Unobtrusive JavaScript: Stop Cluttering Your HTML

Separation of concerns is important, especially when building web applications. Making JavaScript unobtrusive is a technique whereby the JavaScript is pulled out into a third layer alongside the HTML and CSS. Obtrusive JavaScript damages the readability of your markup and causes problems for browsers. JavaScript should always be unobtrusive. Come learn how to write it that way from the very beginning.

Separation of concerns is important, especially when building web applications. Making JavaScript unobtrusive is a technique whereby the JavaScript is pulled out into a third layer alongside the HTML and CSS. Obtrusive JavaScript damages the readability of your markup and causes problems for browsers. JavaScript should always be unobtrusive. Come learn how to write it that way from the very beginning. We'll also explore Low Pro, a popular extension to the Prototype library that makes writing unobtrusive code even easier, as well as JQuery, an alternative to Prototype that has support for unobtrusive JavaScript built-in.

About Matthew Bass

Matthew Bass is an independent software developer, entrepreneur, speaker, and writer. He has over ten years of experience across a diverse set of technologies and has worked at places like SAS Institute, the world's largest privately held software company. An agilist from the very beginning, he continues evangelizing and experimenting with pair programming, test-first and behavior-driven development, and continuous integration. Matthew has spoken at several regional and national software conferences and regularly writes for publications like InfoQ.

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