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JavaScript is a powerful programming language that adds dynamic interactivity to millions of sites on the web. Before we start programming lets see what JavaScript can do.
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JavaScript Examples
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Hi, I'm Dave and welcome to JavaScript basics.
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I'm really excited to be teaching this course, I love JavaScript.
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It's useful, it's fun and it's available anywhere there's a web browser.
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JavaScript is a great first language to learn and
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if you wanna be a front end web developer, you need to learn it.
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JavaScript started life as a simple little language intended to
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add a few interactive features to web pages.
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However, it's grown into a powerful programming language that's used on
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nearly every web site in the world.
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JavaScript drives the front end of giant web applications like Google Maps,
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Gmail, and Facebook.
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It's even capable of running on the backend as a super fast web server.
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Before we jump into programming,
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let me take you through some of the places you can find JavaScript.
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I'll bet some of these will surprise you.
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JavaScript has always been used to add fun and useful additions to web pages.
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Simple photo galleries, like the original Lightbox script, make for
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fun and engaging web pages.
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You can use JavaScript to add interesting effects to a page.
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Check out this page which animates as you scroll.
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With Java Script, you can make ordinary web experiences like signing up at
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a site and filling in a form more exciting and engaging.
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And JavaScript lets you create very immersive web experiences.
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Like this site for the author Philippa Gregory.
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Which combines animation and
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an unique site navigation to create a compact, information rich presentation.
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You can even make games using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
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Like this game Super Jetdroid.
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But JavaScript is used for more than just adding visual flare to a website.
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Web applications like Google Maps, Gmail, and Google Docs depend on JavaScript.
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Here, I'm creating a new spreadsheet in Google Docs.
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Every part of the process, from creating a new document to titling it,
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to adding numbers and calculations uses JavaScript.
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But JavaScript isn't just limited to the web browser.
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It turns out that JavaScript can even be used on web servers.
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Node.JS is a popular choice for server side development.
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It offers great performance and easily handles lots of simultaneous users.
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It's a favorite of big companies like Wal-Mart,
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PayPal, LinkedIn, Netflix and Groupon.
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Who have all started using node.js to serve up at least some portion of
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their websites.
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JavaScript has even made its way to the desktop.
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Many of Adobe's products let you write scripts to automate them using JavaScript.
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You can use JavaScript to automate Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver and
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After Effects, to name a few.
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There are even complete desktop applications written in JavaScript
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like Breach, a web browser.
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Or Brackets, a text editor for creating websites.
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It's written in JavaScript.
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And thanks to Google,
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you can build desktop apps called Chrome apps out of just HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
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All of these are just a handful of the things that JavaScript is capable of.
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There's much more.
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You'll need to study a lot and work hard to build the next Gmail, but
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the basics you're going to learn in this course provide the foundations for
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building complex user interfaces and web applications using JavaScript.
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