Validating Credit Card Inputs and Payments in HTML Forms
Alright folks, gather around, let’s talk about a piece of work that’s as exciting as getting the last slice of pizza. Ready? It’s "Validating Credit Card Inputs and Payments in HTML Forms"! Do you feel the thrill? Well, you should! Dive in with me….
Why is Validating Credit Card Inputs Important?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s talk about why we’re doing this. Imagine you’re running an online shop that sells socks with pictures of cats on them (because, why not?). You wouldn’t want Mr. Whisker’s fans ending up at the "payment unsuccessful" page because they had entered their credit card details incorrectly, would you? That’s right, validating those credit card inputs can save precious customer frustration and lost sales.
How to Validate Credit Card Inputs with HTML Forms
Now that we understand the significance, let’s get our hands messy with some code. But fret not, it won’t be as hard as trying to give a bath to a cat.
Start with the Basics
Like every superhero origin story, we start from the humble HTML Form:
html
<form>
<label for="ccn">Credit Card Number:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="ccn" name="card_number" minlength="13" maxlength="16" required><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
We’ve got our good ol’ form with a textbox for the card number input. But take note of those new folks – minlength, maxlength, and required – these attributes are the unsung heroes validating the length of the card input.
Pump it up with JavaScript
But hold on to your cat socks, folks. There’s still the issue of validating the credit card structure. We cannot fully trust HTML with this job – it’s similar to expecting your cat to do the dishes. Hence, let’s use JavaScript.
javascript
function validateCreditCard(inputText) {
var cardno = /^(?:4[0-9]{12}(?:[0-9]{3})?)$/; // for Visa card validation
if(inputText.value.match(cardno)) {
return true;
} else {
alert("Not a valid Visa credit card number!");
return false;
}
}
This simple yet fancy JavaScript function uses something called Regular Expressions (regex for short) to validate the structure of the card number.
Conclusion
And, there you have it! The basics of validating credit card inputs with HTML forms and a dash of JavaScript. Just remember, validation goes a long way, almost as long as persuading your cat to wear socks.
Remember: Practice makes perfect, repeat the code writing until it feels like chasing after a laser pointer. Good luck, brave coders – or should I say, cool cats? Keep coding and don’t forget to feed your cat!
Do more With PHP, CSS, JS, WordPress
In upcoming chapters we will use PHP for server-side validation, CSS to make our forms look snazzy, JS for some more advanced magic, and WordPress to bring it all to life on a website. So stay tuned like a cat on the prowl, there’s a lot more coding fun headed your way!
