Workshop 1: Introduction to JavaScript (half-day)

Presenter: KevinYank

As SitePoint’s Chief Technical Officer, Kevin Yank keeps abreast of all that is new and exciting in web technology.

Best known for his first book, “Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL”, Kevin also co-wrote “Simply JavaScript” in 2007 and “Everything You Know About CSS Is Wrong” in 2008. He also writes the SitePoint Tech Times, a free weekly email newsletter that goes out to over 200,000 subscribers worldwide, and hosts the weekly SitePoint Podcast.

When he isn’t speaking at a conference or writing his next book, Kevin lives in Melbourne, and performs improvised comedy theatre with Impro Melbourne.

What is “Introduction to JavaScript” all about?

JavaScript is the single most important technology that powers the latest wave of sophisticated applications from major players like Google, Facebook, and Apple.

This workshop cuts through the complexities of JavaScript, making it easy to understand and work with. Because JavaScript is a fully-fledged programming language, working with it is more involved than simply creating static pages using HTML and CSS.

This half-day introduction will demystify JavaScript, giving you a solid grasp of the basics as you dive into this rich programming language for the first time.

You will learn to:

• understand where JavaScript fits into the picture alongside HTML and CSS
• write and run simple JavaScript programs in a web browser
• recognise and use the basic building blocks of the JavaScript language
• use JavaScript to access and modify parts of your static HTML/CSS web pages
• use the Firebug development tool to diagnose problems with your code

Who should attend “Introduction to JavaScript”?

• Web designers or developers who understand how to build web sites using basic HTML and CSS, and who wish to add JavaScript to the mix.
• Designers who have used JavaScript in a copy-and-paste fashion should also definitely attend this day, as it will provide the fundamentals you need to write your own JavaScript code from scratch with confidence.

Previous experience with other programming languages (particularly C#, PHP, or Java) will make the material covered in Day 1 seem a bit basic, but will provide worthwhile opportunities to gain familiarity with the JavaScript language’s unique aspects.

What should I bring to “Introduction to JavaScript”?

• Bring a Mac, PC, or Linux laptop with either a CD/DVD drive, a USB port, or a reliable mobile Internet connection to download coding exercises (wireless Internet is not provided).
• To save time, please have Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or later installed on your computer in advance. You can use other recent web browsers too (Internet Explorer 7 or later, Chrome, Safari and Opera are all fine), but we’ll look at some Firefox-specific developer tools in this workshop.
• If you have a preferred code editor, make sure you have it installed; otherwise, you’ll be stuck with Notepad or something equally bare-bones.

Dates for “Introduction to JavaScript”

• Melbourne: Monday 12 April – (Melbourne venue details)
• Sydney: Monday 19 April – (Sydney venue details)
• Canberra: Monday 3 May – (Canberra venue details)
• Brisbane: Monday 10 May – (Brisbane venue details)

Times for “Introduction to JavaScript”

• 9:00am to 12:30pm
• 20min break at 10:30am

Cost for “Introduction to JavaScript”: $275 per person

Ticket includes:

• All day tea/coffee and morning tea (lunch not provided for half day workshops).
• Workshop handbook and CD containing workshop sample code.

Contact us for group booking information and discounts.