About Javascript

Javascript (.js)
Javascript is an object oriented, programming language for making HTML elements and CSS selectors highly interactive. It is a lightweight scripting language that is powerful enough build complex web applications. While the syntax is more complex than HTML and CSS and has a steeper learning curve, it is still relatively easy to learn. Front-end designers should have a basic understanding of Javascript to leverage its capabilities; but should learn to code Javascript after they have command of HTML and CSS. Most custom javascript is developed by experienced programmers rather than front-end designers. However, since Javascript is so common, there are many open source libraries and examples available to provide functionality to Web pages without coding javascript from scratch.

Javascript is a huge topic. While learning javascript programming is beyond the scope of this guide, we will explore how to deploy the functionality of some of its popular libraries used in Web design.

 jQuery | Figure 10
jQuery is likely the most widely used Javascript library used in Web page design. It is extremely fast and lightweight and easy to understand and modify. Since it is so popular there are tons of examples available online for a wide range of common functions.jQuery is used as the primary Javascript Library for some of the most popular Web development frameworks such as Bootstrap, Foundation and HTML5 Boilerplate.  jQuery is modular and includes a wide range of add-ons.

 jQuery UI | Figure 11
The jQuery UI add-on includes all sorts of useful visual layout and utility widgets including sliders, accordions, tabs and tooltips. It is highly compatible with nearly all browsers

 jQuery Mobile | Figure 12
jQuery Mobile is an HTML5 based touch optimized library of interface components for mobile responsive websites and mobile device applications. It can be customized to only include the components needed in a particular build.