Dart for Absolute Beginners

Dart for Absolute Beginners enables individuals with no background in programming to create their own web apps while learning the fundamentals of software development in a cutting edge language. Easily digested chapters, while comprehensive enough to explore the whole domain, are aimed at both hobbyists and professionals alike. The reader will not only gain an insight into Dart, but also the technologies behind the web. A firm foundation is laid for further programming studies.

Dart is a new, innovative language developed by Google which is poised to take the web by storm. For client side web app development, Dart has many advantages over JavaScript. These include but are not limited to: improved speed, enforcement of programmatic structure, and improved facilities for software reuse. Best of all, Dart is automatically converted to JavaScript so that it works with all web browsers. Dart is a fresh start, without the baggage of the last two decades of the web. Why start learning to program with yesterday’s technology?

• Teaches you the fundamentals of programming and the technologies behind the web.
• Utilizes the cutting edge, easy to learn, structured Dart programming language so that your first steps are pointed towards the future of web development.
• No prior knowledge is required to begin developing your own web apps.

What you’ll learn

• Become proficient in the fundamentals of programming.
• Learn how the technologies behind the web work.
• Use Dart to write small to medium size web apps.
• Understand enough HTML and CSS to create your own designs.
• Be capable of interpreting others’ code.
• Develop a foundation that enables you to further advance your programming skills.

Who this book is for

Dart for Absolute Beginners is for readers with no prior knowledge of programming (or even HTML) who are interested in taking their first steps into web development with the “latest and greatest” web programming language, Dart. Hobbyists will appreciate its easy-to-digest content, while its focus on the cutting edge Dart language will appeal to professionals. It’s also for the reader who simply has a curiosity about how the web and/or programming works – he will gain insight into its technologies without getting into the tiresome emphasis on semantics in some introductory texts. Dart for Absolute Beginners is a thoroughly approachable text for new programmers of all backgrounds.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Getting Set Up
Chapter 2. Your First Dart Programs
Chapter 3. Some Programming Fundamentals
Chapter 4. Five Small Programs to Showcase Fundamentals in Dart
Chapter 5. Functions
Chapter 6. Data Structures
Chapter 7. How Does the Web Work?
Chapter 8. Using Dart to Interact with HTML
Chapter 9. Hangman
Chapter 10. Object-Oriented Programming Fundamentals
Chapter 11. Object-Oriented Design
Chapter 12. Advanced Dart Concepts
Chapter 13. Testing Your Work
Chapter 14. Concurrency
Chapter 15. Tools of the Trade
Chapter 16. Putting it All Together
Chapter 17. Where to Go from Here
Chapter 18. Interview with Dart’s Creators

Appendix A: Dart Cheat Sheet
Appendix B: History of Web Programming
Appendix C: Dart Timeline
Appendix D: Great Resources