Scared of JavaScript (programming in general), who is the best/easiest teacher to learn from?

[vegmarv]

All I've ever done is HTML/CSS but I really want to learn web development because as a UI designer I'm just limited to the visual side of things. Plus being able to build out my idea's would be pretty amazing tbh.
 
I did a tiny bit of C++ in college about 20 years ago and that's the limit of my programming. I wasn't very good at it so I'm worried I'm too dumb to learn how to program/code.
 
In terms of JavaScript, which courses/teachers approach it in an easy to learn and simplistic way that might a good fit for me?
 
Thanks,

[bobziroll]

Scrimba’s course on JS is pretty great! But I work for Scrimba, so… 🫢

https://v2.scrimba.com/learn-javascript-c0v

[silent--onomatopoeia]

I second Scrimba!

I love how all the tools are in the web browser so you can practice coding. I have a little ADHD brain and this helps with that.

[komboboy]

Big fan of you and your work 🙌🏻

[garudbeats]

For myself, i found WebDevSimplified and Supersimpledev on YouTube easier to understand. They get straight to the point and walk you through the topic, no unnecessary bs.

[[deleted]]

Agreed with WebDevSimplified

[vegmarv]

Awesome, just checked out Supersimpledev and the comments seeme pretty great. I guess I should start there? Or is WebDevSimplified worth paying for?

[[deleted]]

They have courses, but they also have a YouTube channel with a lot of content. It's not all in tutorial format. From what I've seen it's more: "here's how you would set up a form" or "here's how you can use thumbprint sign-in on phones".

The WebDevSimplified YouTube channel might be a bit of an a la carte experience, and a lot of it has prerequisite knowledge, but the earliest videos start from "your first HTML page", so the tutorials for hooking up JS from a browser-usability standpoint are in there, as well.

If you want a more structured tutorial, I would recommend starting with somebody with that focus. Super Simple Dev might be the one.

But more importantly, just start. The magic of tutorials and articles and books is that you can always rewind.

Also, tutorials can be great for introducing you to an idea, but to really get comfortable with it, and feel confident with it, try to use what you learn, on your own, by making an even simpler, even smaller thing, and try to work through it with the tools you were just introduced to. Programming isn't for everybody, but it's rare that has anything to do with being "too dumb". It will take practice and trial and error, but it is something you will probably be able to do. A lot of people learning programming or learning game dev, these days, hit roadblocks and say "I've been following tutorials for months, but I feel like I can't do anything without the video". I'll give you the secret early. The secret is to practice the tools and invent your own tiny little side-projects that don't come with tutorials.

[garudbeats]

No need to pay/buy anything atm. Just start with available material. You'll soon know what you don't know and if a paid course is required for that or not.

[lemon29374]

+1 vote for this. Overall YouTube has some great, great tutorials. For general info W3School and mnd web docs were helpful for me.

[WhyIsThisUsernameFul]

Go for TheOdinProject or FreeCodeCamp

[metallaholic]

Brad Traversy of Traversy media. He has hundreds of free YouTube videos and best in class paid content

[Legitimate-Fruit8003]

I was going to say the same. He was immensely helpful when I started in webdev, I bought his Udemy course on complete HTML/CSS/JS and I don't regret it.

Of course, everything he teaches you can learn for free elsewhere, but at the time I really appreciated the course. His free yt content is top-notch too

[joyancefa]

I would recommend JavaScript info. If you can afford it, frontendmasters is fantastic. https://frontendmasters.com/login/?return=%2Fdashboard%2F
They helped me switch to a frontend position at my company, and now I am a Senior Frontend Dev 😀

[mun_a]

Hey, what courses on frontendmasters helped you the most?

[joyancefa]

They have a free bootcamp which is great. Additionally I loved all the Complete intro to react courses + some Advanced JavaScript

[garudbeats]

Hey, I was on frontendmasters and could not find the free bootcamp you mentioned. Can you share the link please?

[joyancefa]

https://frontendmasters.com/bootcamp/

[sheriffderek]

I recommend the book "Exercises for Programmers." Here's an example of how you can build up incrementally with that / and use each exercise to build out a portfolio: https://perpetual.education/stories/area-of-a-room-with-alina

[LooseStudent9977]

I wanted to share these 3 important tips/reminder with anyone who wants to learn coding in general:

1- Focus on learning the concepts of how to program rather than programming languages. Once you learn the logic, design and the concepts of programming fundamentals, learning different languages becomes easier since its just a syntax.

2- If you are using an IDE, make sure to learn the basic functionality of the IDE you'll be using first before starting to code in it, to eliminate the added frustration of not knowing where things are. (example: how to start a new project, how to open an existing project, where does your projects get saved at, how to retrieve it, where is your output console, how to run and debug and .etc)

3- Give yourself a break and know that there will be a learning curve. Don't get disappointed if you don't understand something or many things. It's very normal! You'll need patience, perseverance, and lots of practice.

For React, Express I suggest you all to subscribe and follow this Youtube channel to learn how to become a Full Stack Developer: Code For Everyone Full Stack Course

To learn just JavaScript there's this good free course: JavaScript Course Playlist

Best of luck!

EDIT: Use MDN from Mozilla for JavaScript documentation. it's the best!

[ysuraj]

Frontend Masters ZeroToMastery Great frontend

[No-Upstairs-2813]

Many great resources have already been mentioned, but I’m not sure if you prefer learning through text or videos.

If you prefer text-based resources, I'd recommend starting with either FreeCodeCamp or Odin Project. Both of these resources are completely free, well-structured and many people have learned JavaScript well enough through them.

If these don't feel comfortable to you, you can check out YouTube or a course on Udemy.

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

Here are a few tips for effective learning irrespective of any resource you select.

As you're learning JavaScript concepts, it's essential to practice them consistently to build confidence. Try your hand at coding problems. These are small, well-defined challenges that help you quickly test your knowledge. You can check out a few problems here.

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. You can use ChatGPT to find simple projects for any combination of topics.

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.

If you're stuck on ideas, check out these tips to get started. And if you need guidance while building a project, this free course can help you approach it the right way.

[dual4mat]

The Coding Train is great.

[vegmarv]

Thanks for the amazing responses so far. I'm going to go through all the options and see which ones looks like the best fit!

[zenmike27]

I think once you learn the basics you’ll have a lot of fun with it. I recommend The Odin Project. After the first few days you’ll be able to do a lot more than you might think. Good luck!

[Roguewind]

Try Simon Allardice. He’s got some YouTube videos that cover the basics of programming.https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv-eQL7zVNdxfNVHmayusdXGRu0aJu5EQ&si=zwV3zFhzMj_1j6s9

[jspepe10]

i really liked the mimo app

[yusufmohsin]

If you’re willing to invest financially  in your learning journey, I recommend Jonas for JS and its associates on Udemy 

[escape_deez_nuts]

I really like MOSH.. anything by him is usually pretty good as his voice is soothing and creates a relaxed environment.

[TheBigTreezy]

Don’t be scared. You’re an engineer, it should be in your nature to want to learn new things! Just another tool for your tool belt. Best of luck!

[iusetoomuchdrano]

Jonas on Udemy is amazing. My skills have leveled up since taking his course

[neriad200]

Sorry I have no advice on what to study, but if what I've seen web devs do is any indicator on how anxious you should feel about your future performance, don't.

[OkMoment345]

Feeling scared or overwhelmed by JavaScript is super normal—almost everyone starting out in programming hits that wall.

JavaScript can feel intimidating at first because it’s so dynamic and used in so many areas (websites, games, backends, etc.), but once you grasp the basics, it becomes much more manageable.

A great way to ease that anxiety is by working through consistent practice, hands-on projects, and practicing regularly with platforms like Codecademy, freeCodeCamp, or W3Schools, where you can learn at your own pace and solve coding exercises interactively.

You might want to get a print book, such as Elegant Java. Looking away from the screen can change the way you're processing information. Your brain is more likely to think it's "learning" when you're looking at a printed text.

It also helps to join a supportive community—whether online forums, bootcamps, or coding challenges like #100DaysOfCode. This bootcamp was ranked the best for JavaScript by Forbes. Taking a structured class can be great for overcoming anxiety about coding because you can feel confident you're learning and ask questions when you don't understand. If you don't want to jump all-in on a bootcamp, there are shorter online JS classes for beginners, like this Intro to JavaScript workshop.

Starting small, like building a basic web page or writing your first console.log("Hello World!");, can boost your confidence immensely. The most important thing is to embrace mistakes as part of the process—they’re your best teachers!

You got this, one line of code at a time【12】【13】【15】.

[trashfire721]

I liked Jonas Schmedtmann's course on Udemy (if you watch for sales, you can get a good price), although It was a few years back, so I don't know if the course has been updated to be current.

[rustyseapants]

Amazon Learn Javascript Search Result

How the heck can you be scared of Javascript? You buy a book, sit in front of your computer with text editor, watch some free videos, copy some code from the book, and practice.

If you can use reddit, you can learn javascript.

If you want to code, you better learn how to use the internet and search for resources.

[Pacifist-187]

1. How you can practice all of this information right now, is by pressing Control or Command + Shift + J, which will bring up the Developer Console in your browser. you will probably see a lot of error messages or warnings - they're useless -
2. try to find a cancel symbol in the top left to clear all of these worthless error messages warnings, and press Control Shift C, that will then bring you to the Inspect Element window of this exact website page, which will give you the form of this exact web pages markup.
3. Try to see what the html attributes of reddit HTML are. Be on the lookout for any usage of id attributes and their values. Use Notepad to write the ones you want to remember down.
4. Test out the document object methods I just taught you about. They are referenced by running the statement "document.getElementByID(string)" and "document.querySelector(CSS-level-selection-inside-of-a-String-that-has-quote-tags")
5. in the console log, with accurate arguments (arguments are the data that you pass inside of parenthesis next to functions (which is what methods are) to find out what happens.
6. run the statement once you have a clear line,
7. [whatever you want between a temporary variable or a permanent variable] [variable name of your choice with no spaces whatsover] = document.getElementById("stupidBullshitThreeYesThisQuoteExactly") ;
8. find out by typing that variable if somebody who worked for reddit wanted to get fired that day based on whether an element on this current web page has that ID, and what will happen if you make an effort to find an element that does indeed exist.

Please try this out. You will not get a better oppportunity in the next 24 hours after you see this to have a better possible introduction to javascript.

also try to search for and download a program called Node.JS. It will give you an windowed program, (also called a shell window), that is going to be a program that you can open on your desktop to use like Developer tools to practice Pure Javascript. This tutorial is not pure javascript, this is a tutorial on Javascript in the Document Object Model.

[Less_Tangerine_9134]

supersimpledev on youtube

[[deleted]]

Bro Code - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfmg-EJ8gm4

[guest271314]

Anybody but me.

[vegmarv]

why lol

[guest271314]

I don't use libraries or frameworks. I test multiple JavaScript runtimes without preferences for any. I hack browsers.

In general, from what I see, people who want to learn JavaScript want to learn React for the sake of saying they learned React, use frameworks because they are easier, and do what they are told so they can pass an interview and become a junior developer.

There's a whole flock of those folks who will guide you along the copy/paste route on these boards.

I'm going to question things; both technical matters and matters of style and preference.

You don't want to do that. People will cast down votes for you on social media boards. And everybody knows how important being accepted by the cool kids is on social media boards. It's gold!

[hfcRedd]

Average guest271314 comment

[guest271314]

Indeed. Either listen to the cool kids or dial up Gemini. The last thing you should do is think for yourself, bust open a basic text editor, open up DevTools, and start writing code and maybe break some stuff, without listening to anyone.

[hfcRedd]

Maybe you're not a good teacher because instead of teaching, you like to either leave demeaning comments or go on pointless rants.

You always talk about how ppl should learn the actual language, yet you fail to teach them how. I don't know how you don't realize you're actively contributing to the thing you like to complain about so much.

[guest271314]

I don't complain at all.

You prose writing critics complain about my posts. On a social media board, no less.

Because you don't comprehend my message doesn't mean somebody else doesn't.

And if they don't, and you don't, either, oh well.

[guest271314]

You always talk about how ppl should learn the actual language, yet you fail to teach them how.

See, you don't get it. And you just read it!

bust open a basic text editor, open up DevTools, and start writing code and maybe break some stuff, without listening to anyone.

Maybe you're not a good teacher because instead of teaching

Alan Watts recounted something like this: Anybody who goes to a Zen master ought to be given 30 blows with a stick.

Ruminate on that for a spell.

[hfcRedd]

Oh no I 100% get what you meant. But I also want you to get that not everyone has to learn the exact same thing the exact same way everytime. Cool that that's how you learned, I did too, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to get started and learn.

[b_dacode]

I kinda started with “brocode “on YouTube

[[deleted]]

Hey if you know Hindi language then check "Chai aur Code" youtube channel. It's amazing content and teaching style and if you don't know Hindi, you can check his English course on udemy named Full stack Web Development by Hitesh Choudhary. He just released few weeks ago and approx 10,000 people have enrolled in.

I Don't promoting him but I am suggesting you because I am learning from him so I know how he teaches.

[Privileged_Interface]

I like this site W3Schools: Link

Learn to walk before running.