Question

Though we have ignored it in the previous examples, event handler functions are passed an argument: the event object. This object gives us additional information about the event. For example, if we want to know which mouse button was pressed, we can look at the event object’s which property.

<button>Click me any way you want</button>
<script>
  var button = document.querySelector("button");
  button.addEventListener("mousedown", function(event) {
    if (event.which == 1)
      console.log("Left button");
    else if (event.which == 2)
      console.log("Middle button");
    else if (event.which == 3)
      console.log("Right button");
  });
</script>

The information stored in an event object differs per type of event. We’ll discuss various types later in this chapter. The object’s type property always holds a string identifying the event (for example "click" or "mousedown" ).

This is a book about getting computers to do what you want them to do. Computers are about as common as screwdrivers today, but they contain a lot more hidden complexity and thus are harder to operate and understand. To many, they remain alien, slightly threatening things.