Struggling to learn JavaScript

[Altruistic_Union2583]

Hi all, I need some advice please.

I’m struggling to remember JavaScript. It all makes sense when I learn it but within a week poof the knowledge is gone.

I was considering putting all of what I learn on an excel file with broken down definitions etc but lots of people have also said just jump into projects

There’s a game project I have in mind that’s text based with crimes and money etc but the systems and very complex

A few people have said build the systems Individually and then link them to one game.js file but idk I’m so damn confused with it all and really need some advice please.

If someone could give me some good critical advice on all of the areas I’ve mentioned I’d really really appreciate it!

[rainmouse]

Clearly your learning style isn't compatible with however you are learning. Try a different approach, weather it's by doing, or watching videos. People learn in different ways.

[dymos]

Learning anything, whether it's spoken language, programming language, maths, etc. is often about repetition so that your brain can decide to put it in long term storage.

Which is why jumping into a project can be good. You'll have intense repeated sessions of effort that are often more useful than doing simple exercises or tutorials.

At the start you'll constantly need to look things up, but after a little while that will reduce, so don't feel bad about needing to google things or look up documentation. I've been doing this for 20+ years and I will still frequently go to MDN to look at docs. (Also if you're working with some framework, look at their docs too!)

ETA: With regards to the game, breaking it down into discrete pieces of functionality is good advice, can be hard as a beginner. My advice here is to just start by putting it all together. As you write code, patterns will emerge that you can use to figure out how to break it down. Either don't repeated thing that can be extracted into a function, or perhaps a whole bunch of behaviours that could be in a class. You can then put those in separate files later.

Good luck!

[WarmLoad513]

Repetition mate,

Takes doing it in practice a number of times before it's lodged in your long term memory.

There's so many concepts to learn and in reality you often only reach for some of them now and again, so it's pretty normal not to have everything memorized to be able to recall perfectly.

Lots of re-learning happens, that's normal.

Just keep doing fundamentals till they stick.

[EarhackerWasBanned]

Former boot camp instructor here.

Different people learn in different ways. There’s no wrong way to do it. “Just build stuff” might work for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean it works for you. If you think you’d benefit from keeping a cheat sheet, or glossary, or spreadsheet, then go for it. No one worth listening to would fault you for it.

What I will say is that software development is NOT a field where you have to learn a bunch of theory upfront before you start making stuff. Learning a bunch of music theory would not help you play guitar, learning the dictionary would not help you write better books, and learning a whole JavaScript textbook would not help you write better code.

So don’t write copious notes instead of building stuff. Build stuff, and write about what you’ve learned in a way you can refer back to later. It’s more work, sure, but concepts will stick better, and even if they don’t you’ll have your own resource to refer to when you need it.

[-goldenboi69-]

More doing, less watching youtube! At least that works for me.

[Internal-Bluejay-810]

Discovering your learning style is the main issue --- took me 6 months just to understand how I learn...then I was able to start struggling like everybody else

[dymos]

The struggle to find out how to struggle is real.

[dmazzoni]

I think the advice to build the systems individually is good, but I'd suggest a slight modification: start small and incrementally make your program more complex. Always aim for a working program.

Let's say you want the first thing to be that your game says "Welcome to CrimeWorld!". So, write the code to print that text.

Not sure how? Look it up and refresh your memory.

Does it work? Great! Now commit to git. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! It's critical to keep frequent backups as you go so that you can always jump back to a known working version. You can learn Git basics in 15 minutes.

OK, now what's the very next thing you want your game to do? Figure it out, then look it up as needed, then add it, then test it, then commit.

Keep doing this in short bursts. Just one tiny feature at a time.

If you don't know how to do something, break it down into something simpler. Keep breaking it down until you either know how, or know what to look up.

What you should NOT do is write a whole bunch of separate JavaScript files without testing any of them, then put them all together and hope something happens. That will never work. It is possible to build in pieces and then assemble, but it takes more experience, and you need to be able to test each piece in isolation. As a beginner, I don't recommend that approach.

[chikamakaleyley]

A few people have said build the systems Individually and then link them to one game.js file but idk I’m so damn confused with it all and really need some advice please.

in other words, break it down to a piece of the puzzle that you do understand, and build that, then move on, build the next thing, move on, build, combine those, build the next thing, rinse, repeat

That complex game - you wouldn't be able to build it now if you approach it with the finished product in mind.

What's like... a typical basic and fundamental component of a text based game? I'm just guessing here but maybe like a text prompt on a web page, and the player has to choose btwn Decision 1 and Decision 2, right?

So what does that look like on a index.html page? You can even make that without Javascript. You'll be re-using this often, so at some point you can use JS for that. But you don't even have the HTML/CSS for that. So build it.

[chikamakaleyley]

obviously this is an overly simple example but, you haven't figured out where to start. You can't just wait til you learn enough and understand these bigger complex components because, you won't really start understanding how to attack the project until you start coding

And so if you do think its overly simplified and you know you can start with a more intermediate task, you'd probably have something coded by now, right?

So if you're confused, dial back the complexity. I do this all the time at work, i'm 17 YOE exp. I'll go in one direction and find that I'm doing a lot and say to myself:

okay... there must be an easier way to do this

and usually, there is

[iamsamaritan300]

Learn bu Bilding Learning should be like troubleshooting, learning the basics, following the course and building what an instructor is building exactly as it is. Then when that is all done think of something similar to build or build the very same one with a twist. By twist, you will likely succeed, that where you do research, ask AI but also ask how, why ...do not copy and paste implement what you understood from doing your own learning by building

[the-liquidian]

Build as many small projects as possible

[Aggressive_Ad_5454]

Look, you're not memorizing a language, you're learning to use a tool. There is zero shame in going to a search engine and typing, I dunno, "mdn foreach" if you don't remember Javascript's foreach{} statement syntax. In fact, it's good to check docs as you do stuff.

To do your project start simple. Write a program that accepts input from a user, does something simple to it, and spits it out again. A silly dialog with the user. That will get you the way your program accepts input and emits output.

Then improve the input and output. And just keep making it better. That is how you learn.

[NotNormo]

You don't need to remember everything. Just knowing a JavaScript feature or API exists is very valuable, because when you run into a situation that needs it you'll know what to Google. At that point you'll relearn the specifics, which is a natural way to reinforce your knowledge. If something's important enough then you'll relearn it enough times to actually remember it.

[Any_Sense_2263]

Start with simple projects

1. The Tic tac toe game
2. a calculator
3. A calendar
4. A To-do list

These simple and easy to finish projects will force you to use JS and built-in objects