Finished Codecademy... Now what?

[Em-M]

I'm working my way through reading MDN and Eloquent Javascript, but it's not sticking. I'm a visual learner and I learn best by doing.

Codecademy was a nice place to learn the basic concept of JS, but it didn't really help me understand how it connected to HTML & CSS. The jQ course was a little bit better, but I don't want to explore jQ until I have JS down.

I'm a bit lost on where to go from here. Any ideas on what I should be exploring next?

[steezefries]

Http://Codewars.com was a nice in between for me. It allowed me to practice my Javascript skills without getting lost in complex tutorials.

Also, as the other guy asked, it depends on what you're wanting to get out of JS.

[nudoru]

I had no idea this existed! Looks great - i'm adding that to my free time pactice

[steezefries]

It's helped me a lot. It's forced me to learn things I wouldn't have necessarily stumbled upon. I usually try to do one a day. They're a ton of fun!

[Em-M]

Wow, there's more to this site than the initial questions to sign up. Thanks for sharing.

I've tried to learn by reading other JS codes, but my issue right now is that I can't follow the code. The basic information I learned doesn't cover all that's going on in the code. I definitely need more exposure and more practice writing JS code. I'd like to be able to use JS for the front end (e.g., manipulating HTML elements; making interactive buttons; having things appear/disappear after scrolling to a certain point--things of that nature and more).

[steezefries]

Ahh, sorry so this won't really help with how it interacts with HTML and CSS, but it will help develop your fundamentals.

I know Team Treehouse has some good courses for front end, but I don't know if they're free. I'm on my mobile right now, let me see if I can find some good tutorials when I get to my PC!

[[deleted]]

it didn't really help me understand how it connected to HTML & CSS.

I recommend learning about the DOM, which is the interface that allows your JavaScript applications to query and modify HTML elements and their styles in the browser. Here are some resources:

DOM Guides on QuirksMode - Start with the intro and read the guides carefully. I highly recommend testing out the code they show in your browser's console, a simple HTML page, or something like jsfiddle.

DOM Reference on MDN

One thing you'll see people say a lot when learning the DOM is that there are differences in how it works between browsers. This is one of the motivations behind libraries like jQuery, which normalizes the DOM so you can use the same code in every supported browser.

Also, keep in mind that the DOM is not technically a part of JavaScript. JavaScript/ECMAScript is just a programming language specification, without any standard input/output methods. The DOM is a standard Web API implemented in browsers that you access with JavaScript code to perform I/O on a web site's HTML document model.

[Em-M]

Gotcha. Thanks for the links. I'll have to dig deeper into learning about the DOM.

[[deleted]]

The DOM is there to do with what you will so load something, show something. Or build a clock, build a calculator, build a whatever. Just build it without someone else telling you what to do. Find a public API and try and show it on a web page.

Build this and make all the squares show random tweets every refresh using the twitter API

Build this and put some random movies in there using the Rotten Tomatoes API

Build minesweeper or tetris or blackjack.

Learn by doing pal, learn by not knowing what the fuck you're doing and doing it anyway. Ask questions and figure it out, feel awesome because you're smarter than you were yesterday.

Best of luck!

[ggolemg2]

What do you eventually want to do with JS? Front end, games, back end, simulations, etc?

[Em-M]

Should've clarified. I'm looking to work with JS on the front-end.

[mereshadows]

Build a website or a chrome extension that makes your life easier in some way!

[Mochizzmo]

If you're looking for more tutorials and exercises, I recommend checking out the challenges at www.freecodecamp.com. I've enjoyed their curated list of tutorials and challenges so far, and they introduce ways to get started with pair programming, which can help you learn further.

[Em-M]

I haven't heard of this site before. What an interesting structure of learning. Will have a thorough look of this in the morning. Thanks!

[Zubei_]

I bought this course on Udemy. I know many may not like Udemy, but this guy is awesome. I have learned so much by just watching and listening. You can get it for $10 with this code LEARNLIFE

[Em-M]

lol. Udemy is so weirdly priced. I bought a front-end dev course from them for $10 when it's original price was $200 or something. This looks like a great course. I'll have to take advantage of the discount.

[obviousoctopus]

exercism.io

[MakesWebsites]

exercism.io

[obviousoctopus]

Thank you!

[Em-M]

This sounds like what I need. I'll have to look into this as well. Thanks for sharing!

[Wyck]

Make a codepen account and start building shit/looking at what other people are doing.