JavaScript may not be an ideal first programming language for students. It is an easy language to start programming with in the sense that no additional tools like compilers are needed, and indeed, this is part of its broad appeal. On the other hand, the language has many idiosyncrasies and complexities that make full mastery of the language challenging. This chapter (and book) doesn’t have the space to teach the basics of programming; instead it endeavors to teach JavaScript. For that reason we expect the reader of this chapter to already have some familiarity with another programming language before learning about JavaScript.

It should also be noted that even for experienced programmers, some aspects of JavaScript can be initially confusing. This first chapter on JavaScript covers most of the essentials of the JavaScript programming language. Some of these essentials are not, however, immediately essential. That is, when you are first learning JavaScript, some readers might want to initially skip over some of the content in this chapter that is more advanced or tricky; later, when you (or your students if you are an instructor) gain more experience with the language, you can go back and learn about some of the more advanced topics.