Javascript has restored its name the last few years, after having lost all credibility as a serious tool due to browser wars, the DHTML disaster, pop-up dialogues and open-CD-tray scripts. Jeremy Keith sees javascript as a necessary scripting language that completes the front-end development toolkit, together with CSS and (X)HTML. Unobtrusive javascripting, unobtrusive being the keyword, offers an equal level of power to what CSS once did, when used correctly.

As for the target audience, this book was exactly what I was after:

The book is aimed at designers rather than programmers. If you’ve learned the benefits of Web Standards through CSS and you’re now ready to move on to the next level, this is the book for you.

DOM Scripting clearly introduces all the concepts that would be unfamiliar to a a non-programmer, and provides a solid history of the developments the last 10-or-so years, before diving into any scripting. Chapter two is a thorough explanation of the javascript syntax, with some half-practical examples. Next is the Document Object Model, and that’s where I’m at.

Related posts:

1. CSS3 media queries in older browsers

This is the first of two interactive floor plans that I’m developing for a local building project. I’ll be using an image map and coordinates to define the clickable areas, and the Maphilight javascript by David Lynch to get some neat mouseover indicators. The light blue area around half of the building is meant to represent a glass façade, seen from above but on a slight angle. This is a vector file exported as a PNG with transparency, so it has a slightly different effect on a darker/textured background.

The website is still in the early stages of development, but we’re getting there.