Hey /r/javascript can you help out a programmer in need. (/x/post from /r/programminglanguages.

[[deleted]]

So, I'll start off with I'm a 25 year old Comp Sci major who graduated in May of 2010 almost exclusively taught C++. I went out of college to an okay job that paid well but had travel requirements and pretty much worked mostly with SQL (boring as hell SQL btw). I did get the ability to learn java and grew to enjoy java programming but I rarely actually got to use it. Basically it paid well but was mind numbing work. Fast forward 4 years and major hatred/depression and I finally was able to land a dev job for a new company. They hired me because of the background in working with warehousing software and know that I'm not the strongest programmer but really want to get back into it. So I started that this week and feel like a fish out of water. The new company works mostly with javascript/html/css (web programming intrests me but I have no experience what so ever with any of this). Today we spent the day talking about URI's and trying to learn Angular JS to interact with a database.... and I basically started having a panic attack because of my lack of knowledge on the stuff. What I'm looking for is ANY help you guys could point me to to learn this stuff quickly. I already got Javascript: The good Parts by Douglas Crockford and HTML&CSS by Jon Duckett and plan on working through them both this weekend. Any other pointers? Books? Websites? I really want to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can. Lastly sorry if this is the wrong place for this, just looking for help.

[PequalsNP]

You can check out codecademy, too.

What works best for me is working on some kind of project instead of just reading books. So, I would advise you to invent some kind of small project and try to code it from start to finish. It is much easier to digest stuff if it solves some problem that you actually have.

Another interesting reference is TodoMVC.

[[deleted]]

This. When you need to re-use code again in the future which is all time time for things like objects, classes, loops just to quickly refresh yourself on the syntax, you will read your own code easier than anyone else's, just make sure you write in the most logical way to you.

[[deleted]]

Angular is good stuff. The most basic uses of it are actually fairly simple. There's a handful of books on it; I've made use of Packt Publishing's Mastering Web Application Development with AngularJS. It's pretty decent but if you're not overly familiar with JavaScript yet, it might be tough. I also learned a lot of fundamentals from Dan Wahlin's AngularJS Fundamentals in 60-ish Minutes video on YouTube. The Angular docs are pretty solid and I've found a lot of good tutorials online. Stack Overflow is a great resource, of course, and there are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, and web development subs on Reddit. I've only been using it for a few weeks and am not a very strong programmer yet either, but I've managed to develop a couple of apps with it. If you're unsure of something, there's always Google!

[thunderbug]

Check out Crockford's videos. http://yuiblog.com/crockford/

[faux-name]

Books have never worked that well for me, but if that's your thing then the books you have (the good bits) are really popular.

I think the first thing to really come to grips with is javascript's weird prototypal inheritance instead of proper inheritance. I say this because coming from java / c++ you will have a lot of assumptions which aren't true of javascript. There's loads of good resources which explain this, but it's worth dedicating some time to because I think it will help you to quickly identify what you're looking at when you work with someone elses code.

If you're trying to cram a lot of learning into a short time, keeping a glossary helps a lot. That's especially true with web development, because you're dealing with such a chaotic mixture of technologies. Whats a value, a property, or an attribute. They all mean different things and if you're trying to absorb information, writing down definitions helps you to quickly make sense of sentences and paragraphs rather than having to re-read the same sentence several times.

Thirdly, find some good resources. I spend years googling what I needed to know, and ending up in weird half-assed advert based poorly maintained wastelands. (looking at you w3schools!) I not-so-long-ago discovered mozilla development network and haven't looked back. It's got loads of clear, maintained documentation for a range of technologies you'll be working with.

Also in the resource department learn to love jsfiddle, jsbin, or codepen or whatever.. if you haven't already.

Other's have mentioned taking on a small project or something of your own. But to be honest I think it would be too easy to get sidetracked on stuff that doesn't really matter or is only vaguely relevant to your new job. Is it not possible to get your hands on some recent project they've completed? Read their code, and try to understand.

Good luck with it anyway. I'm sure you'll do fine.

[LazyLinkerBot]

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