I worked at a coffee shop at the end of high school that made everyone drive in to get their schedules. I thought that was silly so instead I made a google sheet to put the schedule on instead so everyone could just view it online. Then, I wanted to automate a couple things, like a form for requesting time off, saving schedules week by week etc, and Google AppScripts ended up being the solution, which at the time was barebones javascript. So I forced myself to learn it to try to make the schedule better. Answer from jabarr on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › beginner advice
r/learnjavascript on Reddit: Beginner Advice
August 31, 2021 -

So I’m 16 and want to get into JavaScript. What’s a good way to learn? YouTube videos are too fast paced in my opinion. Also, what’s a good program to actually code on? And also any beginner advice?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › beautiful introduction that touches on the real problem of most tutorials and textbooks
r/learnjavascript on Reddit: Beautiful introduction that touches on the real problem of most tutorials and textbooks
March 25, 2024 -

...Even if You are a Complete Beginner...

...Who doesn’t even know where to start

The Best Part?

You don’t need to read painfully boring Javascript tutorials that sound like a “users manual” of an electronic device.

Future Javascript Developer,

By now you know that learning Javascript will open many doors to you professionally.

However, learning it has been a struggle.

You find yourself frustrated because the more effort you put in, the less knowledge seems to “stick”.

I’m here to tell you that there is a better way to learn Javascript

  • Without long 8 hours videos that you watch but it doesn’t make you learn ONE BIT, and makes you feel like you’re wasting your time.

  • Without painfully long tutorials, that you read, take notes, but after 2 hours of effort, you figured that you understood nothing.

  • And without books with 300+ pages that are too complex for a beginner. And can only leave you overwhelmed, confused, and unmotivated.

I know how it feels because I’ve been through this exact experience.

The big problem with the common educational Javascript products is that they are NOT made for the absolute beginner.

Common courses and books try to teach you A LOT of advanced concepts from start

Here is a fact...

  • When you’re a beginner you don’t need to know if Javascript is an object-oriented language...

  • You don’t need to know the history of Javascript.

  • You don’t need to read ENTIRE CHAPTERS before trying your first codes.

  • And you surely do NOT need to know every single subject to start building powerful apps.

Yet so many books and courses dedicate entire sessions to telling you things that will not make you UNDERSTAND Javascript.

I’m here to tell you that you DO NOT NEED TO LEARN every single concept at the very beginning.

Here is what you need as a beginner:

Less theory, more PRACTICE.

SIMPLE explanations instead of complex subjects.

Just like that:

When people start learning math, they do not start by solving complex equations or logarithmic operations.

They start with 1 + 1 = 2.

1 + 2 = 3 and so on.

When people start learning to read, they do not start by reading Shakespeare or learning complex grammar subjects.

They start by learning the sounds of A, B, C.

Why learning Javascript should be any different?

Why do so many books and courses insist on teaching BEGINNERS advanced concepts right at the starting point?

This doesn’t make ANY SENSE.

With this in mind, we developed a solution that actually takes into consideration the fact that you are a beginner.

A solution that will make you understand Javascript like no other.

Because it focuses on the two things a beginner needs:

SIMPLE EXPLANATION

EASY PRACTICEUnderstand Javascript in Less than 50 Pages...

...Even if You are a Complete Beginner...

...Who doesn’t even know where to start

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/javascript › [askjs] how did you learn javascript?
r/javascript on Reddit: [AskJS] How did you learn Javascript?
December 24, 2021 -

Curious if there are any beginners or "ex" beginners here that can explain what path they took to learn Javascript. Video tutorials, documentation, mentors, building projects, etc... What worked, what pain points did you face while learning? Did it ultimately lead to you landing a job?

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As someone said there is no right or wrong way, but there are definitely "worse" or rather slower ways: A lot of aspiring developers get caught in what sometimes is refereed to as "Tutorial Hell" which describes a state where the aspiring developer consumes tutorials and replicates the code and projects in those, sometimes with some minor adjustments/variation but never build anything on their own without the safety rail of someone telling them exactly what to type. Programming is first and foremost about problem solving. The language, IDE, color scheme, addons/extensions, frameworks, libraries, youtubers, documentations, stackoverflows, mechanical 65% keyboards (which I can write a whole hatepost about in its own right) etc etc etc. are just tools. They are not what makes a programmer. They never were, they never will be. They are tools. I often come across aspiring developers getting caught in any of these things, and most often they do that to avoid having to move forwards. They get stuck in what little the tutorials taught them and spend their days telling others about what is right and true based on this. Or they post setup photos on Instagram where they dunked a couple of thousand dollars into their setups - which looks great, don't get me wrong - and some text about being a developer; inspiring others to think that this is what is is all about. But I'm getting carried away here. The only way to move forward - in my opinion - is to do. Just do. There's a formula I've said on here before and in other subs: Find out what you want. Find out what you need. Start doing it. You need to be able to think of some kind of idea, how wild, stupid or just plain impossible it seems and start going at it. And it needs to be something from "within" you and not something that some youtuber is showing you how to do. Again, to clarify: There is NOTHING wrong with youtubers or their tutorials. And there is NOT a phase where you are done with them either. I still refer to youtube clips (mainly fireship *hint hint*) for getting a TL;DR on stuff I don't know. And I sometimes watch things I could do on my own just to see how this guy did it, to fight the creeping arrogance that I am this awesome developer that knows everything already. Screw that. That will never be true. But the idea of Tutorial Hell is when you are too scared, too insecure, to try something on your own and finding your way using above tools to some degree (we all do), but solving the problem you posed on your own. Again to clarify: I'm not talking coding from memory here. But instead of having all your code pre-written by someone else, you can learn concepts and experiment and make wild guesses and look up your guesses to see if they would maybe work. Try them, see what worked, why, what failed, why and get new ideas to try next time. That is programming. That is what it is to be a programmer. In my opinion at least.
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I worked at a coffee shop at the end of high school that made everyone drive in to get their schedules. I thought that was silly so instead I made a google sheet to put the schedule on instead so everyone could just view it online. Then, I wanted to automate a couple things, like a form for requesting time off, saving schedules week by week etc, and Google AppScripts ended up being the solution, which at the time was barebones javascript. So I forced myself to learn it to try to make the schedule better.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/javascript › free pdf download of javascript allongé
r/javascript on Reddit: Free PDF download of JavaScript Allongé
May 1, 2022 - I've been reading it on and off during lulls in my day, and I can say that JavaScript Allongé is a must read for any JavaScript developer, or indeed, any developer interested in understanding the language better.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › you don't know javascript, but you could (for free)
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: You don't know JavaScript, but you could (for free)
December 22, 2017 -

The 'You Don't Know JS' (by Kyle Simpson) books are in my opinion one of the best resources to learn JavaScript. The language is full of quirks and other 'interesting' design decisions that can result in weird behavior, especially if you are a first-time programmer.

What I really like about this series is the in-depth approach to elusive concepts like closures, prototype-based inheritance, and scope. If you have the time and discipline to follow them, I think you'd be in better shape than 90% of the JS programmers out there.

Because I've received some messages asking for JS resources, I thought that it could be useful for someone if list them here. The books can be found in Amazon for very very cheap, but you don't need to buy them, you can read them online for free here:

Book 1: Up & Going

Book 2: Scope & Closures

Book 3: this & Object Prototypes

Book 4: Types & Grammar

Book 5: Async & Performance

Book 6: ES6 & Beyond

Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/javascript › the must-read javascript book of 2020 is free
r/javascript on Reddit: The Must-Read Javascript Book of 2020 is Free
March 12, 2019 - Here is a page full of what you did: https://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Know-JS-Going/dp/1491924462/ref=sr_1_2?crid=11RJ0G3CD9BWE&keywords=you+don't+know+js&qid=1580780452&sprefix=you+don't+know,aps,158&sr=8-2#customerReviews · I'd even say many of these go further in detail than you did. Looking at your post. It seems like an Amazon Affiliate link farm article and not meant to be a meaningful way of creating content that JavaScript developers want.
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GitHub
gist.github.com › WebRTCGame › 9fa80ed32a7413bd0f8d71304d6335eb
Free Javascript Books · GitHub
Free Javascript Books. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › how do i learn js efficiently?
How do I learn JS efficiently? : r/learnjavascript
April 2, 2023 - Also bare in mind tutorials are just a foundation on which to build, you need to actually build things, struggle and problem solve whilst always striving to make your next block of code better than what you have previously done. ... I had this problem when I wanted to take my knowledge to another level. then I found a course that changed my life. andrei neagoie javascript course. I’m not the type of guy to suggest courses to people, but this one it’s gold mine. ... to learn anything efficiently, you should create notes while learning. No Notes No Revision, No Revision Less Confidence and Motivation while Online learning
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › i feel like i’m not intelligent enough for this…
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: I feel like I’m not intelligent enough for this…
January 22, 2023 -

Maybe this sounds stupid or desperate but that’s just how I feel. I’ve been studying JS for the past two weeks and a half, maybe? Anyway, I’m taking this course on udemy from Colt Steele where I understand mostly everything that he teaches and sometimes if an exercise follows right after that lecture I might or might not solve it on my own, but mostly it’s super complex for me to do even tho after I see the solution from a video on YT it makes sense, I know what the code means pretty much all of it, there’s just no way I can do it on my own. Saddest part is it brings me down badly, like I get super demotivated and lazy in a way.

EDIT: It seems a lot of people misinterpreted me of what I’m trying to say/express… I do not expect to know alot let alone know how to code everything on my own. EDIT2: Wow, I did not expect to get this many comments/replies, thank you everyone for taking the time to reply and thanks for the encouragement.

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Two weeks is nothing. It takes some people two to four years to become good programmers. Don't give up; you are simply underestimating how quickly most people learn JavaScript. Especially if you've never coded before and you're brand new, you need to give yourself time and be patient with yourself. One thing you can do right now today to improve is to do all the exercises, not just some of them. No matter how basic. If Colt Steels types out "Hello World," then you do the same. Even if he starts out with just HTML and CSS, setting up what he's doing, then you do that bit, too. Every single line that he types, you should type, and then tinker with what you wrote. (So if he writes "Hello World," see if you can figure out how to change that to "Hello World from JetX24!" and "Goodbye World.") And that's how you increase your confidence and motivation.
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I understand that two weeks is nothing, but I still feel like It should be sticking with me more. Programming language is language, that's the first thing you have to understand - this is more like learning French than learning algebra. Language acquisition in the brain involves two separate but related areas: Broca's area for the production of language, and Werneke's area for the interpretation of language. When you sit there and watch a video and read code, you're activating Werneke's area. You make new connections and come to feel like you're getting it. But activating Werneke's area doesn't do shit to Broca's area, so when you try to produce some code, suddenly it feels like it "didn't stick." But it isn't that it didn't stick with you; it's that you only did the first half. Now you're doing the second - the slow, slow grind to build connections in the Broca's area of your brain, as you make halting and abortive attempts to produce language. Activating Broca's area does activate Werneke's area, because you generally try to interpret your own speech as you produce it (as a kind of self-check), and you're further assisted in this regard by the computer itself, which is a machine that can interpret what you've produced and show you your errors. That's the process by which you actually acquire programming language - by writing it and debugging it, but it's also the process that reveals how little you actually know after you watch a video of someone else programming. You can't read enough code to make you a programmer. You can't watch enough videos to do it, either - it's not something you can passively acquire because none of those things activate Broca's area. That's only something you can do through trying to produce code. You just have to grind it out - write code, debug it until it works. Repeat. Write a lot of code. We all did it and so can you. Saddest part is it brings me down badly, like I get super demotivated and lazy in a way. Well, there you go. Now you know why there's so few programmers - most people can't bear the sensation of failing long enough to learn it. But I bet you can.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › just started learning javascript, feeling discouraged
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Just started learning JavaScript, feeling discouraged
March 3, 2022 -

I’m sure this is not an unfamiliar experience for this subreddit, but I am having a hard time with JS.

I’m currently going through Angela Yu’s 2022 full stack web development bootcamp on Udemy and I am having a pretty difficult time grasping and putting into practice the concepts that she’s teaching. She does challenges periodically throughout the lessons where she tells us to pause the video and see if we can figure out how to do what she wants us to do, and I almost never even know where to start.

I’m not so much discouraged about how difficult it is so far, but more so with the fact that I don’t feel like I really know how to go about grasping and really understanding these concepts. I’ve just sort of been giving some sort of an attempt at the challenges, usually not getting very far, watching her solution, understanding how what she’s doing at least makes sense, and just moving on. Rinse and repeat. I’m worried that I’m gonna get to a point where I should be more comfortable with with these concepts, and eventually get completely lost and left behind.

Does anyone have any advice on practicing JS in the very very early stages of learning in order to make these concepts make sense?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › how would you learn javascript from scratch in 1 year?
r/learnjavascript on Reddit: How would you learn JavaScript from scratch in 1 year?
June 2, 2023 -

I work at marketing, but I'm not that into it. I want to become a programmer and JavaScript looks fun. It also looks like the most marketable language, since I enjoy building web apps and websites. I'm saving up enough money to pay my bills for a year, and then study HTML, CSS, and JavaScript 8 hours a day for a year.

Any advice?

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GitHub
github.com › heman0001 › F › blob › main › Free Download JavaScript in Less Than 50 Pages - Full Course Guide.md
F/Free Download JavaScript in Less Than 50 Pages - Full Course ...
Want to master JavaScript quickly and efficiently? Searching for a concise and accessible JavaScript course that cuts through the fluff? You're in the right place!
Author   heman0001
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › how to help someone learn javascript who finds it extremely difficult?
r/learnjavascript on Reddit: How to help someone learn JavaScript who finds it extremely difficult?
April 13, 2022 -

Hello, my girlfriend is changing her career to web developer, and she was able to learn HTML, CSS somewhat easily. She can already make some nice looking websites, but she is stuck on JS. I've been trying to teach her it, but we've had very little progress.

She usually has no problem learning a new topic. However, she has tried multiple courses, some examples FreeCodeCamp and OdinProject. Video courses on various sites. YouTube.

When it comes to JS, it's not unusual for her to actually cry, and doesn't seem to get the concepts down. She wants to learn this very bad, but doesn't know how. I've tried simplifying things, and tried explaining how things work under the hood, but none of it clicks.

I've told her she just needs to practice more, but she says she has no idea how to even practice.

I just would like any advice on how to help her, everything else is failing?

This morning I'm trying a new approach, repetition, just go over one basic topic (like variables) and have her type it a hundred times. Not sure what else to do.

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I've found that, a lot of the time, folks who have been using something for years and years have a difficult time knowing what has become invisible to them. You've got to remember that no skill in this world is difficult; everything just needs understanding and practice - once you have learned how to convey that understanding, then she can manage the practice part herself. When it comes to learning javascript, you need to remember that: Frameworks don't really matter Data-structures don't really matter Algorithms don't really matter Patterns don't really matter All that stuff takes care of itself once you 'get' the basics; and it sounds like your heart is in the right place but you're currently unable to explain the basics in the right way for her - SO, remember to focus on: Basic syntax; what's a variable, what are they used for; if you've already gone through CSS and she's found that easy, then you can use custom properties as an analogy here; touch on operators like = vs === (don't bother with == until it's needed), the difference between + and += and, finally, what the hell % does if it looks like you're on stable footing and have been able to explain everything well so far. Objects & Arrays - How do you store multiple things in a single variable? That's an array. Does each thing in the group need a name? That's an object. How do you get their contents? That's syntax...and that's all you need to cover here. Introduce loops later on once you're sure you've explained this well. Don't even think about introducing array methods - let those come naturally later. Functions - they're mind-blowing and super unintuitive when you're new to them! Again, if you've already gone through CSS and she's confident there then you can expand on her existing knowledge of CSS functions like min(), max(), clamp(), calc() etc to build on how these things work in JS. Loops - don't go into all of them - just explain how to use a for...of loop and you can introduce for...in and traditional for... loops later when they're needed; while and do/while are so niche that she can probably encounter them in the wild as needed. Event Listeners - just cover the click listener here, but mention that almost every possible action has an associated event. Don't get bogged-down explaining that the 2nd argument is a callback and all the fancy things you can do with a callback - just explain how to do something when you click on a button! Let her imagination whirr! Again - use her existing comfort with CSS and use pseudo-classes as an analogy - maybe use a focus event listener in-sync with :focus styles as a demonstration! Essential APIs; the purpose of JS is to manipulate HTML and CSS, right? That's like...what it does. So...what do you need to do that? Key ones I would include are: document.querySelector() document.querySelectorAll() document.createElement() .appendChild() .classList .getAttribute() .setAttribute() MDN - With those functions you can make pretty much anything! Once you've explained those Element and document methods well enough, I would then look at those methods again whilst introducing the MDN documentation. If you are able to introduce the documentation at a point when she already understands what the functions do, then she can use that understanding as a way to understand the documentation and become familiar with it. Once she understands how to use MDN, she then has an avenue to learn the rest of the language. In terms of practice - my advice would be to pick something fun; making a pokédex is a tired example, but it's a great one, as it combines so many features, is nearly endlessly extensible in terms of scope, and she probably already understands the complexity of pokémon and so will get her thinking about how to represent stuff like movesets, types, and evolutions etc - which could lend itself neatly to discovering classes later! SO - once she is happy you've managed to explain the core concepts well enough - I'd recommend setting her loose on making that pokédex; let her know that she can come to you with specific questions, but resist the urge to take-over the project and let her progress with it on her own. And, of course, let her know that she can come and post here whenever she needs! As always, feel free to summon me in any post that's not getting a helpful response 💪 Bonne chance to ye both! EDIT: just a quick follow-up on that last note: ...This morning I'm trying a new approach, repetition, just go over one basic topic (like variables) and have her type it a hundred times. Repetition falls under the 'practice' category and not the 'understanding' category - if she's having trouble then it's not about memorisation but about how it's working. Try to build your explanations around examples and mini-exercises so that things aren't all abstract features but useful tools for achieving specific things - let her memorise and repeat independently rather than under observation, or it might just contribute to her struggle rather than help it!
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If she's never programmed before I'd suggest having a go with a block language like Scratch before trying to get into the weeds with JS syntax. It can really help demystify the logical thinking processes you need to put a program together, and it's really, really easy to get something simple actually running and working. I'd also suggest being careful about putting too much pressure onto both her and yourself over this. Once you've got into the mindset that you 'can't learn' something, it becomes self-reinforcing, and banging your head against it just makes it worse. It might help her to take some time off trying to learn JS and do something else entirely- maybe go back to HTML and CSS, to help remind her how much she's learned already or to pick up something new and fun like CSS animations, maybe play around with Scratch, maybe do something entirely unrelated to development. If she's not progressing with JS at all at the moment then even doing nothing at all would be more helpful, because at least she's not getting frustrated and upset over how hard she's finding it.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjavascript › reading documentation
r/learnjavascript on Reddit: Reading Documentation
January 31, 2020 -

As someone who has been slowly learning JS for a while now I’ve seen hundreds of posts asking for advice and nearly all of them have a comment that advises people read the documentation.

So I’m wondering, as a start out developer would it be expected we have read the JS documentation in its entirety or is it something to just keep at hand and read through sections should we need it.

Although this is meant as a vanilla JS question it’s also a question I’ve thought about for moving to a framework and wondering how to get started doing that!

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I approach this subject like this: If I already have knowledge about the thing that I'm learning, I'll go to the documentation. If I don't know the first thing about it, then I need to get the big idea first. I need that birds eye view and for that, I'll either watch a video or read a book that is meant to build intuition first. With that being said, the ability to read documentation and figure things out in that way, along with the ability to read other people's code are invaluable skills to have and I would encourage you to dive in as early as possible with the caveat that if you start getting frustrated, you can always take a step back and get that bird's eye view first, before digging into the minutia. An actionable thing you can do right now is to take something you already understand (e.g., Array.map) and see if you can understand what the docs are saying. Depending on the language or library they may be very dense, filled with type signatures and stuff that may scare you away. It's worth it to try and stick with it until you get that aha moment though. :)
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Don’t listen to the haters telling newbies to read documentation. That only applies for people who already have professional working experience in JavaScript or in another language like java or c#. For people like me learning coding the first time without any other languages, reading documentation is actually counter productive. I need handholding and clear and concise ELI5 explanations. Now when I have at least 2-3 yrs (if not more) then I don’t need the handholding anymore and be able to read the documentation. If I still cannot read documentation by then, I will have failed and should pick another career choice. 😅
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Reddit
reddit.com › r › learnjavascript › comments › 18tqogr › i_cant_learn_basic_javascript_and_i_dont_know
Reddit - The heart of the internet
July 25, 2023 - This subreddit is for anyone who wants to learn JavaScript or help others do so. Questions and posts about frontend development in general are welcome, as are all posts pertaining to JavaScript on the backend · Create your account and connect with a world of communities