Introduction to Javascript and Ajax: Building Web Apps

Introduction to Javascript and Ajax: Building Web Apps

This course is part of HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers Specialization

Instructor: Yaakov Chaikin

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6,548 already enrolled

2 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

48 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

2 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

48 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Fundamental and advanced Javascript programming concepts
How to interact with the Document Object Model (DOM)
How to handle user events with Javascript
How to create responsive and interactive websites with Javascript and AJAX

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Assessments

12 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers Specialization

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There are 2 modules in this course

Do you realize that the only functionality of a web application that the user directly interacts with is through the web page? Implement it poorly and, to the user, the server-side becomes irrelevant! Today’s user expects a lot out of the web page: it has to load fast, expose the desired service, and be comfortable to view on all devices: from a desktop computers to tablets and mobile phones.

The course covers fundamental Javascript programming concepts, starting with variables, data types, operators, and control flow mechanisms. It will then teach learners about object-oriented programming in Javascript, object creation using literals and constructors, prototypes, and the intricacies of the 'this' keyword. After which, the course goes into the power of Javascript arrays, using namespaces and IIFEs to prevent variable collisions, and discussion of closures and their use cases in Javascript programming. After covering the fundamental Javascript programming concepts, the course transitions into building dynamic and interactive websites by using Javascript and AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) to interact with the Document Object Model (DOM), handle user events, and dynamically update web page content. The course will also talk about the HTTP protocol, different HTTP request methods, and how to work with JSON data. Building on these skills, learners will gain practical, hands-on experience by converting the restaurant website into a dynamic single-page application (SPA) powered by Javascript and AJAX.

What fun would a web site be if there was no functionality to it? In this course, we are going to concentrate on learning the fundamentals of the Javascript language. A lot of even seasoned developers “tinker” with Javascript without really understanding how the language works. That leads to viewing the language as more of a nuisance instead of a powerful tool. That is why we are going to concentrate not only on the “how” but also on the “why”, so you are empowered by the Javascript language features, not confused by them. We’ll cover just about everything - from common language constructs and Javascript types to objects, functions, arrays, closures, and scope isolation.

What's included

23 videos4 readings9 assignments1 peer review

23 videos Total 149 minutes

Lecture 40, Part 1: Adjusting Development Environment for Javascript Development 5 minutes
Lecture 40, Part 2: Where to Place Javascript Code 5 minutes
Lecture 41, Part 1: Defining Variables, Function, and Scope 9 minutes
Lecture 41, Part 2: Defining Variables, Function, and Scope 5 minutes
Lecture 42, Part 1: Javascript Types 5 minutes
Lecture 42, Part 2: Javascript Types 4 minutes
Lecture 43, Part 1: Common Language Constructs 9 minutes
Lecture 43, Part 2: Common Language Constructs 4 minutes
Lecture 43, Part 3: Common Language Constructs 8 minutes
Lecture 44: Handling Default Values 5 minutes
Lecture 45, Part 1: Creating Objects Using 'new Object()' Syntax 7 minutes
Lecture 45, Part 2: Creating Objects Using Object Literal Syntax 6 minutes
Lecture 46: Functions Explained 9 minutes
Lecture 47, Part 1: Passing Variables by Value vs. by Reference 7 minutes
Lecture 47, Part 2: Passing Variables by Value vs. by Reference 8 minutes
Lecture 48: Function Constructors, prototype, and the 'this' Keyword 12 minutes
Lecture 49: Object Literals and the 'this' Keyword 7 minutes
Lecture 50, Part 1: Arrays 8 minutes
Lecture 50, Part 2: Arrays 4 minutes
Lecture 51: Closures 7 minutes
Lecture 52, Part 1: Fake Namespaces 6 minutes
Lecture 52, Part 2: Immediately Invoked Function Expressions (IIFEs) 9 minutes
Module 4 Wrap-Up 1 minute

4 readings Total 19 minutes

Welcome to Course 4: Introduction to Javascript 10 minutes
Recommended Books 5 minutes
New Tutorials - here is how... 2 minutes
Frequently Asked Questions 2 minutes

9 assignments Total 270 minutes

Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes
Optional Practice Quiz 30 minutes

1 peer review Total 60 minutes

Module 4 Coding Assignment 60 minutes

In this course, we are going to take all those newly learned Javascript language skills and learn how to utilize them within the context of a web page. We’ll start by learning how to properly manipulate the web page components using the Javascript Document Object Model API. We will then move on to learning one of the most popular ways of serving up data to a web site - Ajax. We'll learn about the protocol that the language of the web speaks in (HTTP), how to set up and handle Ajax requests and responses, as well as how to process JSON data. We'll finish the course by connecting our restaurant web site from Course 3 (Coding the Static Restaurant Site) to a real backend service that will allow us to pull the data for the restaurant menu dynamically from the server without having to reload the entire page.