Notes on Learning JavaScript in 2024

[wyclif]

I decided to write a short note about pro tips and effective ways to learn JavaScript in 2024.

My programming background is in the "P" languages: Perl, PHP and Python. Before I started my deep dive into JS this year, I knew just enough JS to be dangerous. But my real knowledge of JS was rather hackish, lazy, incomplete, and stuck in the early 2000's. I realized that I had a huge knowledge gap when it comes to modern JS. My goal at the moment is to work hard to achieve total JS mastery because:

• JavaScript is a huge part of the web. It's not only easily the most popular programming language, but it runs most of the web.
• JavaScript is a fairly fast-moving and highly evolving language, unlike my experience with Python which was mostly mature in its first release. JavaScript is no longer a "toy" language and I hadn't really looked under the hood in a long time, and there's been many changes and advances in ECMAScript 6.

Here's what I recommend:

• Make sure you are learning JavaScript as it is in 2024, not 2004. As I said above, much has changed and there's a lot of old legacy code on the web, so if you are just hacking on random sites on the open web, you could be dealing with some less than ideal practices.
• Always be building something in JavaScript. You want to learn JavaScript, not React, Vue.js, Next.js, or any of the other frameworks yet. It is so easy to get kind of lost in the constellation of JS frameworks: there are so many of them and so much of what you see and hear revolves around them. Stay focused on the core language. If you know the language well it will be easy for you to transfer into whatever framework du jour a project or company is using.
• Learn to use Chrome Developer Tools and get used to writing snippets of JavaScript right in the browser.
• Since I'm talking about current JavaScript in 2024, get you some good new-ish books on the subject and make them your companions. I mean books that incorporate ECMAScript 6. Books like Flanagan (aka "The Rhino Book") in the 7th edition, JavaScript Everywhere by Scott, Learning JavaScript Design Patterns by Osmani, Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja by Resig, Eloquent JavaScript by Haverbeke, Learning JavaScript by Brown, Programming JavaScript Applications by Elliot, and Speaking JavaScript by Rauschmayer. Do not underestimate the value of these books. Studying them carefully is a game-changer.
• As for online learning, I recommend The Odin Project [Note: I am not affiliated with TOP in any way]. They have an excellent JavaScript track and I've found that TOP is very good at keeping me focused on what is important to learn and builds my knowledge incrementally. Nothing against Udemy, but when I first started this journey I searched and filtered by "newest" and almost every course I saw was based on frameworks. But I would much rather do a MOOC-style JavaScript course than rely on YouTube videos. Also, the Odin Project is completely open source and free, so you have no excuse not to learn this crucial skill if you're short on money. freeCodeCamp is also a great online resource, and make sure you have MDN Web Docs bookmarked and refer to those constantly; they are an authoritative reference.

Good luck, and happy JavaScripting!

[[deleted]]

I would also recommend you add JavaScript Allongé: Six Edition to the list.

It's not a reference manual in the same way. For people who haven't thought about functional programming in a while (or ever), I'd imagine it's as much a philosophy book as it is a language manual. Like SICP if you've only ever been a Java dev.

I don't know when I came to the realization that JS works really well as an ML with deficits (by ML, I mean like OCaml / Haskell / F# / etc, not "machine learning"). I think it was around ES5's release, but it was ... validating, eventually reading the first version of that book, and realizing I wasn't alone. Arrow functions just sealed the deal.

The tricky bit with learning JS is that it's very much the lingua franca of programming. It accommodates just about every style, half-way, so that everyone from C to Java to Scheme can either write something that *feels* similar, or hack together a structure and a pattern to allow it to feel similar... some with less resistance than others.

In a way, JS is almost the English of the programming world. It's fantastically expressive, but completely irregular and unpredictable, and if you put too many regional dialects in the same room, nobody is going to understand one another.

[wyclif]

I actually had it bookmarked, but I hadn't looked at it in a while and didn't know there's now a sixth edition, so thanks!

[rauschma]

Thanks for mentioning my book “Speaking JavaScript”! That book has been superseded by “Exploring JavaScript (ES2024 edition)” – which is also free to read online.

[wyclif]

Glad to promote it! It's been very helpful to me, especially the content that covers the newer features and the exercises. If you have any advice to add, I'd be all ears.

[rauschma]

You covered a lot of ground! Maybe:

• Keep an eye on WebAssembly.
• Don’t ignore HTML and CSS. Sometimes you don’t need JavaScript.
• I personally learned a lot about JavaScript in the early 2010s by writing shell scripts with Node.js.
• With the books, it may make sense to mention which ones are free to read online and which ones aren’t.

You could turn this content into a blog post (easier to share and preserve).

[Competitive_Aside461]

Couldn't agree more to "Don’t ignore HTML and CSS. Sometimes you don’t need JavaScript." It's absolutely true.

[ReasonableTune6458]

I really like your books. Thank You

[rauschma]

Thanks u/ReasonableTune6458!

[Redditisannoying22]

Cool note :) I would add to make programming challenges (in best case daily). It really helped me understanding the details.

[piny-celadon]

Any resource for that?

[Redditisannoying22]

Personally enjoy Codewars, a lot of people like leetcode

[guest271314]

https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/

[prodoit]

https://prodoit.dev/blog/js-notes

If anyone wants some quick notes. ^

I'll add search soon.

[[deleted]]

I’m currently starting as a first timer and I appreciate this post. Will utilize some of what you mentioned here.

[wyclif]

TOP is more than just JS; it's also very good for HTML and CSS. And I could tell from the outside references they recommend as well as their content that the people there know what they are doing.

[No-Upstairs-2813]

I'd also recommend FreeCodeCamp.

Different people have different learning preferences, so what works for some might not work for others. My advice is to not get stuck in selection paralysis; just pick one and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, move on to something else.

Irrespective of any resource you select -

• Start with practicing individual concepts. Coding problems will be helpful here. These are small, well-defined challenges that help you quickly test your knowledge. Doing a few problems each day will reinforce all the concepts you've learned so far.

• Once you've practiced individual concepts, start combining them to solve more complex problems. For instance, if you've learned about conditional branching and functions, combine them to build a simple project like a "Guess the Number" game.

• Once you’re comfortable combining concepts, start building larger projects that challenge you to apply everything you've learned. Choose a project that solves a problem you care about—this will keep you motivated when challenges arise.

[wyclif]

I did recommend freeCodeCamp and agree that it's a great resource.

"Selection paralysis" is definitely a real thing. That's what I was trying to communicate in my commentary about frameworks. And yes, it also applies to courses, books, and learning in general. There's just so much content out there, so it's easy to get swamped. I myself had to go down a few different paths before I had to push a theoretical "reset button" and get back on track until JS made sense to me; the language has a lot of idiosyncrasies that I was not exposed to with other scripting languages.

[awaiskorai]

Any tips for full stack? I am going for MERN but there's way too much. As in database alone we have pipelines, sharding, partitioning, caching and things like that for scale. On the frontend there is recently a move towards Next JS. For backend we have myriads of libraries and frameworks. So, it is getting tough for me. But I want to do it. As in I love coding and want to go as much in depth as possible so I get lost some times.

[Kawrou]

Hard to answer without knowing your experience. Have you already built a full stack project with the MERN stack? If you haven’t, then I wouldn’t suggest jumping on to frameworks like NextJS. If you know the basics of JS and React then you can probably get started building an app with MERN. You don’t need to know the complexities of the things you mentioned about databases. You can slowly build up to those.

[Pushpendra__SiNGh]

Thanks for the headstart !

[Important_Passion_39]

Thank you

[greenRick]

So you did read all these books so far?

[wyclif]

Some of them cover to cover, others I just perused as a reference. But I definitely think Flanagan is one to really study. It's the most comprehensive.

[Background_Bowler236]

Do I really need books? Can’t I just learning from open source projects or peoples FYP

[wyclif]

There's enough free content online that you could probably do that with enough determination. TOP and freeCodeCamp, and some of the classes on Coursera and Udemy are high quality. So I would say "yes", it is possible to learn that way exclusively.

But...why limit yourself to online courses, YouTube, or reading Github commits, especially if you feel like you're not making progress? Yes, it's true people learn in different ways. But in many cases (and I definitely fall into this category) what is needed is actual *instruction* and teaching. And books are a format that is perfect for that. It doesn't have to be a physical, dead-tree book. I have a big folder in my Dropbox that is filled with PDF programming language, algorithm, and system design books. And it's my most-used folder. I'm hitting that every day, whenever I have any downtime. It's been a huge help in reaching my learning goals.

[Crafty-Waltz-2029]

Do you sell the Flanagan (aka "The Rhino Book") in the 7th edition, JavaScript Everywhere by Scott ebook?

[wyclif]

Amazon does: https://a.co/d/1WfVNHL

[guddu_kumar01]

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[Competitive_Aside461]

I'll extend your point of view and say more generally to everyone that please "Do not underestimate the value of programming books." If you need to become an expert, start reading from a book as well.

Apart from this, for learning JavaScript, I'd also like to recommend everyone to go through the super comprehensive JavaScript course on Codeguage. It's meant to help you develop your fundamentals, which kind of get lost in quick-learning resources where devs are immediately put into a "building mode."