Getting Started

Introduction

Programming is the act of writing a series of instructions for a computer to carry out. Imagine a pocket calculator sitting on a desk. It is capable of performing a huge range of tasks, but will not do anything until its buttons are pressed. A computer behaves in the same way; each thread within the processor can only perform one calculation at one time, producing a single result.

Fundamentally, a computer can only perform four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Every other operation is created using a series of these logical building blocks. For example, squaring involves two rounds of multiplication. To average a set of numbers would involve many rounds of addition and one round of division.

Computers can only interpret numbers represented as binary (Base 2), which is written in 0s and 1s. Most cultures use a base 10 counting system, and thinking in terms of another can be quite difficult. Thankfully, we do not have to learn how to perform mathematics in Base 2 in order to write software. This is the purpose of a programming language, to convert a human-friendly input into a computer-friendly output.

As we are social creatures that communicate with speech, this is the most friendly format for us to read and write code with. To be specific, we use a format called logic to describe instructions to the computer. The language of logic is intentionally similar to plain English to make it as easy as possible to learn and work with. No coding knowledge is required to read and write logic:

txt 
	IF the weather is rainy THEN bring umbrella.
	WHILE cars are passing DO NOT cross the road.
	IF still hungry THEN order more icecream.

Each of these statements transmits a logical declaration, including conditions and outcomes. We use this language on a daily basis intuitively to set boundaries, conditions and requirements. This is the core skill required from any programmer. The main difference is that while our brains can operate on fluid concepts like raininess or hungriness - a computer is only able to operate on numbers.

If we want to make decisions about concepts, we must find a way to quantify these as numbers at some point in the process. For example, we may first measure rainfall over a period of time to establish how much rain equates to rainy or dry. Once we have this number to hand we can use logic to determine this outcome on a computer:

txt 
	IF current rainfall (10mm) IS GREATER THAN raininess threshold (5mm) THEN bring umbrella

Now we have enough information needed to encode this logical statement for a computer.

Encoding

Before we examine any code, it is important to think about what code is and what it is for. In our every day lives we encounter and perform many different types of encoding without necessarily using that word for it. For example, when driving a vehicle we use a series of levers to operate indication lights that encode and broadcast our intentions to other drivers. The other drivers decode the light patterns they see to understand where you are planning to move on the road.

When telecommunications were invented, the available bandwidth of these communication channels was very small. Messages had to be sent one character at a time with a pause in between each character. This required telegraph operators to perform two rounds of encoding on each message:

  1. Convert long form English into shorthand to reduce characters
  2. Turn each character into a morse code symbol to be sent on the wire

On the other end, an operator would read the message in morse code and decode it into shorthand so that it could be typed into long form English again. This two-step encoding is very common within computer science as it allows for a large amount of information to be delivered with relatively few resources.

Notation

When we refer to notation or syntax we are describing the specific symbols, keywords and phrases that are used to write code in a given language. Writing code, as the name suggests, is a process of encoding our intentions for a computer using text. Although there are many programming languages with many different forms of notation and syntax, they are more alike than they are different.

In this course we will be using JavaScript Notation to describe each concept. Just like the telegraph operator, this requires us to perform two levels of encoding:

  1. Convert our desired behaviour into JavaScript notation
  2. Turn each line of JavaScript into raw binary instructions

The browser handles the tricky second task, meaning that as developers our main task when writing code is expressing what we mean correctly to the computer. Without an understanding of syntax, it is much harder to communicate our intentions. Without intentions, our computer is just like the untouched calculator - not very helpful.

Arranging your code

Every software project is represented by a group of files within a folder. Originally this was a physical folder in a laboratory containing physical files made from paper. A programme was typically a box containing more than one folder of files. Each file contained a small amount of software code and together these were used to perform the first computations.

Although we are no longer limited to keeping our work in physical boxes full of punch-cards, the need to organise and structure our files remains for the same reason as for the pioneers. Well named files in well named folders are more likely to be understood, located and maintained. A messy, nondescriptive filesystem makes projects harder to remember, find and continue.

What is a folder?

A folder, in the context of computing, is simply a part of a filename used to group related files together. The reality of your computer’s storage drive is that files are not physically located next to each other simply because they share a folder name. When a file is moved from one folder to another - the only thing that changes is the name of that file. It’s contents, stored on your disk, do not move at all.

Since folders are irrelevant to the computer, this means they must be designed for our understanding and convenience alone. We as developers use the concept of folders to help organise our work. This property also makes folders computationally cheap, meaning that there is no performance cost to having many vs few.

The Root Folder

Each software project has one root folder that acts as the top level. Anything outside of this project root folder is not part of the project, anything within the project root folder belongs to that project. This root folder has a direct relationship with the default URL of a given domain name. For example:

bash 
	/Users/ExampleUser/projects/example-root-folder/ # <-- root folder
	
	https://example.org/ # <-- root folder

Any files within this folder will correspond when the application is hosted:

bash 
	/Users/ExampleUser/projects/example-root-folder/images/test.png
	
	https://example.org/images/test.png

When working on a web development project, the main filetypes that we handle are:

  1. HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
  2. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
  3. JS (JavaScript)

We may also have supplemental content:

  • JSON
  • Images
  • Audio
  • Video

It might make sense to have 3 matching folders to store these assets, take this example written with path notation:

txt 
	/my-project-root/html/index.html
	/my-project-root/css/styles.css
	/my-project-root/js/scripts.js

HTML is the only type of file that we place directly into the root of the project. Let’s update the example above with this new consideration:

txt 
	/my-project-root/index.html
	/my-project-root/css/styles.css
	/my-project-root/js/scripts.js

The Index Files

When naming and positioning HTML files, the main consideration will always be the effect that this has on the URL bar of your end user. Remember that a folder doesn’t really exist to a computer, it only exists as part of the name of a file. However it is possible to request a folder using a browser, for example:

txt 
	https://example.org/blog/2022/coding/

This URL represents the folder coding within the folder 2022 within the folder blog at the root of the project. There is no coding.html file in this case either. What we do not see in this example is an Index File:

txt 
	https://example.org/blog/2022/coding/index.html

An Index File can be ommitted (left out) of a URL because it’s role is to represent the contents of a folder. When we open a book, it is common for the index to appear before the content. At it’s most basic it is simply a list of links to the contents of the folder, for example, a folder may contain many image files and one index.html file. The purpose of that file is to reference the images as <img> tags in HTML to speed up the process of locating the correct image.

This principle applies in full to web applications and websites. As a result, do not be alarmed if you find yourself generating many very similar HTML files all named index.html. This is a sign that you are doing things correctly, even if it seems counter intuitive to use the same name for each of these files.

This principle is not limited to HTML and applies to most programming paradigms. It is common to see index.css and index.js files and the purpose of such a file should follow the same logic.

Referencing Scripts

As a script file is a non-visible asset (unlike an image file, for example) it should be referenced in the <head> section of an HTML file:

html 
	<html>
	  <head>
	    <script src="/js/script.js"></script>
	  </head>
	  <body>
	    <h1>Hello World</h1>
	  </body>
	</html>

Referencing a script file in this way will cause the code to be run before any of the HTML contents have been rendered. In this case, the script.js file would not be able to access or manipulate the <h1> element. Thankfully, there is an easy solution to this, we can add the keyword: defer:

html 
	<html>
	  <head>
	    <script defer src="/js/script.js"></script>
	  </head>
	  <body>
	    <h1>Hello World</h1>
	  </body>
	</html>

With this keyword attribute added, our script file will have full access to the contents of the HTML file, making it more useful and convenient to use.

Visual Studio Code

We recommended using Visual Studio Code for web development. You can download it here.

The video below covers automatic formatting, themes and the live server extension you can use to run your projects.

It also covers adding a JavaScript file to an HTML page.

Watch on Vimeo Code from the video

Live Server is a VSCode plugin that will allow you to run a local server from within VSCode and reload your pages automatically when code changes. Once installed, right-click on an HTML page and select `Open with Live Server.

Using the development console

We recommend using Chrome or Firefox as your web browser when developing for the web.

We can use a browser’s console tab in the developer tools to write and run JavaScript without needing any other program.

To open the developer tools, do one of the following:

  • right-click anywhere on a web page and select Inspect from the menu
  • In Chrome, from the menu in the top right (the three vertical dots), go to More Tools and then Developer Tools
  • use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+J (Windows) or Cmd Option J (Mac).
  • Press the F12 key

Paying attention to the console in your browser is very important as this is where errors in your code will appear.

The video below is an introduction to the Developer Tools and the console.

Watch on Vimeo

If you’d prefer the dev tool’s dark theme in Chrome to the default light one, here are instructions on enabling it.

Formatting

Formatting your code in a proper manner is very important. Well-formatted code is far easier to read and follow for you and other developers, and it makes it easier to catch bugs and mistakes.

For now, concentrate on the following:

  • consistent indentation - use tabs to properly align your code
  • use semi-colons after your code statements

This is an example of poorly formatted and indented code:

javascript 
	console.log(" hello");
	console.log("world");

This is an example of well-formatted and indented code:

javascript 
	console.log("hello");
	console.log("world");

The Format on save automatic formatting setting is discussed in the video above. You can also format a file by right-clicking anywhere inside a file and selecting Format Document.

A note on semi-colons

Semi-colons at the end of statements are technically only necessary if you have more than one statement on a line.

For the most part, using semi-colons is a matter of preference. Different companies and dev studios will have their own style guides - a set of rules, including whether to use semi-colons or not, that all devs must follow.

Noroff’s preference is to use semi-colons, so please include them in your code.

Comments

Comments are statements in our code that are not run by the JavaScript engine but are used to prevent code from running and provide information to ourselves and other developers.

Comments can be single-line comments using double forward slashes //:

javascript 
	// this is a single-line comment

They can also be multi-line comments using a single forward slash / and an asterisk *:

javascript 
	/*
	this is a multi-line comment
	notice that the / and * are swapped around when the comment is closed
	*/

Single-line comments are often combined together:

javascript 
	// this is a single-line comment
	// with another single-line comment

When learning JavaScript, comments are also often used to explain what we want to do in the future at a particular place in the code, either for ourselves or other people.

When asking a tutor for help, they will often use comments to indicate what code you should write in that position in your code.

javascript 
	// create a for loop here that counts from 1 to 10

The video below discusses comments.

Watch on Vimeo

Activities

Watch

The Weird History of JavaScript

Lesson Task

There is a practice question in the master branch of this repo.

There is an example answer in the answer branch.

Try the exercise before checking the solution.