Handout - Introduction to Programming

1
CodeActually
Dr.
Cindy
Royal
Texas
State
University
School
of
Journalism
and
Mass
Communication
Introduction
to
Programming
for
Communicators
¡ JavaScript
is
a
scripting
language
commonly
implemented
as
part
of
a
web
browser
in
order
to
create
enhanced
user
interfaces
and
dynamic
websites.
¡ JavaScript
is
not
the
same
as
Java.
¡ Can
be
run
client
side
or
server-‐side
(Node.js
–
a
JavaScript
environment).
¡ Foundation
for
code
libraries
like
JQuery.
For
the
first
series
of
exercises,
we’ll
be
practicing
in
Chrome’s
console.
This
is
an
environment
that
let’s
you
run
code
and
see
the
result.
Later,
we
will
be
implementing
JavaScript
in
html
pages
using
JSFiddle.
In
Chrome,
choose
View,
Developer
Tools
and
click
on
the
Console
tab.
Or
Ctrl-‐click
on
the
screen
and
choose
Inspect
Element.
Normally,
these
commands
would
be
in
a
.js
file
or
encapsulated
in
the
<script>
tag
in
an
html
document.
But
we
are
just
practicing
with
concepts
in
this
demonstration.
Your
First
Program
Write
the
string
“Hello
World!”
console.log("Hello World!");
document.write("Hello World!");
Don’t
worry
if
you
see
“undefined”
in
the
console
after
the
code
returns.
The
console
is
attempting
to
determine
the
type
that
the
code
returns,
and
in
most
cases
in
our
exercises
that
is
“undefined.”
console.log
logs
to
the
console.
document.write
writes
to
the
document.
Try
them
both.
Objects,
Properties
and
Methods
For
this
exercise,
we
will
mostly
be
using
the
console
object
to
write
code
to
the
console.
console.log(“info goes here”);
Later
we
will
use
the
document.write
method
to
write
to
the
html
document.
We
do
this
by
calling
the
document
object
and
the
write
method.
Basic
JavaScript
Syntax
End
lines
with
semicolon
;
Put
arguments/parameters
in
parentheses
(
)

2
Period
(.)
between
object
and
method
or
property.
Strings
in
quotation
marks
"
Unlike
other
languages,
you
do
not
have
to
declare
a
type
when
instantiating
a
variable.
Some
objects
are
built-‐in
(i.e.
document,
window),
some
can
be
defined.
Data
Types
String,
Number,
Boolean,
Array,
Object,
Null,
Undefined
-‐
programming
languages
have
syntax
and
functions
that
work
with
a
variety
of
data
types.
We
will
mainly
be
concerned
with
strings
and
numbers,
later
adding
booleans
and
arrays.
Length
Length
is
a
string
property
that
returns
the
length
of
the
string.
console.log("Hello World!".length);
This
returns
a
number
that
is
the
length
of
that
string,
including
the
space.
Concatenation
Use
concatenation
to
join
strings.
The
empty
space
between
the
quotation
marks
("
")
represents
a
space.
The
plus
sign
is
the
concatenation
operator.
console.log("Hello" + " " + "Cindy!");
Variables
Use
variables
to
store
numbers
and
strings.
The
var
prefix
is
optional.
var name = "Cindy";
console.log("Hello" + " " + name);
and
var firstname = "Cindy";
var lastname = "Royal";
console.log(firstname + " " + lastname);

3
Math
and
numbers
Operators
and
Math
Within
your
script
tag,
try
the
following
individually.
You
will
see
the
different
operators
for
math
functions.
console.log(3+4);
console.log (3-4);
console.log (3*4);
console.log (3/4);
console.log(3%4);
The
“%”
operator
is
the
modulo
that
shows
the
remainder
of
division
calculation.
Substrings
I’m
using
these
scripts
to
see
what
my
JLo
name
would
be,
finding
the
first
character
of
my
first
name
and
the
first
two
characters
of
my
last
name.
var firstname = "Cindy";
var lastname = "Royal";
console.log(firstname.substring(0,1) +
lastname.substring(0,2));
or
var first = "Cindy".substring(0,1);
var last = "Royal".substring(0,2);
console.log(first + last);
Notice
that
we
used
a
combination
of
variables
and
the
substring
method
in
two
different
ways
to
achieve
the
same
result.
Often
in
programming,
there
are
multiple
ways
to
solve
a
problem.
Alerts
and
Prompts
Alert
-‐
a
general
warning
alert("Danger");
Confirm
-‐
answer
yes
or
no
before
you
can
continue.
confirm("Are you sure?");

4
Prompt
-‐
answer
anything
-‐
creates
variable
prompt("What is your name?");
var name = prompt("What is your name?");
console.log("Hello " + name);
Booleans
and
if
statements
Use
booleans
to
test
if
something
is
true
or
false.
Combine
with
an
if/else
statement
to
define
different
outcomes.
Notice
that
the
“if
statements”
actions
are
delineated
with
curly
braces.
You
can
also
test
for
mathematical
statements
like
greater
than
>,
less
than
<
or
equal
to
==.
name="Cindy";
if(name.length==5){
console.log("Yes");
}
else {
console.log("No");
}
or
x=2;
if(x>1) {
console.log("Yes");
}
else {
console.log("No");
}
Comparisons
(=
or
==)
A
single
equal
sign
(=)
indicates
assignment,
usually
used
to
assign
a
value
to
a
variable.
If
you
are
doing
a
test
for
comparison,
then
you
use
2
equal
signs
(==).
2+2==4;
var name="Cindy";
if(name=="Cindy";)...

5
Functions
Functions
allow
you
to
define
an
operation
and
then
use
it
later.
Notice
the
statements
in
the
function
are
enclosed
in
curly
braces.
Then
we
call
the
function
using
its
name
to
execute
it.
There
are
two
different
ways
to
write
a
function.
var hello = function () {
}
hello();
or
function hello() {
}
hello();

6
Arguments
You
can
add
arguments
in
the
parentheses
of
a
function
to
pass
information
into
it.
var hello = function (a) {
console.log("Hello " + a);
}
hello("Cindy");
or
function hello(a) {
console.log("Hello " + a);
}
hello("Cindy");
Loops
Loops
allow
for
iteration
through
a
cycle.
We
will
switch
to
document.write
command
to
see
the
result
in
the
browser
window.
The
while
loop
is
a
statement
that
uses
a
variable
as
initializer,
condition
and
iterator.
var i=0; // initializer
while (i<5) { //condition
document.write("I am writing this five times");
i++; // iterator
}
Loops,
continued
The
for
loop
reduces
some
of
the
coding
by
having
three
statements
in
the
parentheses,
separated
by
a
semicolon;
-‐
an
initializer,
a
condition
to
test
and
an
iterator.
for (var i=0; i<4; i++)
{
document.write("I am writing this 4 times<br />");
}
Or
if
you
want
to
get
fancy,
you
can
add
the
iterator
to
have
a
different
number
in
each
line.
for (var i=0; i<4; i++)
{
document.write("This is time " + i + "<br />");
}

7
Arrays
Arrays
allow
you
to
store
a
collection
of
information
in
a
variable
and
then
access
it
via
its
index
number.
Index
numbers
start
with
0.
Enclose
elements
of
an
array
in
square
brackets.
var favGroups = ["Old 97s", "Spoon", "Wilco"];
document.write(favGroups[1]);
This
accesses
the
item
in
the
array
in
location
1.
Notice
that
it
isn’t
the
first
item
in
the
array.
Arrays
start
with
0,
so
to
access
the
first
item,
use
favGroups[0].
You
can
use
a
loop
to
iterate
through
an
array.
Concatenate
a
break
so
the
items
appear
on
a
different
line.
Your
condition
uses
the
length
property
of
an
array
to
determine
how
many
items
are
in
it.
var i=0;
var favGroups = ["Old 97s", "Spoon", "Wilco"];
while(i<favGroups.length){
document.write(favGroups[i] + "<br />");
i++;
}
Notice
how
we
can
add
html
items
as
a
string.
We
are
beginning
to
integrate
html
and
JavaScript
for
interactivity.
Objects
Objects
are
similar
to
arrays
except
they
store
items
in
key/value
pairs
rather
than
accessing
them
by
their
index
number.
Instead
of
using
square
brackets,
you
use
curly
braces
for
objects.
var bands;
bands = {
name: "Old 97s",
city: "Dallas",
genre: "alt-country"
};
document.write(bands.name + ", " + bands.city + ", " +
bands.genre);

8
We
can
use
an
array
in
conjunction
with
an
object
to
add
multiple
elements
to
the
object.
var bands;
bands = [
{
name: "Old 97s",
city: "Dallas",
},
{
name: "Spoon",
city: "Austin",
genre: "Indie Rock"
},
{
name: "Wilco",
city: "Chicago",
}
];
document.write(bands[1].name + ", " + bands[1].city + ", "
+ bands[1].genre);
And
we
can
loop
through
an
object
just
like
we
did
with
an
array.
Your
condition
uses
the
length
property
of
an
object
to
determine
how
many
items
are
in
it.
var bands;
bands = [
{
name: "Old 97s",
city: "Dallas",
},
{
name: "Spoon",
city: "Austin",
genre: "Indie Rock"
},

9
{
name: "Wilco",
city: "Chicago",
}
];
for(var i=0; i<bands.length; i++) {
document.write(bands[i].name + ", " + bands[i].city + ", "
+ bands[i].genre + "<br />");
}
You
will
sometimes
see
data
embedded
in
objects
in
JavaScript
referred
to
as
JSON
(JavaScript
Object
Notation).

Using
JavaScript
in
an
html
document
getElementById();
is
a
magical
method
that
you
can
use
to
access
parts
of
a
Web
page.
We
need
to
work
with
a
web
page,
so
that
this
function
can
manipulate
the
Document
Object
Model
(DOM).
The
function
below,
when
called,
changes
the
innerHTML
of
the
element
with
the
id
“first”.
This
is
very
powerful
when
combined
with
forms
to
ask
a
user
for
input
to
change
something
on
a
page.
Let’s
properly
structure
the
document
now
to
include
the
HTML5
doctype
declaration,
too.
10
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My JavaScript</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Hello <span id="first">Cindy</span></p>
<script>
function nameChange() {
document.getElementById('first').innerHTML = 'Jon';
}
nameChange();
</script>
</body>
</html>

Events
An
advanced
use
of
JavaScript
in
an
html
document
has
to
do
with
mouse
events.
An
event
is
an
interaction
–
onclick,
onload,
onmouseover,
onmouseout.
Simple:
11
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My JavaScript</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1 onclick="this.innerHTML='Good work!'">Click on this
text!</h1>
</body>
</html>
The
“this”
operator
tells
the
code
to
operate
on
the
current
element.
In
a
function:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script>
function changetext()
{
document.getElementById("new").innerHTML="You're a
pro!";
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<h1 id="new" onclick="changetext()">Click on this
text!</h1>
</body>
</html>
You
will
use
events
combined
with
getElementById()
to
create
interactivity
on
your
site.

More
advanced
use
of
getElementById()
with
form
This
form
requests
your
name,
then
it
stores
that
info
in
a
variable
and
presents
it
in
the
message
below
on
the
page.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Fun With Forms</title>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" action=" "/>
<p>Name: <input type="text" id="newname" /></p>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
<p>Hi <strong><span id="yourname">"Your Name
Here"</span></strong>. Welcome to the site.</p>
<script>
document.getElementById("form1").onsubmit=function() {
12
var newName = document.forms["form1"]["newname"].value;
document.getElementById("yourname").style.color = "red";
document.getElementById("yourname").innerHTML = newName;
return false; // required to not refresh the page
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
This
code
changes
the
innerHTML
of
the
span
tag
in
the
html
document
to
the
text
from
the
form.
It
also
changes
the
color.
We’ll
get
more
practice
with
JavaScript
in
the
charting
exercise.

Comments
Developers
use
comments
to
leave
notes
in
the
code,
provide
instructions
for
other
developers
or
to
provide
clues
to
certain
techniques.
It
helps
to
organize
code.
Comments
can
also
be
used
to
temporarily
remove
and
test
code
without
having
to
delete
it.
With
the
script
tag.
13
// This is a comment
/* This is a multi-line
comment */
Note:
basic
html
comments
are
handled
by
<!-‐-‐
-‐-‐>.
This
would
be
used
in
html
documents
outside
the
<script>
tag.
Now
you
have
a
basic
understanding
of
programming
concepts.
There
are
many
ways
to
go
from
here.
You
can
learn
more
about
coding
Web
pages
with
HTML/CSS,
so
that
you
can
integrate
interactive
concepts.
Or
you
can
move
into
the
world
of
JQuery
to
learn
how
to
take
advantage
of
coding
libraries.

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