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JavaScript – A Quick Overview

JavaScript is a very powerful language. It is one of the most popular languages in the world and is one of the most prominent languages on the internet. For example, GitHub (the world's largest code host, available at https://github.com) hosts over 400,000 JavaScript repositories (the largest number of projects available is in JavaScript; refer to http://githut.info). The number of projects in JavaScript and GitHub grows every year.

JavaScript is not a language that can only be used in the frontend. It can also be used in the backend, and Node.js is the technology responsible for this. The number of Node Package Modules (npm), https://www.npmjs.org, has also grown exponentially. JavaScript can also be used for mobile development and is one of the most popular frameworks in Apache Cordova (https://cordova.apache.org), which is a mobile hybrid framework that allows developers to code using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which allows you to build an app and generate an APK file for Android and IPA file for iOS (Apple). And of course, let's not forget about desktop applications. We can write desktop applications compatible with Linux, Mac OS, and Windows using a JavaScript framework called Electron (https://electron.atom.io). JavaScript is also used in embedded and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. As you can see, JavaScript is everywhere!

JavaScript is a must-have on your resume if you are or are becoming a web developer.

In this chapter, you will learn the syntax and some necessary basic functionalities of JavaScript so that we can start developing our own data structures and algorithms. We will cover:

Setting up the environment and JavaScript basics
Controlling structures and functions
Object-oriented programming in JavaScript
Debugging and tools

Setting up the environment

One of the pros of the JavaScript language compared to other languages is that you do not need to install or configure a complicated environment to get started with it. Every computer has the required environment already, even though the user may never write a single line of source code. All we need is a browser!

To execute the examples in this book, it is recommended that you have a modern browser installed such as Google Chrome or Firefox (you can use the one you like the most), an editor of your preference (such as Visual Studio Code), and a web server (XAMPP or any other of your preference, but this step is optional). Chrome, Firefox, VS Code, and XAMPP are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

The minimum setup to work with JavaScript

The simplest environment that you can use for JavaScript development is a browser. The modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge) have a functionality called Developer Tools. To access the DevTools in Chrome, you can click on the menu in the upper-right corner, More Tools | Developer Tools:

When you open the DevTools, you will see the Console tab, and you will be able to write all your JavaScript code in its command-line area, as demonstrated in the following screenshot (to execute the source code, you need to press Enter):

Using web servers

The second environment option you might want to install on your computer is also simple, but it requires installing a web server. If an HTML file contains only simple JavaScript code that does not require any request to a server (Ajax calls), it can be executed in the browser by right-clicking on the HTML file and selecting the Open with option. The code we will develop throughout this book is simple and it can be executed using this approach. However, it is always nice to have a web server installed.

There are many open source and free options available to you. If you are familiar with PHP, XAMPP (https://www.apachefriends.org) is a good option, and it is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.

Since we will be focusing on JavaScript for the server side and the browser, there is also a simpler web server you can install in Chrome. It is the Web Server for Chrome extension, and this can be downloaded at https://goo.gl/pxqLmU. After installing it, you can access it through the Chrome URL chrome://apps:

After opening the Web Server extension, you can CHOOSE FOLDER you want to serve in the browser. You can create a new folder in which you can execute the source code we will implement throughout this book, or you can download the source code from this book and extract it to a directory of your preference and access it through the informed URL (the default is http://127.0.0.1:8887):

All examples from this book can be executed by accessing http://127.0.0.1:8887/examples. You will find an index.html with a list of all examples, as demonstrated in the following screenshot:

When executing the examples, always remember to have the Developer Tools enabled and the Console tab open to see the output. The Web Server for Chrome extension was also developed using JavaScript. For better experience, it is recommended to use this extension to execute the examples from this book or install the Node.js http-server we will learn in the next section.

Node.js http-server

The third option is having an environment that is 100 percent JavaScript! For this environment, we need to have Node.js installed. Go to http://nodejs.org, and download and install Node.js. After installing it, open the Terminal application (if you are using Windows, open the Command Prompt with Node.js, which was installed with Node.js) and run the following command:

    npm install http-server -g

Make sure you type the command and don't copy and paste it. Copying the command might give you some errors. You can also execute the command as an administrator. For Linux and Mac systems, use the following command:

    sudo npm install http-server -g

This command will install http-server, which is a JavaScript server. To start a server and run the examples from this book in the Terminal application, change the directory to the folder that contains the book's source code and type http-server, as displayed in the following screenshot:

To execute the examples, open the browser and access the localhost on the port specified by the http-server command.

Detailed steps to download the code bundle and run the examples are mentioned in the preface of this book. Please have a look. The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/loiane/javascript-datastructures-algorithms. We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing. Check them out!

Key benefits

Implement common data structures and the associated algorithms along with the context in which they are used

Master existing JavaScript data structures such as arrays, sets, and maps, and learn how to implement new ones such as stacks, linked lists, trees, and graphs in ES 8

Develop abstract data types to make JavaScript a more flexible and powerful programming language

Description

A data structure is a particular way of organizing data in a computer to utilize resources efficiently. Data structures and algorithms are the base of every solution to any programming problem. With this book, you will learn to write complex and powerful code using the latest ES 2017 features. Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms begins by covering the basics of JavaScript and introduces you to ECMAScript 2017, before gradually moving on to the most important data structures such as arrays, queues, stacks, and linked lists. You will gain in-depth knowledge of how hash tables and set data structures function as well as how trees and hash maps can be used to search files in an HD or represent a database. This book serves as a route to take you deeper into JavaScript. You’ll also get a greater understanding of why and how graphs, one of the most complex data structures, are largely used in GPS navigation systems in social networks. Toward the end of the book, you’ll discover how all the theories presented in this book can be applied to solve real-world problems while working on your own computer networks and Facebook searches.

What you will learn

• Declare, initialize, add, and remove items from arrays, stacks, and queues

• Create and use linked lists, doubly linked lists, and circular linked lists

• Store unique elements with hash tables, dictionaries, and sets

• Explore the use of binary trees and binary search trees

• Sort data structures using algorithms such as bubble sort, selection sort, insertion sort, merge sort, and quick sort

• Search elements in data structures using sequential sort and binary search

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Kindle Customer Feb 05, 2021

First I was scared of previews reviews but then I quickly used book.google to find get some content of the book.In my experience , the best resources out there to learn Algorithm and Data Structures . You'll need to start from references online and then practice with this book.Thanks once again for this wonderful book

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webdeveloperpr Jul 20, 2018

I purchased this book after failing horribly at a software developer interview. I have been a developer for 4 years but as a self taught developer I lacked some of the CS fundamentals. This book has taught me a lot about how to solve many CS problems by using data structures. I have not finished the book yet but I already feel pretty confident with the new things I have learned.

Amazon Customer May 22, 2018

what is new in this version? I noticed the modules section about es6 modules in node. And a full chapter on es6 and ECMAScript

Joaquim Pagian Barboza Apr 27, 2023

Livro maravilhoso da Loiane sobre estrutura de dados em JavaScript; melhor explicação até então sobre o assunto.

DEEPIKA CHITIKELA Apr 24, 2019

too many references to the code written elsewhere. It becomes tiresome to go go back and remind yourself. Many errors in the code.

Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms: Write complex and powerful JavaScript code using the latest ECMAScript , Third Edition

What do you get with Print?

Learning JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms

JavaScript – A Quick Overview

JavaScript data structure and algorithms

Setting up the environment

The minimum setup to work with JavaScript

Using web servers

Node.js http-server

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