For project 1, you will need to program in Javascript, using some graphics capability (probably HTML5 canvas).
Either you are a Javascript wizard (in which case we hope you’ll help your classmates), or you aren’t (in which case you’ll be looking for help).
We’ll have some tutorial time in class (for example on Friday, September 9th), but you’ll probably want to do some reading. There are some good books out there, and the web is full of tutorials, advice, example code, etc.
We’ll start with a few of the ones we like, but we want everyone to contribute. Everyone should add comments to this page, either suggesting good resources, commenting on other people’s recommendations, etc. Hopefully, the comments on this page will quickly become a good list of resources for people who need to use Javascript in this class.
Some Javascript Books (available online)
- Learning Javascript, by Shelley Powers. O’Reilly books. A good tutorial. And its available online through UW library. (permalink) (direct weblink)
- Javascript: the Definitive Guide by David Flanagan. O’Reilly books. (permalink) (direct link)
- The Essential Guide to HTML5 Using Games to Learn HTML5 and JavaScript, By Meyer. (permalink) – The title sounds promising at least.
- You can find a lot more by searching the UW library for “Javascript”
Some basic Javascript Tutorials:
- Wired webmonkey: Thau’s JavaScript Tutorial, which goes on to include a more advanced tutorial as well
Some tutorials on Canvases:
- An official Mozilla tutorial – helpful, and has lots of useful links
- DiveIntoHTML5 – this is useful since it has lots of handy stuff, although I think it might be dated and contains lots of kuldges and ugly hacks.
- A random canvas tutorial (that gets to animation and interaction quickly).
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Also check out: MIT Coursenotes for HTML5 Game Programming Course and Competition
https://wiki.mozilla.org/User%3aJgoulie#MIT_IAP.2C_January_10-14.2C_2011
A good book is: Java Script for Web Developers by Nicholas Zakas
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-JavaScript-Developers-Wrox-Programmer/dp/047022780X
Hi everybody, I have two resources to pass on to you regarding JavaScript and Canvas.
Raphaël JS
This is a JavaScript drawing library that abstracts much of the syntax. People may find it useful; I haven’t played with it much, but I knew it existed for a while. Two advantages versus Canvas: it’s a vector drawing library, and it’s cross-browser compatible.
JavaScript: The Good Parts
This book by Douglas Crockford covers many of the specific language features of JavaScript that developers might otherwise miss because they treat JavaScript like C, Java, or whatever other language. It offers a lot of insight into how JavaScript objects work, how to do inheritance right, and loads more details. It’s not graphics-specific, but it really helped me gain a better appreciation and understanding of JavaScript as a programming language.
Oh, WordPress nuked the links because I put them inside less-than and greater-than signs.
Raphaël JS
http://raphaeljs.com/
JavaScript: The Good Parts http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596517748.do
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