JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Preface

It may be difficult to imagine that a technology born as recently as 1995 would have had enough of a life cycle to experience a rise and fall in popularity, followed now by an amazing renaissance. Client-side scripting, begun initially with JavaScript embedded in Netscape Navigator 2, has experienced such a roller coaster ride. A number of early incompatibilities among major browsers caused many a content author’s head to ache. But we learned to live with it, as a long period of stability in one platform—Internet Explorer 6, in particular—meant that we could use our well-worn compatibility workarounds without cause for concern. Another stabilizing factor was the W3C DOM Level 2 specification, which remained a major target for browser makers not following Microsoft’s proprietary ways. Mozilla, Safari, and Opera used the W3C DOM as the model to implement, even if Microsoft didn’t seem to be in a hurry to follow suit in all cases.

Two factors have contributed to the rebirth of interest in JavaScript and Dynamic HTML. The first is the wide proliferation of broadband connections. Implementing large client-side applications in JavaScript can take a bunch of code, all of which must be downloaded to the browser. At dial-up speeds, piling a 50–75 kilobyte script onto a page could seriously degrade perceived performance; at broadband speeds, nobody notices the difference.

But without a doubt, the major attraction these days is the now widespread availability in all mainstream browsers ...