I started out with Rails development, but soon I realized Rails without JS is pretty much useless. So, I am trying to play with JS in my free time.
So, what are the "tools of trade (IDEs if any)" for JS development?
My primary focus is usage of APIs, Ajax etc, so that I don't get lost when I get develop Rails apps which uses JS.
There are many tutorials for using JS for Open graph API or twitter API, but that is to get things done and abstract some feature sets which a beginner should know.
I generally start learning a language by making a calculator, end to end (always works for me). But I cannot make a calculator and use API/Ajax calls.
So, what are your suggestions?
PS: I am aware about Douglas Crockford's video lectures, they are awesome, but I need some thing more concrete.
UPDATE:
My 2 original questions:
1. What are the tools of trade for JS? Like Eclipse:Java::X:Javascript, What is X (multiple Xs are allowed)?
2. What sample app do you recommend for me to start with?
I think the most important thing is: Know your language!
JavaScript libraries are useful, but if your do not know the language, you have no chance of getting something done that cannot be achieved using your library of choice. For example: JavaScript's prototype-system is very valuable and important for building robust applications. I really recommend that you experiment with this before diving into something you barely know. Closures are also very important to understand.
One thing is important, though: Do not spend too much time on browser incompatibilities. This is what most libraries are for. What you need to know is how the language works. Implementation-specific things are not worth learning (in most cases), since somebody already fixed those for you.
#PS: Douglas Crockford indeed does a pretty awesome job on explaining how JavaScript really works. You should keep watching this.
#UPDATE:
I think the X has it's origin in JavaScript's MIME-type: application/x-javascript. My tool of choice for web-development (including JavaScript) is NetBeans IDE. I use it in my workplace and it is very reliable and comfortable to work with. This is subjective (of course). Most other IDE's will do, too.
This is difficult to answer. I will update my post if something comes to my mind.
(I realize my comments below typically refer to using javascript with regards to websites, so ymmv if you're using js for a different environment, like couchDB)
For an ide, any text editor will do, but I prefer convenient features like:
syntax coloring (because it's so pretty)
(s)ftp plugins - makes saving files convenient
I would probably go with something like notepad++, or aptana studio (although I find aptana to be a bit of overkill at times, but very powerful). Adobe Dreamweaver works nicely too, if you wanna pay. Otherwise, the bare minimum would be notepad and an ftp client (again, with regards to front-end web development work)
For debugging or trying out quick javascript, I find safari's and chrome's built-in development tools handy, but on firefox, it's firebug all the way. Firebug is awesome.
I notice that in my work environment that some people (particularly the business side) use the words javascript and the DOM interchangably, but I find that their attempts at explaining something simply leads to confusion. That being said, if you're writing web apps, I find the mozilla DOM reference to be pretty awesome and used to hit it up all the time before I got familiar: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/DOM
Actually developer.mozilla.org is overall pretty awesome.
Other than that, getting started is simply a matter of learning the syntax. I would probably get used to the syntax first (which should be pretty quick anyways) before I start thinking about other concepts like learning how to prototype and whatnot (which you can look up on this site).
A framework like jQuery is very convenient for various repetitive tasks, but I wouldn't necessarily jump straight into using jQuery without being familiar with the js syntax first.
The most important thing you should learn is jQuery. It is now the de facto standard javascript library.
jQuery is great regardless of what you are doing with it, but since you mentioned AJAX, I'll point out that jQuery makes AJAX stupid easy, because you can do things like this:
$.ajax({
url: 'some/ajax/endpoint',
success: function(data) {
// do something with data
}
});
Obviously there are a lot of other options you can pass along, but the basic structure is really simple and easy to use.
jQuery also has a really powerful syntax for selecting parts of the DOM and adding events. For example, if you wanted to catch anytime some clicked on an image and tell them the image src, you can do something like this:
$('img').click(function() {
alert($(this).attr('src'));
});
Related
[Disclosure: This question is slightly related to my previous question.]
As you can see, a few suggested that I learn JavaScript / jQuery / Node.js. From what I've read, (a) jQuery is a JS library that makes coding in JavaScript (that works across all browsers in one go) easier, (b) Node.js is a basically a server-side JavaScript environment, (c) Javascript is the root programming language of the aforementioned ones, and is client-side.
I have also read many questions regarding the same on SO, but for someone (like me) who has nil knowledge of any kind of programming, somethings aren't clear.
(1) Basically, my goal is to write a (real-time) live blogging/commenting application for my blog. This, I have learnt, requires a client-side scripting language like JavaScript. So, the question is, can I build such an application with (a) jQuery alone (b) Node.js alone?
(2) If the answer to (1) is YES: Do you think going with the server-side option - - Node.js would be better? (as jQuery definitely doesn't work on JS-disabled browsers, I don't know about Node.js.) Please advise.
(3) When I got a book for XHTML, the book got me started with HTML, and gradually took me into XHTML. So, there was no confusion between HTML and XHTML. Would that be the case with (a) jQuery and (b) Node.js too?
EDIT: (4) There's one problem with JS. Some users may have JS disabled in the browser. Is there any other client-side scripting alternative as good as JS? (Just asking)
That is, in order to learn, (a) jQuery or (b) Node.js should I first learn, JS or can I start with a beginner's jQuery or Node.js book right away? Which would be the right way?
I really need your advise here, as I am totally new to programming (and have very little time to study), and I am pretty excited of what's ahead.
(I used (a) jQuery and (b) Node.js whenever possible to denote that you consider them separately, and not think that I will be learning both. I can only choose one, at least for now.) Thanks.
DECISIONS! DECISIONS! For someone who may come here in the future searching for the same... From the answers it's clear that one can start with jQuery, and end up learning pure JS through practice (building applications, solving issues etc). It seems the learning curve, that way, would be longer?! (Because you end up having problems, keep trying to solve them, maybe lose confidence... blah! blah! blah!) Still that's good. What I've chosen is the straight forward way - JS first (until I feel like I've got some hold), and then go go jQuerying! I hope I am not wrong in my conclusion. :) {Thanks #Greg Pettit and #Pete Wilson}
Node.js and jQuery perform two different roles. One facilitates server-side JavaScript, the other provides an abstraction library for client-side JavaScript. It's not one or the other. The question has to be branched into two directions:
What server-side technologies do I want to use? Is PHP+MySQL (a known commodity) going to do what I want on the server side? Should I use something I'm already familiar with (ASP or whatever)? Or do I like the projected performance benefits and scalability of Node.js to jump into that? Does Node.js have mature enough Database classes to actually use it for my purpose?
On the client-side, do I want to write everything with 'pure' JavaScript, or do I want to use a framework? If I use a framework, should I use jQuery because it seems to be the most widely-known, or do I research other frameworks that might do what I want? Furthermore, should I look into web application frameworks like Kendo UI or jQuery UI or piece it together with a JavaScript framework?
At some point, someone is going to tell you if you don't know JavaScript at all that you should start with pure JavaScript so that frameworks don't corrupt you. Me, I say phooey. You want to get stuff done. You don't want to spend your hours jumping through hoops when you could be just getting stuff done.
If you jump right into a framework (say, jQuery) instead of learning JavaScript properly, there are things that you will learn eventually anyhow. Before too long you'll realize that you didn't need to use $(this).attr('id') when you could've just used this.id. But it doesn't matter, because the former worked until you learned the better way.
I'm a former educator and very much in support of seeing results quickly, because it will propel you to learn more. Just because you start with jQuery doesn't mean you'll forever ignore 'pure' JavaScript. If you are an intelligent problem-solving kind of person, eventually 'pure' JavaScript will find you, and you'll begin to identify the right time to use it, and the right time to use a framework.
You should definitely start with learning Javascript first. I would read Eloquent Javascript to learn javascript at first. Then, learn jQuery and then node.js. For jQuery, I would say you should read jQuery in Action to learn jQuery.
For most web-applications, you need a server-side part. For the application you want to do, you need client-side Javascript. You'll have to do both parts.
For the server-side part, you can use whatever you please, whether it's Node.js, or PHP + the myriad PHP web frameworks, or anything else that can respond to HTTP requests.
Node.js and jQuery serve completely different purposes, it's unlikely you'll find a book that deals with both, and if you do, there's no "smooth" progression between the topics I can imagine.
jQuery does make use of certain idiosyncracies of Javascript (rebinding this), some of its nontrivial features (anonymous functions), and introduces several patterns on top (using literal objects for named/optional function arguments), so I'd recommend looking into JS at the moderately advanced level rather than just muddling though.
You should read javascript the good parts by Douglas Crockford, make a hello world with pure node.js then use express.js + socket.io or now.js. and mongodb for data persistence
Well it goes without saying to learn library of any language you need to learn the laguage first. But how you want to learn it is your choice, some people prefer to start with the library first then traverse bottom up to cover the basics of the language, while some other likes to get their hands dirty with basics of language before trying out advanced syntaxes and libraries.
To add to it I should also mention jQuery and Node.js are totally different things and have different learning curve too.
Node.js is more of a concept to enable javascript run at server side with asynchronus programming inbuilt. To learn node you will be learning some server level APIs like file streaming, logging, file system operations, callback etc which are typically server level tasks.
Whereas to learn jQuery you would learn how javascript operate of doms and events, css , ajax etc on a webpage to alter those pages dynamically.
From application/website building point of view I would say to get started you need very little knowledge of nodejs but more knowledge of JQuery.
PS: If you are looking to build an website today in 2017 I would suggest to avoid jQuery altogether and go for client frameworks like angular/react.
I have been a user of jQuery (and some of its minor plugins) for a while. The Javascript code I've developed over the years could be described best as... messy. It used a ton of global variables and functions here and there, didn't use standard ways of organizing the code, nor any design patterns whatsoever.
I am currently building the new version of a website, and I have completed doing the backend with PEAR::MDB2 and Smarty templates. The rest is just homebrew PHP with some classes.
Now I am at the point where I'll add the Javascript layer on top of the website to improve the user-friendliness of some features. (while making sure everything degrades gracefully) I want to write better, cleaner, more organized Javascript than I used to, so I did a little research. I read Stefanov's Object-Oriented Javascript to have a better grasp on some concepts I knew only loosely about (prototypes, constructors, etc.) as well. Now I'm stuck at a point where I wonder which Javascript frameworks I should use, and how to organize it all.
After conducting my research, I understood Cappuccino & Objective-J, and Sproutcore were not what I was looking for. To quote Cappucino's about page:
Cappuccino is not designed for building web sites, or making existing sites more "dynamic". We think these goals are too far removed from those of application development to be served well by a single framework. Projects like Prototype and jQuery are excellent at those tasks
So there's that. Then I found out about Coffee Script, which is more of a one-to-one "compiler" and wouldn't help me with the actual organization of my code.
I also stumbled on some articles that give guidelines:
Using Inheritance Patterns to Organize Large jQuery Applications
A JavaScript Module Pattern
I also found out about Backbone.js, Shoestring, JavaScriptMVC, Google Loader, jQuery Tools, jQuery UI. I don't really know what to do of all this... The things I know:
I don't want to invest too much time in learning something too complex, I want to keep things simple and flexible as much as possible (that is why I don't use Symfony on the backend, for example), yet clean and organized.
I want to use jQuery, the question is, what should I use with it? (that is compatible too)
Right now, I'd use jQuery and jQuery Tools and "organize" all that in a simple namespace/object literal with simple properties and methods and also, since the site is localized, I just plan on using the simple vsprintf (as I do on the backend) with key:value pairs loaded from an object literal provided by the backend. JavaScriptMVC seems interesting, but I fear it would bring way too much complexity for a project that is fairly small sized. That is where I need your advice! Thank you very much in advance.
Ok, my attempt at an answer:
There is no 'best' to way to do it. You now know what's there and I think you might have a preference for yourself for what you want. In that case, pick a framework and learn it inside-out. (sorry to burst your bubble, but each framework has a learning curve, some steep, some very easy, but in the end to use it well you have to invest in it. Just do it, you won't be sorry).
You of course have an preference for clean code, so you might take some considerations into account. You also say you have a preference for jQuery, which is fine, but there are some limitations (as also pointed out in the link provided by eskimoblood).
There are some nice lectures / and tutorials with advice on how to structure your code in jQuery:
How to manage large jquery apps
On Large jQuery apps
Essential Javascript and jQuery patterns (free ebook)
Some style guides:
Jquery core UI Styleguide
Google Closure Javascript Style Guide
Tools for checking your code
JSLint
JSHint (a more forgiving/practical fork)
Closure Linter (haven't tried it yet, but intend to)
Standard works (javascript)
Everything by Douglas Crockford
Quirksmode
There might be more.. perhaps more people can contribute, but I also think that you've almost reached the end of what you can learn before getting your hands dirty. Many of these guides are written in a very generic way, but the interesting thing is that javascript is called upon in many specific situations. It might be useful to just post some of the code that you regard as "messy" and we can help you figure out how to do it better. Good luck!
You should watch the video and read the links in this article and then you should ask yourself again if jquery is the right tool. Maybe you will use dojo, that is much better for larger projects or you take a look at backbone and where you can stay with jquery. After all both of them are more "javascriptish" then something like sproutcore, cappuciono or even GWT. And also much easier to understand when you come from jquery.
One framework that is to consider is definitely ReactJS from Facebook. This framework is pretty slick in many ways.
First thing you have to know is that it is a view framework. It can be used server-side to do the pre-rendering of pages, but it really shines on client side. Since it's a view framework, it can be used with backbone or any other "back-front"-end framework.
One of the main point of React is its rapidity. It keeps a virtual DOM in memory and virtualize all the webpages events. So the virtuals event are used to keep events browser agnostics.
The virtual DOM kind of make programming a dynamic site as if you were programming an old static website. You can just shoot the whole HTML to render to the view engine (as if you were "re-rendering" the whole page) and it will manage the DOM operations. It does a diff between the new virtual DOM and the current virtual DOM and only inserts nodes that needs to be inserted. This way you reduce the number of DOM ops and thus increase your render speed by a lot.
A good place to start is this tutorial which shows how to use "Flux" (the web flow designed by Facebook for its site) in order to realize a Todo application!
I'm new to javascript (functional programming is okay for me, though) and I am wondering how jQuery got away with some of the design decisions they made. Is it just too much work to fix now or what? For instance, there seems use of strange symbols in strings when accessing elements in the DOM or weird function definitions for $, that are forcing me to check references every other time I want to get some basic data.
Can someone point me to a learning source where I can learn all of these nuances of jQuery (jQuery's examples just don't cut it, they're too spread out)? Maybe someone has a super good reference site/pdf for jQuery?
Thanks
EDIT:
And as a side point, in regards for learning, why the heck is the entire jquery.js file collapsed onto a single line? It is unreadable.
Try reading jQuery in Action, it's a really good book to get started with jQuery. Next to that you can also watch examples on jquery.com, but I did prefer the book to get started.
For JavaScript basics you can try w3schools.
In the beginning I had the same problem with the $ functions etc, but after I read the book it became all clear to me, and to be honest, I wouldn't use plain JavaScript without jQuery anymore for DOM manipulation.
For your edit: you have a compressed (or minified) version, which has all code on 1 line, most spaces removed etc to keep it small and a readable version. Both files can be found on the download page from jQuery.
The strange symbols you refer to are mostly CSS selectors, the standard way to address elements on the web. jQuery could've come up with its own conventions, but decided to go with what was standard and best known.
jQuery itself is surprisingly consistent. Once you wrap your head around the jQuery style you barely have to consult the documentation; things just work as you'd think they should.
The jQuery documentation is actually quite good and includes an example with every command. It also has a large user base, so a quick search will generally answer any questions you have. Google is your friend.
I'm guessing the issue is not jQuery, but a difference in javascript style compared to languages you're more familiar with. Watch Crockford's "Javascript: The Good Parts" for a reasonable introduction to good javascript style.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/630959/2974197
Also check out Dustin Diaz's posts, I found his early screencasts where he'd build an app and talk about what he was doing very educational:
http://www.dustindiaz.com/
I think jqapi.com is a more useful jQuery API documentation resource than jquery.com
Compressed javascript uses less bandwidth to load up, and decreases load times. Use js beautifier to expand it.
jQuery is the greatest thing to happen to the DOM API, which is just awful to deal with. It also handles cross-browser issues and older versions, giving them functionality they otherwise wouldn't have.
The strange symbols in selectors are from CSS, not the fault of jQuery. The selectors API is now being built into browsers, so it's worth it to understand what they mean.
As for a functional programmer every imperative language is probably a failure in your eyes and mindbending to capture, with javascript and jquery probably on top of that list. They both have side effects all over. Jquery is really about manipulating the DOM so the side effects are the means and the goal, as opposed to proper functional programming.
If you're young enough you can still make the mind switch though :-)
start on jQuery Docs Main page...
You could try some other JavaScript frameworks to find out which one suits you best.
Although jQuery is pretty cool for most people, it's not the holy grail for everyone.
Maybe it's just not "your thing".
I am developing my first ASP.NET MVC application and I beleive that Script# can help me a lot. But it cannot find the resource necessary to support my development.
I could not find The codeplex site;
There is only one manual, which is very good, but it is not enough;
I could find very few tutorials;
I know that Script# was used to develop ASP.NET MVC scripts and that the source of MVC distributes the library.
But it seems that it is used only internally in Microsoft.
Where can I find other resources???
Do you really think that Script# will be continued and new versions will be deployed and it should be used by third-party projetcs ???
Thanks in advance
Don't be afraid of Javascript, it's a beautiful and powerful language. And with frameworks like jQuery, Prototype and Dojo, DOM manipulation and AJAX are greatly simplified and cross-browser issues are mostly history.
About Script#, I agree with this answer by mcintyre321. Last release over a year ago + closed source = no go for me.
UPDATE Jan/2010: there have been new Script# releases since the original writing of this answer. It's still closed-source but the author mentions open sourcing it after 1.0
UPDATE May 2011: Script# is now open source.
In short, my answer is: if you like powerful IDEs that run on Windows, OOD and C#, use ScriptSharp. It is more maintainable and structured, and demonstrably stable enough to use on serious projects. It can also be easily extended, as illustrated below and by other projects.
Since this is yet another Google indexed thread where people refer to Script# and jQuery as mutually exclusive I just wanted to point out some people are merging these two worlds, and in my case unleashing a lot of power by doing so. I'm offering a completely free and reusable library to access jQuery 1.4 from Script# projects, and full source code for the solution that generates it (almost exclusively from jQuery's own API documentation file):
http://www.christophercrooker.com/visual-studio-2010-rc-custom-tool-for-code-generation-and-jquery14-with-intellisense-for-scriptsharp
IMHO Script# fits well for large projects only, with really "rich" web client. Participating in such kind of project, I could only say that Script# helped us much. josephhemingway's remark about strongly typed is 100% true for such case. Also it allowed us to introduce new .NET developers without any JS background quickly. Assuming Nikhil Kothari's plans to open-source it in the summer 2008, we even decompiled (don't tell anybody! it's illegal) it and introduced generics, operators overloads, various bug fixes, etc.
BUT. Then Script# support faded away. Project on CodePlex with discussions and issue tracking was closed (interesting that parts of framework were published there shortly before). No updates, no future plans, no explanations. After such thing I'd consider Script# only after it goes open source to give the community ability to support it. E.g. on CodePlex.
I use Script#, I think it is great. You can use it with any framework, jQuery, dojo whatever, you would however have to wrap the framework, this could be a big job...
It's only benefit as I see it is that it allows you to develop javascript in a strongly typed environment. I think this is a HUGE benefit. I refuse to develop in weakly typed languages as maintenance is a nightmare.
If however you like to work in a weakly typed language then you wont need Script#.
Short answer NO. Wait for TypeScript.
Script# is really cool, but MS decided not to support it at all. The reason for that turns out to be that they were working on a better version of that - TypeScript (http://www.typescriptlang.org/)
It adds support for everything you need in a static language (intellisense, type checking, interfaces, classes etc.), but still looks very much like JS, and more importantly - confirms to the upcoming ECMA Script 6 standard. (unlike Script# or google's Dart)
Like the others have I would recommend some JavaScript (namely jQuery). Should you wish to continue with Script#, Nikhil Kothari's blog may be a good resource for you. http://www.nikhilk.net/ScriptSharpIntro.aspx -- That being said, I think you'll find that you are more productive with jQuery. There is a large database of community written plugins so you wouldn't necessarily have to reinvent the wheel on everything you want to do. jQuery plugins instead of ASP.NET Controls
Wow Val you got generics to work in
it, I'm impressed, was it hard?
Generics support would be great, so
would method and operator overloading.
josephhemingway
The whole point is that ScriptSharp's parser supports full C# 2.0 syntax. The only thing needed is to generate the proper JS. Not much work, considering JS dynamic nature. Generics would act as Java-style ones, i.e. no generation for each closed type argument set, just one class.
Are you sure that it is illegal to
decompile it, I will have to have a
look to see if it is the terms of use.
josephhemingway
Yep, it's illegal. EULA showed in setup clearly mentions that.
A release went out today, so it is good to see that it is still active.
Regardless of the previous lack of updates and that it not been open sourced I would still use it over plain js. You can stop using Script# at any time and more forward with the 'compiled' js if you don't like it.
I agree with you Val though that it really only fits large js based projects. I don't think you would get much benefit out of using it to perform basic page functionality like validate form input etc. It probably wouldn't be worth setting it up.
If however you are heavily using javascript and need to replicate OOP then I think it is a must. Things like refactoring becomes so easy, with plain js I would never refactor because it was just too hard to implement, over time my code became a mess.
Wow Val you got generics to work in it, I'm impressed, was it hard? Generics support would be great, so would method and operator overloading. Are you sure that it is illegal to decompile it, I will have to have a look to see if it is the terms of use.
The other advantage of using ScriptSharp that no one has mentioned is that if you need to interact with C# (using AJAX/REST/SOAP) you can use the same class definitions in both places and be sure that you have the interface defined properly, because it's the same source file! I have tried to use logic in shared source files with minimal success due to the way ScriptSharp's corelib is not 100% compatible with the C# corelib. But it works great for data file definitions.
I am using jQuery. It is really good. But I beleive that It is more confortable to me to work with C#. Even if it is a subset.
Also I would like to add that you certainly should use ScripSharp when you are planning to develop multiplatform projects. For example, at present time I write my image processing library code for .NET, JavaScript (ScriptSharp), Android (Mono) platforms on C#. Also I am planning to port my code on iOS (Mono) and Windows Phone in the future. And I think it's great code reusing and developer time minimization!
What would be a good mini-project to get intimate with JavaScript, as an advanced 'introduction' to the language? I want to actually code an application in JS, not hook up bits of it to enhance a web application.
A lot of stuff you could learn by doing an RSS reader on a page. Google shows what can be done. The whole lection concentrates on javascript, network access, security restrictions and medium data mangeling.
If you have the ability to do any sort of backend programming than AJAX is really neat to do. You can get a lot of good effects with less efforts. A good thing to build on up.
I would argue that if you're really an advanced programmer then the exercises above would not really give you any insight into the language as they are just variations on things you probably have already done. Javascript's strongest suit is it's LISP style ability to grow. Write something AI(ish) that creates new functions. Most people don't utilize the language in this way, but, its ability to augment its own classes on the fly is, I would argue, it's most unusual and most powerful feature.
Although not a project, watch the Douglas Crockford videos at YUI theater.
The biggest web based Javascript projects are going to deal with the DOM. Do some nifty stuff with JQuery. Make a table with rows that highlight when you hover. Make them update themselves through AJAX and JSON when you click on them.
If you're really looking for something magical and usefull write a scrollable table with fixed headers and footers for IE8.
If you want to stay away from the WEB use the JDK 1.6 and run Javascript code in that. You could do TONS with that.
Whenever I'm trying to get familiar with a language, I will work on Project Euler problems with it.
I would implement a simple game like sokoban first.
The second application would be an AJAX-based multiuser chat application, first fetching other people's responses by polling, later with AJAX push.
Interesting question.
Really you could do any sort of application. In order to make sure you're using the latest and greatest stuff, I'd try making a simple CRUD style application using DHTML and AJAX. Perhaps a contacts list or calendar. If you're feeling really energetic, you could write the back-end in JavaScript as well.
Unless you want to get really friendly with the DOM and browser compatibility, I'd learn Javascript through the mask of one of the nice frameworks like Jquery or Prototype.
The Holy Grail - a WYSIWYG editor. They wouldn't need to complete it, but just seeing their plan of attack would be interesting. Plays right into patterns and OO.
I suggest you create a Google Gadget. You can create one for free and perhaps make something useful out of it. If you don't have a Google account, sign up for one. Then add the Google Gadget Editor to begin writing your code.
With the gadget, you'll be able to mess with JavaScript, JSON, CSS, etc. Furthermore, you'll be able to store the file on Google's server so you can work on it from any computer.
I created a simple RSS reader and wrote JavaScript to get the feed (using Google's API) then dealing with that JavaScript object because it came back as JSON. I then developed some JavaScript to hide/show div tags.
It was a good starter project for me to learn JavaScript.
Get JavaScript the Good Parts by Douglas Crockford. Also check out his web site: http://www.crockford.com
Key reason: just because JavaScript looks like C/C++/Java/C# doesn't mean it actually is like them. Things are significantly different. I suggest reading his book to get a grasp of those differences.
Otherwise, I would look at the JQuery web site. JavaScript is cool and all, but a good framework will save you from a lot of the pitfalls and make you much more productive faster.
try making an advanced AJAX application like for example try to recreate the google calander.
How about a firefox plugin to monitor StackOverflow? It could use RSS to monitor feeds and let you know when new questions are asked with your tags.
It could also be grown as your js skills progress.
Write yet another javascript framework, but focused specially in something, ie game programming.