Javascript is the scripting langauge used by web browsers to interact with the user and with the HTML DOM, or document object model. The javascript language is something of a hodgepodge of functions that has evolved over the lifetime of the modern internet. While javascript is becoming more standardized in the way it interacts with a web page, there are still some minor differences between browser versions.

Javascript programmers have become increasingly sought after with the popularity of AJAX coding techniques. One of the challenges in developering web applications with javascript is debugging. A web developer once relied on error messages from the web browser to troubleshoot javascript code, but today tools, such as Firebug, make javascript programming much more pleasant by providing detailed script errors and traditional Step In and Step Over debugging tools.

Coda 1.5 Released

August 29, 2008

A new version of the Mac OS X web development tool, CODA, was release this week and features some very useful additions. For the uninitiated, CODA is Mac software for writing website code, creating CSS style documents, and quickly performing file transfers from a development environment to a server. CODA has a capable text editor with syntax highlighting, and an elegant system for managing and synchronizing files - best of all it is a breeze to use with a standardize Mac interface.

Version 1.5 has an improved code browser where block elements in HTML, CSS, javascript, and PHP are listed for quick reference. The previous version did not support this feature for mixed files. The new version of CODA also includes an excellent search tool which permits search for text across all project documents.