JavaScript Introduction

This module serves as your launchpad into programming with JavaScript. It introduces the language’s origins, sets up your development environment, and covers the essential rules and concepts—from how to store data to how the code executes—that form the building blocks of every application.

JavaScript’s History: A brief history of JavaScript and an introduction to what it’s used for.

Getting Started with JS: Text editor setup, linking HTML/JS files, and using the browser console effectively.

JavaScript’s Syntax & Structure: Case sensitivity, comments in JavaScript, statements, semi-colons, strict mode, and dynamic typed vs. static typed languages.

Variables: Create named containers for storing data with the var, let, and const variable keywords.

Data Types: The fundamental “primitive” data types that can be stored in variables (String, Number, Boolean, BigInt, null, undefined, Symbol) and the Object type which includes several sub-types.

Escape Sequences: Control text formatting by escaping characters or adding characters, line breaks, and tabs.

Scope: The “visibility” and where variables are accessible with Global, Function, and Block scope.

Operators: The symbols that let you perform calculations, assign values, and compare data. This lesson covers the essential Arithmetic, Assignment, Comparison, and Logical operators (like +, ===, and &&).

Type Coercion: Learn how to write predictable code by understanding the difference between == (loose) and === (strict) equality while seeing how JavaScript automatically converts data from one type to another.

Expressions & Statements: Learn the difference between a Statement (a complete instruction, like a sentence) and an Expression (a piece of code that results in a single value).