JavaScript is not Java
OK, so you've decided to learn JavaScript. But, at this point, you know nothing about JavaScript. Before you learn anything about JavaScript, I think it's important that you know a few things about the differences between JavaScript and Java.

JavaScript and Java are really big buzzwords right now. Everywhere you look, you're seeing something about one or the other. And, in all of that confusion, you may have come to the assumption that the two are one and the same.

Java:
Java is programming language similar to C++. The uses of Java that you have seen have most likely been as Applets (programs written in Java that can only be run in a browser) on web pages. But, Applets are only a very limited portion of the abilities available to the Java language. In fact, Java was originally developed to be used as a programming language for things like word processors, calculators, car computers, watches, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), microwaves, etc. Part of the goal of the Java language was to create a language that could be used by multiple platforms, such as those listed above. But, in the process of developing this language, programmers found that Java was perfect for the Internet as well because of the wide variety of platforms that exist on the Internet (UNIX, Windows, Macintosh, Next, OS2, etc.)

The people that developed Java based the language on C++, the currently most used language by software developers. These people took the best things about C++, got rid of the worst things in C++ (pointers), and developed a language that could be run on multiple platforms. Java is also an Object-Oriented (OO) language. In short, it means that one works with objects of some type, and apply actions to them (which is in contrast to procedural programming where you apply objects to some procedure.) For those of you with programming background, I realize that this isn't completely what OO programming is, but it's good enough to learn JavaScript.

Java is a compiled language. This means the program is written in text (source code) then converted to a computer program (which you can't read).

JavaScript:
JavaScript is not any part of Java. JavaScript, originally created by Netscape, but now even ported to Internet Explorer as "JScript" is a language devoted to enhancing HTML (and if you have a server with Netscape's LiveWire Pro, you can use it to make CGIs, but we won't discuss that.) JavaScript can do almost everything that a Java Applet can do on a web page. JavaScript is able to directly access many of the objects within an HTML document, and manipulate those objects . JavaScript is an Object-Based language. This means that it uses many of the concepts of OO programming, but it's not completely Object-Oriented.

Remember this:
JavaScript Gives you the programmer more control over the Browser environment than does Java.

JavaScript is an interpreted language. This means that it is transferred as-is, no special program is needed to encode JavaScript before it is used. JavaScript is transfered to the clients browser in text form and executed by the browser.

So, we've touched on the basics about the origins and goals of JavaScript. By the time you've finished this course, you'll be able to apply the powerful abilities of JavaScript to your documents. "What kind of stuff will I be able to do?" you ask. Well, take a look at these examples. With a little hard work, and a lot of free time, you'll definitely be able to create either of these things, and a whole lot more: