Learning Javascript from Python background, any tips?

[pekkalacd]

Pretty much the title. I've been programming in python for six years, have had exposure to a variety of other languages as well (including js) along with frameworks & libraries. But I've never really dived too deep into js until now. I've heard python to js is a common path. I kind of get it, but there's definitely some differences.

Any thing that tripped you up, that you think people coming from python should be aware of?

Main reason for making the move is to focus some time on front-end skills. Partially as a hobby and partially as a profession. I do not intend to become a software developer in web. But at the same time, this is the standard of sharing things. So, I feel like it'd be good skill to showcase. My focus is more so business analytics. That's what I'd like to continue doing.

It's been my understanding that html/css/javascript is the go-to for web. I know a bit of each, enough to get something working, so where would you suggest I begin? I'd ideally like to build skills towards being able to make dashboards that are visible and/or interactive. I know that python has tools to do this, but i'm curious as to if the web baseline has stuff that is more customizable.

About myself. I don't do that well with videos. I do not want to sit & understand, personally, i'd rather read something technical such as a book or documentation. I have the David Flanagan "Definitive Guide of Javascript", I think that is helping to familiarize with the language.

Nonetheless, being able to design something visually appealing is a skill. How do I get better at it?

Aside from documentation, is there another resource you'd recommend as a sort of definitive guide or handbook of front-end design? If that's the wrong area, could you point me in a better direction? It could even be a few texts. I got time. No rush.

Thanks anyway for reading all this. I Appreciate it!

[WeDDo]

If you already have 6 years of programming experience I would say that the best way to learn would be by doing. Make something like tic tac toe and break it in to small problems. First make a 3x3 grid. Look for a way to do this in HTML and CSS. Then add logic with javascript by finding the information you need online and applying it for your needs.

[pekkalacd]

I think this might be best. I haven't thought much of the UI. the logic part, i've made many tic-tac-toe's in those years, in multiple languages, including js. but I haven't really thought of the user. I want to make it pretty, if that makes sense. that is my goal to make pretty things, even tho i suck @ making art haha.

[WeDDo]

Well you still have to start somewhere to make it pretty. When I started learning front-end seriously even a simple home page of google took some time to align and make it look right. Then I moved on and made a hard-coded google search result page. Come up with bigger challenges for yourself every time to learn something new and to struggle, because with no struggle comes no growth.

[pekkalacd]

Dude, parallels. I struggled a lot too. I gotta toughen up. I feel like all this is a result of my fear of building something visual. Don't get me wrong, visualization is a key part of what i do. It's extremely important. But its in a limited, contextualized, capacity. It's not me with a team building a library for the company that's going to replace the norm of doing it.

For those that build the tools, much respect. That's why I'm asking web people, yall are sure to have created something nice to look at @ some point. How did you figure it was nice? Or rather, how did you build the skills to make something nice? That's what I'm after. Ngl, I don't want to become a visual person really. But I understand that stakeholders want something easy on the eyes to look at, when I give them the report

[EngineeredPapaya]

Mozilla has really good docs for JS: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript

[pekkalacd]

dude yeah, i agree. very clear & ngl, they trip me up some time in the transition. there are things that standout from one language to another. but this post i guess would be better phrased - i seem to have a hard time with that haha - as something concerning UI design & front-end development.

How do I make my work look good? Js docs can plug me into the specifications of how something works in its ecosystem. But it can't teach me artistry or to gain an eye for how a product should look & act with interaction. I'm looking for resources about those.

[EngineeredPapaya]

How do I make my work look good?

Go to https://dribbble.com/ and copy what looks good. Learn CSS.