December 2012
Beginner
164 pages
3h 15m
English
Content preview from JavaScript EnlightenmentBecome an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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Chapter 5. The Head/Global Object
Conceptual Overview of the Head Object
JavaScript code, itself, must be contained within an object. As an
example, when crafting JavaScript code for a web browser environment,
JavaScript is contained and executed within the window object. This window object is considered to be the “head
object,” or sometimes confusingly referred to as “the global object.” All
implementations of JavaScript require the use of a single head
object.
The head object is set up by JavaScript behind the scenes to encapsulate user-defined code and to house the native code with which JavaScript comes prepackaged. User-defined code is placed by JavaScript inside the head object for execution. Let’s verify this as it pertains to a web browser.
Below, I am creating some JavaScript values and verifying the values
are placed in the head window
object.
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><body><script>
var myStringVar = 'myString';
var myFunctionVar = function() {};
myString = 'myString';
myFunction = function() {};
console.log('myStringVar' in window); // returns true
console.log('myFunctionVar' in window); // return true
console.log('myString' in window); // returns true
console.log('myFunction' in window); // return true
</script></body></html>You should always be aware that when you write JavaScript, it will be written in the context of the head object. The remaining material in this chapter assumes you are aware that the term “head object” is synonymous with “global object.” ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.