Developing Ajax Applications with the jQuery JavaScript Library

Although there are many widely used JavaScript libraries for building Ajax applications, empirical evidence shows that jQuery is both the most popular and the fastest growing. However, many developers are unaware of how to use jQuery, and are intimidated by its size and complexity.

[For the empirical data, see this link: http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=jquery%2C+prototype+and+javascript%2C+dojo%2C+scriptaculous%2C+extjs%2C+yui&l= ]

This tutorial will give a fast-moving introduction to programming with the latest release of jQuery. The goal is not to cover every last feature of the library, but rather to give a practical, hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of programming with jQuery so that developers can return to their companies and immediately start developing working jQuery-based Ajax apps.

Topics to be covered include: – An overview of jQuery – Pros and cons of jQuery – jQuery installation, configuration, and documentation – Data-centric and content-centric Ajax with jQuery – Handling JSON data – jQuery selectors – DOM manipulation with jQuery – Rich interfaces with jQuery UI

The tutorial includes many detailed jQuery examples, so some previous exposure to JavaScript is helpful. No previous experience with Ajax or jQuery is necessary.

The course will be taught by Marty Hall, an experienced developer, author, presenter, and instructor. Marty has given presentations and training courses on Java, Ajax, and Web technologies in 6 foreign countries and dozens of US venues. He is also the author of six popular books on Java EE technologies from Prentice Hall, and is director of the Java and Web-related concentration areas in the Johns Hopkins part-time graduate program in Computer Science.