How to Incorporate JavaScript in a Web Page

JavaScript is a powerful Web scripting tool that allows Web developers to create dynamic Web pages that can change before the viewer’s eyes. JavaScript can be hard to learn, however. Follow this guide to your first steps in incorporating JavaScript in your Web page.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access
• Computer

One Type of Code

1. Find the tag in the code of your Web page. It should be toward the top of the code.
2. Move the tag down one line on your code. If the tag is on a line with other code, move it to its own line and then move it down another line.
3. Insert the following code on the line above the tag.
   
   
   
   The code between the tags is the code you’re going to call from within your Web page. This way, you can have many functions at the top of your Web page and call them all as you need them. The code we’ve used will, when "talktome" is invoked, pop up an alert box saying "I love it when you talk to me."
   

Another Easy Code

4. Insert the following code between your and tags.
   
   Click me to make me speak
   
   Here we’ve used an HTML tag (a hyperlink-making tag) to invoke the "talktome" function when "Click me to make me speak" is clicked.
   
Save your file as "talk.html."
Open "talk.html" in your Web browser.
5. Step4
   Click on "Click me to make me speak." Note how the box pops up with the text we told the "alert" command to output.
   
   
   
   Your final code should look something like this:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Click me to make me speak
   
   
   
   

Tips & Warnings

• Rather than including the function in the header of the HTML file, you can include all of the information in the tag. For example: Another common JavaScript command is "onmouseover." This makes the Web page execute the command every time the mouse passes over the specified object rather than just when it is clicked. For example: As in all programming languages, syntax is paramount. If you miss a quote or a semicolon, it’s likely that nothing will happen. If you load the page and it doesn’t work as promised, check that your code is the same as in the guide.
• Use pop-ups (from the "alert" command) sparingly; they are likely to annoy your viewers.