If you've done any JavaScript programming, you're probably
familiar
with
arrays, which let you store lists of items and also
give
you access to the
images, forms, and form elements of your
HTML pages.
var an_array = new Array("hickory","dickory");
var element_one = an_array[0];
var element_two = an_array[1];
an_array[2] = "doc";
This
creates a new array and initializes it with
two strings. The
first
element of the array is accessed using its index
number, "0." The
second
element, element 1 of the array, is accessible
with
an_array[1].
You can add to an array by assigning something
to a
specific index of the array: in the example above, I made the third
element
of the array equal to "doc." Now the array contains "hickory,
dickory,
doc."
Associative arrays are just like the array above,
except
rather than using
numbers to index elements in the array, you
use
words.
var phone_book = new Array();
phone_book["sleepy"] = "(203) 555-1234";
phone_book["happy"] = "(203) 555-2345";
This creates sort of a phone
book.
Access the phone number for "happy" by
writing:
var happy_number = phone_book["happy"];
Try out
the
working phone book example on the next page to see
how an
associative
array might work (and get a major refresher on the use
of
JavaScript with
forms at the same time).
next page»
