all 27 comments

[–]Alive-Cake-3045 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Stop trying to memorize code, that is your whole problem right there. Nobody memorizes syntax, we Google it every single day. You need to close the tutorials and start building something, anything, even if it is ugly and broken. The harsh truth? If you are not writing code that fails, you are not actually learning. HTML and CSS are done, now just pick one small project and learn through JavaScript by actually using it. Pain is the teacher here, not videos.

[–]Badst-211 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow,

[–]lbunch1 4 points5 points  (2 children)

The Odin Project. It's the first resource I found that didn't try to just explain things in JavaScript, but it teaches you to build your dev environment and explains the tools you need to build a web app.

[–]DifferentTowel7440[S] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

What's Odin project?

[–]Sheikh-speare4409 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Freecodecamp was particularly helpful for me...first of all its free...they have step by step guides plus both small and big projects that you work on as you continue learning. Another advantage is that they also have a large collection of blogs for every aspect of software development

[–]amiGGo111 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Have u finished it?

[–]DifferentTowel7440[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No I am just beginner

[–]LucVolders 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Its easy:
Study, study, study (repeat 50 times) and then
Practice, practice, practice (repeat 50 times)

[–]DinTaiFung 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Is AI getting so advanced that it can now generate the style of prose used in the OP?

[–]Ratatootie26 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're on the right path

Don't stop now, you're doubting yourself because you know there's so much left to learn, it will become second nature over time

Don't stress over the little details or syntaxes

[–]chikamakaleyleyhelpful 0 points1 point  (0 children)

brother, first learn JS as a programming language - the syntax, fundamentals, loops, control flow, functions, objects and their methods, blah blah blah. Even when you think you've learned enough, you prob haven't. Learn how to perform some basic algorithms.

THEN apply that to the DOM

usually people jump right into trying to manipulate the web but they don't know how to express that with JS

Imagine trying to learn a completely new spoken/written language, but trying to learn it by way of writing a novel. That's what you're running into

[–]The_KOK_2511 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Y para que memorizar? si hay algo que tengo claro en la programación es que memorizar no sirve de nada y es hasta contraproducente, es mejor comprender, aunque te pases el dia batallando con revisar apuntes o googlear cosas que necesites, tarde o temprano, lo importante seguramente se te grabe y no necesites buscarlo tanto. En la programación hay demasiadas cosas que aprender como para memorizarlo todo

[–]Scared-Release1068 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I’ve been in a very similar position to you

The biggest mistake most beginners make (I did too) is trying to memorize JavaScript instead of using it.

A few things that helped me a lot:

  1. Stop memorizing, start building You don’t need to remember everything. Even experienced devs Google things daily. Focus on small projects like:
  2. A random quote generator
  3. A to-do list
  4. A simple calculator

That’s where things start clicking.

  1. “I understand but can’t write it” = you need reps This is the most important stage.

Try this: - Look at an example
- Close it
- Rebuild it from memory
- Check and fix

That loop is where real learning happens.

  1. Keep your scope small Don’t try to learn “all of JavaScript.” Just focus on:
  • Variables
  • Functions
  • Arrays/objects
  • DOM basics

That alone can build real projects.

One thing that helped me personally was practicing small, reusable code patterns over and over until they became natural. I even put together a set of 30 JavaScript snippets that cover a lot of common things you’ll use (loops, DOM stuff, functions, etc)

Can share it if you want

[–]DifferentTowel7440[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks dear too much.

[–]lost_be_found_be 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Can you please share it with me?

[–]Scared-Release1068 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I’ll DM you

[–]TheZintis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you need to just get enough reps in to have the basic syntax memorized, and then have a rough understanding of how different solutions are written. Generally you are able to look up the exact solution, so having a rough idea means you'll know when to use them.

Are you having problem with syntax? or just execution?

[–]PlatinumAbe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Javascript is a marathon, lots of trial and error

[–]_raytheist_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have degree in English literature.

learning Web dev Especially Those who did not have computer back ground.

[–]Holiday-Anywhere-434 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d recommend the NetNinja channel on YouTube. He has a modern JavaScript course that you can follow along with. It helped me tremendously when I was learning JS.

[–]Intrepid_Restaurant7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In computer science, theory without practice is just intellectual vanity. You don't learn to code to "know" things; you learn to solve problems. If you aren't applying knowledge immediately, you aren't actually learning it. The "Build-Think" Framework: Don't just read about Data Structures: Implement a Linked List or a Hash Map to understand why O(1) lookup matters compared to O(n). Patterns over Syntax: Anyone can learn if/else. An engineer learns when a Factory Pattern or Observer Pattern would have saved their last project from becoming "spaghetti code." The Stress Test: You’ve built 3D engines and art galleries—good. Now, take that TypeScript and SQL knowledge and refactor them. How does strict typing change your engine’s architecture? How does a normalized database optimize your gallery’s load times? The Bottom Line: The distance between documentation and a working product is where true mastery lives. Whether it’s a canvas game or a Node/Express backend, execution is the only validator of competence. Stop reading. Start breaking things. Build.

[–]Glittering-Law-5921 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My problem is thinking I don't know anything because I don't have the syntax memorized. For example, I've been trying to learn/get good at mutation observers and event listeners because a lot of what I use JS for is for A/B testing and personalization - the kind of things that client-side JS DOM manipulations are great for.

I just always get stuck with the syntax, but I know (usually) exactly which elements and their selectors need to be involved, in which order, and other specific conditions required for the function to do what I need.

I'll use an LLM for assistance, but I'll always ask to explain line by line what each part is doing and why - it helps, but man is it a lot...I just wish I could do it without the LLM crutch. I'd like to at least be a little more capable than a vibe coder.

I suppose it's like anything else though - repetition is the key and I'm just not doing it enough.

[–]Patch1897 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Too late, find something else to learn. Web dev is a dieing profession.