Web Standards Programmer's Reference: HTML, CSS, JavaScript®, Perl, Python®, and PHP

23.2. JavaScript Resources

Following is a partial list of some of the best JavaScript resources the Web has to offer:

• The ECMA Specification — The ECMA specification from the ECMA Web site gives the reader an in-depth look at the standards behind JavaScript. It should be kept in mind that not all user agents adhere to the specification, but this background document will help any coder better understand JavaScript. You can find the ECMA specification at http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-262.pdf.

• The W3C DOM Specification — This reference document explains the design and workings of the Document Object Model Level 1. The DOM is described in detail and the bindings specific to ECMA (and therefore, JavaScript) are covered in Appendix D. You can find the W3C DOM Specification at http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-DOM-Level-1-20000929/Overview.html.

• The MSDN Web Development Library — The Web Development section of the MSDN Library (click on the Web Development link in the left pane) has a lot of useful information on the implementation of JavaScript, CSS, and DHTML within Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you need to find out how IE will handle something in particular, this is the source to consult. Find it at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp.

• The Gecko (Mozilla Firebird) DOM Reference — This document describes the Gecko DOM implementation. If you need to write code specific to the Gecko browsers, this is the document to consult. Note that many new ...