This isn't a hard-core programming book; it isn't geared toward someone who has a computer science degree from MIT and five years experience of programming in C++. This is the JavaScript book for the rest of us. Written by the author of the "JavaScript Tip of the Week" Web site, this book focuses on the most useful and applicable scripts for making truly interactive, engaging Web sites (and it doesn't proclaim to be the definitive all-knowing JavaScript guide).

You'll not only have quick access to the scripts you need, you'll finally understand why the scripts work, how to alter the scripts to get the effects you want, and, ultimately, how to write your own groundbreaking scripts from scratch. Through his popular Web site, Nick Heinle has been showing Web designers and other nonprogrammers how to create the scripts they need. In fact, he wrote much of the JavaScript used on the Web today. This book is the culmination of his work. His explanations are clear, detailed, and accessible; everything -- every script, every concept, every line -- is explained so that "the rest of us" will understand.

Designing with JavaScript covers many of the powerful capabilities that JavaScript is given with Dynamic HTML, in a few chapters covering important aspects of implementing Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 as well as Netscape Navgigator 4.0. You'll learn how to create pages on the fly, how to identify users' browsers, how to create "rollover" effects with sound, graphics, and animation, and more. It also features a CD-ROM and Web site that provide fast access to some of the author's most useful functions and scripts, making it easy to find the code you need and to build your own custom scripts.