Intro to JavaScript

Slides and materials are hosted at http://girldevelopit.github.io/gdi-featured-js-intro/.

This is the Girl Develop It Intro JavaScript course. Material based on original material by Sara Chipps, Pamela Fox, Alexis Goldstein, Izzy Johnston, Leo Newball, and Sylvia Pellicore.

The course is meant to be taught in 4 two-hour sections. Each of the slides and practice files are customizable according to the needs of a given class or audience.

Course description

JavaScript is the world's most popular programming language for a reason -- it's the primary way to build interaction on the web. Learning JavaScript is a logical next step once you've learned HTML/CSS.

Many programming courses end up glossing over some of the tricky words -- 'variable', 'object', 'method' -- this course is especially designed for beginners new to programming concepts, so you'll learn to program with JavaScript. If those words are confusing to you now, no worries! You're exactly who we want to teach.

In this class, we will be covering: basic development concepts, JavaScript, dynamic HTML, and animations and events. Students will exit this class with a good grasp of basic programming principles and the knowledge of how to manipulate HTML elements.

Prerequisites:

You should have: (a) taken Intro to HTML/CSS through Girl Develop It, or (b) have a working knowledge of HTML

This course is specifically for beginners and we advise experienced developers to not take this class

Tech requirements:

• Your laptop (Mac, PC, or Linux are all okay).
• A modern web browser - either Chrome or Firefox with Firebug installed.
• A text editor. We recommend Sublime Text 2 (free; available for Mac, PC, and Linux).

Classes

Class 1: Introduction to JavaScript and Basic Programming Concepts

An overview of the history of JavaScript, what it is, and how it interacts with the browser. Covers basic JavaScript concepts including variables and data types

Class 2: Functions and Control Flow

Introduces functions, boolean variable, and if/then/else statements.

Class 3: Loops, Arrays, and Objects

Introduces more complex programing concepts, including loops, arrays, objects, and methods.

Class 4: Introduction to the DOM

Introduces the Document Object Model (DOM) and how to use JavaScript to interact with it. Includes finding and modifying nodes, events, and listening functions.