Chapter 1. Falling in Love with jQuery

So you have the coding chops to write lean, semantic HTML, and can back it up with masterful CSS to transform your design ideas into gorgeous websites that enthrall your visitors. But these days, you realize, inspiring designs and impeccable HTML alone fall short when you’re trying to create the next Facebook or Twitter. So, what’s the missing piece of the front-end puzzle?

It’s JavaScript. That rascally scripting language, cast as the black sheep of the web development family for so many years. JavaScript is how you add complex behaviors, sophisticated interactions, and extra pizzazz to your site. To conquer the sleeping giant that is JavaScript, you just need to buckle down and spend the next few years learning about programming languages: functions, classes, design patterns, prototypes, closures ...