JavaScript is a misunderstood language. While it, seemingly, doesn't contain the libraries or abstraction of Java or the terse flexibility of Scheme, it offers serious advantages to skilled developers. Combining a functional style with prototypal inheritance JavaScript is arguably the most widely deployed language of either type. Considering that virtually every computer user has an interpreter capable of running it, JavaScript serves to be one of the best languages to learn.

In this talk we'll explore all the, interesting, aspects of the language giving you a good understanding of how to best use it in your web, and desktop, applications.

John Resig is a JavaScript Evangelist for the Mozilla Corporation and the author of the book 'Pro Javascript Techniques.' He's also the creator and lead developer of the jQuery JavaScript library. He's currently located in Boston, MA.