Introduction

Welcome to Practical JavaScript 2: Building Applications. This book is intended for people with no background in Computer Science and only introductory knowledge of JavaScript. The goal of this book is to help readers grow their knowledge about how modern single page applications are built while also developing practical skills for building JavaScript webapps.

This book uses Vue.js as our exemplar framework for exploring concepts of modern web applications. This framework has been chosen because of its accessibility for novice developers and its popularity in the web development world. It would be impossible to provide examples throughout this book in every possible framework. There are many viable web frameworks being used by development teams everywhere, and this choice should not be seen as a criticism of any of those other frameworks.

Throughout the book, a broad range of topics are covered. Most sections contain a blend of general information and specific instructions about how to accomplish those goals using Vue.js. The material comes quickly and it might take more than one review of the content to fully absorb it. Each section builds on the content from the previous section.

By the end of the book, the goal is that you are able to create and build a simple webapp using Vue.js and related tools. This is a lofty goal, and it will be difficult to get there. Don't lose confidence because it's difficult. There's no way to learn this stuff "easily". Software development is difficult. Writing JavaScript is difficult. But if you approach it with a clear head and some persistence, you can do it.

How to Use This Book

To get the most out of this book, read through each section and try to explore as many of the links as you can. In each section there is usually a set of Exercises. These typically involve either writing code or interpreting some code. Each section also contains a quiz, which is intended to help draw attention to some of the most important details in the content.

The most prominent feature of each section is the companion project, which is provided to help you practice concepts and skills discussed in each section. It's strongly recommended to work through each project as you complete each chapter. This will help you achieve more focused and robust practice.

What This Book Is Not

This book is not a guide to Vue.js, and it is not an exhaustive reference to building web-based applications. This book may not be suitable for people who are already well-versed in software architecture and application development. There are many aspects of web development that are ignored by this book because it would be impossible to cover the full breadth of tools and technique used by modern developers. The target audience for this book is using it as an early step down the path to becoming a web developer, and they will continue learning and growing their skills after completing this book.

Where This Book Comes From

This book was written as a companion to the Seattle University course, Building JavaScript Web Applications. The course is offered through the School of New and Continuing Studies. The projects referenced in this book use starter repositories hosted under the SU Web Development account on Github. These repositories are open and available for anyone to fork and build, and you do not need to be enrolled at Seattle University to use this book or the associated repositories.