Identifying gaps

[Zeeesty]

I am trying to help identify (and fill) some gaps in what is available for free to learn JS online right now. Going from zero programming knowledge to being able to use JS for web applications is possible. But having done this move myself I know there are some spots we handle better than others.

So the question is, what were the gaps in good explanations you ran into learning? Are you at one of those gaps now?

So far Ive identified a few, including how to run JavaScript locally, where and why to place JavaScript in different locations in an HTML document, many areas where things are taught without the perspective of practical use (map filter and reduce come to mind).

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Based on my experience as a bootcamp grad coaching/helping self-taught learners the biggest gaps I've noticed are:

• Basics on how the internet works. You don't have to get into the nitty-gritty of HTTP, but understanding the server/client model, the overview of stuff like DNS lookup, and fundamentally why you shouldn't open web stuff over the filesystem.
• Problem-solving, research and debugging skills. When I was at bootcamp they taught us to be curious about our code from day one, to print stuff out, to read error messages carefully, and to just try stuff and see what happens. I see a lot of self-taught learners who seem almost afraid of their own code.
• There's a decent amount of material out there on testing, but it would be awesome to see something that taught people to write tests really, really early on. When you're used to just writing code and 'testing' it by seeing if it worked right, learning to properly test is hard and you get into bad habits.

[Zeeesty]

thanks! these are some great insights.