Events

“Did you encounter problems?” Oh, come on. Of course I encountered problems. The key for me seems to be persistence. I just keep trying everything I can possibly think of, until something works. Sometimes it doesn’t make any logical sense why it works, but it works, and that’s better than nothing. I also look at everybody else’s to see how they got theirs to work, but that’s only good if someone has actually gotten it to function correctly. And like Jason, I use Firebug and if all else fails, I Google it. (I haven’t actually had much luck with that though.)

 For me, events have started to make JavaScript more practical. A lot of the stuff we did before didn’t really seem to have much purpose. It was neat, but not really very useful.  But with these last couple of assignments, we’ve been able not only to allow the user to input information that we take and process but also let the user control how they interact with our site. Now we’re really starting to see what JavaScript can do for us.

The DOM

I read the W3Cs info on the DOM, but I have to say I didn’t find it particularly helpful. (They lost me pretty quickly.) Like most things the W3C does, it seems as if the main importance of the DOM is in standardization. If the rules are the same all the time, it’s easier for everyone to use—those developing the web, and those using the web. Browser vendors are forced to conform to a set of rules, and as a result, things like JavaScript run more efficiently across browsers. Everything works all the time, and everyone’s happy.

  I, personally, am pretty neutral as far as the DOM is concerned. I don’t love it as much as, say, chocolate, and I don’t hate it as much as, for example, Nazi’s. So I guess it falls somewhere in the middle of that. Actually, it’s pretty logical, and for the most part, makes sense. The thing I think the book always leaves out is the practical application. I pretty much get the structure of it, but how do I use it? The example we did in class helped a little, but I really don’t think I’m understanding the true power of the DOM just yet.

 (Sorry, I’d write a better posting, but all my brain power is currently reserved for JavaScript use.)