This is the source code for an Open Educational Resource listed in Source: Sheridan's Institutional Repository.
Go here for the bibliographic entry and to access a hosted version of the textbook: https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fast_books/9/
This textbook was originally written as JavaScript for Sheridan Students in 2012. The basic idea was to create an introductory JavaScript textbook that was suitable for second semester Sheridan College students. These students had a semester of Java and a semester of HTML & CSS under their belts, and this prior knowledge is explicitly leveraged in the "Java Connection" boxes within the text.
The textbook was rebranded as JavaScript for Mohawk Students in 2017 just after I moved from Sheridan to Mohawk College. Some minor content updates were made at that time, but most of the changes were to colors and logos. Mohawk College students at the time took PHP & JavaScript in the 3rd semester, after HTML & CSS, Java, and Python, so the context was similar and few updates were needed.
There has been no further development of the original text since 2017. Much of the text became the basis for chapters in the 2025 textbook, Full Stack Web Development for Beginners.
There are two big ideas behind this textbook.
The first big idea, as already mentioned, is that it explicitly leverages prior Java knowledge, making it a perfect fit for the educational Journey of many Ontario college students at the time it was written.
The second big idea is that the textbook is written in the language the students are learning. The index, navigation features, and in-text links are all added after load time using raw JavaScript and jQuery. This is not the best choice for performance (better to pre-compile everything and have readers access the finished product) but it's a nice hook in that the book itself shows the students some of the capabilities of JavaScript programming on the web. Since the students are likely reading in a browser, they can open a developer console and try out the JavaScript they are learning without leaving the textbook. The text takes full advantage of that with the "Try it Yourself" boxes within the text.