Preface · DOM Enlightenment

Before you begin, it is important to understand various styles employed in this book. Please do not skip this section, because it contains important information that will aid you in the unique styles of this book. ## This book is not like other programming books The enlightenment series ([jQuery Enlightenment](http://jqueryenlightenment.com/) & [JavaScript Enlightenment](http://javascriptenlightenment.com/)) is written in a style that favors small, isolated, immediately executable code over wordy explanations and monolithic programs. One of my favorite authors, C.S Lewis, asserts that words are the lowest form of communication that humans traffic in. I totally agree with this assertion and use it as the basis for the style of these books. I feel that technical information is best covered with as few words as possible, in conjunction with just the right amount of executable code and commenting required to express an idea. The style of this book attempts to present a clearly defined idea with as few words as possible, backed with real code. Because of this, when you first start grokking these concepts, you should execute and examine the code, thereby forming the foundation of a mental model for the words used to describe the concepts. Additionally, the format of these books attempts to systematically break ideas down into their smallest possible form and examine each one in an isolated context. All this to say that this is not a book with lengthy explanations or in-depth coverage on broad topics. Consider yourself warned. If it helps, think of it as a cookbook, but even more terse and to the point than usual. ## Color-coding conventions In the code examples (example shown below), orange is used to highlight code directly relevant to the concept being discussed. Any additional code used to support the orange colored code will be green. The color gray in the code examples is reserved for comments. live code: [http://jsfiddle.net/domenlightenment](http://jsfiddle.net/domenlightenment) ~~~ <!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <body> <script> // this is a comment about a specific part of the codevar foo = 'calling out this part of the code'; </script> </body> </html> ~~~ ## jsFiddle The majority of code examples in this book are linked to a corresponding [jsFiddle](http://jsfiddle.net/) page, where the code can be tweaked and executed online. The jsFiddle examples have been configured to use the [Firebug lite-dev plugin](https://getfirebug.com/firebug-lite-debug.js) to ensure the reader views the console.log prevalent in this book. Before reading this book, make sure you are comfortable with the usage and purpose of *console.log*. In situations where jsFiddle caused complications with the code example, I simply chose not to link to a live example.