in separate files that
  get included in the page at runtime.
• The .NET framework, for example, enables you to
  create code-behind files that keep your scripts
  separate from your HTML.

8
Where Do Scripts Run?

• Scripts run either on the client (i.e., in the
  browser) or on the server that hosts the web
  site.
• JavaScript is an example of a scripting language
  that runs on the client. When a browser
  encounters JavaScript on a web page, the browser
  processes the script and renders the result
  onscreen.
• ASP scripts, on the other hand, run on the
  server. When a browser asks a server to display
  an ASP page, the server executes any JScript or
  VBScript on the page before sending the response
  to the browser.

9
Hello, World!

• Lets work through the Hello, World example
  together.
• JavaScript
• JScript
• VBScript

10
Scripting Variables

• Chapter 10 introduces the concept of a variable
  and teaches you how to assign values to string
  variables and numeric variables. After learning
  how to stylize and concatenate variables into
  print strings, you create a clock script that
  displays the current date and time onscreen.

11
Scripting Logic

• Learning how to program arrays, loops, and
  comparisons brings a new dimension to your
  scripting prowess. That new dimension is logic.
  In chapter 11 you learn how to give your scripts
  the ability to acquire knowledge and make
  decisions.

12
Scripting Functions

• Learning how to write functions can help you
  organize your code better and save time writing
  scripts. Chapter 12 teaches you how to write
  functions and use include files to make your
  functions easy to maintain.

13
Scripting Forms and Cookies

• Chapter 13 teaches you how to write scripts that
  process forms. You will learn how to write an ASP
  script to receive and process data posted by a
  form. Then you learn to use cookies to maintain
  state as the user moves from page to page. As a
  final touch, you learn how to read the values of
  the cookies and make decisions based on what the
  user has done at your web site.

14
Document Object Model

• Chapter 14 introduces the Document Object Model
  (DOM).
• The DOM is the official W3C structural definition
  of the objects, methods, and properties that
  comprise documents on the World Wide Web.

15
DHMTL Effects

• By manipulating objects in the DOM, you can
  create dynamic HTML (DHTML) effects, including
  rollovers.
• Chapter 14 teaches you how to create rollovers
  and other kinds of DHTML effects using Microsoft
  FrontPage.

16
Another Approach

• For students who would like to try a new approach
  to teaching scripting, I have printed a few
  copies of the Introduction to Scripting from
  ITAW.
• I would value your feedback, especially if you
  find any glitches in this newly written tutorial.