JavaScript

JavaScript is the programming language of HTML and the Web. JavaScript is easy to learn. This tutorial will teach you JavaScript from basic to advanced.

Examples in Each Chapter

With our “Try it Yourself” editor, you can edit the source code and view the result.
We recommend reading this tutorial, in the sequence listed in the left menu.

Learn by Examples

Examples are better than 1000 words. Examples are often easier to understand than text explanations.

This tutorial supplements all explanations with clarifying “Try it Yourself” examples.

If you try all the examples, you will learn a lot about JavaScript, in a very short time!

Why Study JavaScript?

JavaScript is one of the 3 languages all web developers must learn:

1. HTML to define the content of web pages
2. CSS to specify the layout of web pages
3. JavaScript to program the behavior of web pages

Web pages are not the only place where JavaScript is used. Many desktop and server programs use JavaScript. Node.js is the best known. Some databases, like MongoDB and CouchDB, also use JavaScript as their programming language.

Did You Know?

JavaScript and Java are completely different languages, both in concept and design.

JavaScript was invented by Brendan Eich in 1995, and became an ECMA standard in 1997.
ECMA-262 is the official name of the standard. ECMAScript is the official name of the language.

You can read more about the different JavaScript versions in the chapter JS Versions.

Learning Speed

In this tutorial, the learning speed is your choice.

Everything is up to you.

If you are struggling, take a break, or reread the material.

Always make sure you understand all the “Try-it-Yourself” examples.

JavaScript References

W3Schools maintains a complete JavaScript reference, including all HTML and browser objects.

The reference contains examples for all properties, methods and events, and is continuously updated according to the latest web standards.

Complete JavaScript Reference.