Ask HN: Can I learn JS in a month?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4640149

by html5web • 14 years ago

1 17 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm HTML and CSS geek, but I've little knowledge of JS. Can I learn JS in a month? Resources, books...?

stretchwithme• 14 years ago

iTunes university has a free JS course. Its a college course.

I'd also learn jQuery. The selectors work like CSS does, so that will be familiar to you.

adhipg• 14 years ago

I've just been trying out CodeAcademy[1] and it seems like a nice place to get your hands dirty if you like learning things interactively. They do have a track on jQuery as well - which is something that I think you should be interested in coming from the HTML/ CSS side of things where you want to add interactivity to your pages.

These courses should be quick to run through, get your confidence up and have you playing around with JavaScript on your own projects very quickly.

There are a few other similar sites out there.

[1]http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript

html5web8• 14 years ago

I've tried some lessons on CodeAcademy the lessons are actually interesting and interactive.

html5web8• 14 years ago

Thanks for references mates!!!

gavinflud2• 14 years ago

You could certainly learn how the general syntax of the language and how things like prototyping and callbacks work.

Why limit it to a month though? Learn the basics, develop an understanding of how it works and then carry on learning as you go.

As for books: "JavaScript: The Good Parts" and "jQuery in Action" should help you out.

html5web8• 14 years ago

The fact is that I'm moving to another country after a month and it will help me to find a relevant job for me with the knowledge of JS. That's why I'm trying to learn JavaScript as soon as possible. Thanks for reference!

gavinflud2• 14 years ago

A month studying JavaScript and jQuery (lots of employers place specific emphasis on this) will give you a decent knowledge of the language. Definitely enough to put it on your resume and use it competently.

kral• 14 years ago

I think you can learn almost any language in a couple of week, but mastering them is a completely different story...

html5web8• 14 years ago

Right saying. As far as I know, learning programming languages looks like learning human language, if you know one language from a definite language family you can learn any other relative language with ease. I'll try to do my best to practice more with JS.

tonyblundell• 14 years ago

Could you learn French in a month?

You could learn the basic structures of the language, and enough words to get by in a lot of common situations. But you wouldn't have the same dexterity as a fluent speaker and would often find yourself lost for a particular word.

html5web8• 14 years ago

Right you are Tony, I just want to learn for basic usage. Then I'll try dig dipper into JS.

lutusp• 14 years ago

Your inquiry leaves something out that's important -- whether you have learned any computer programming languages before.

I ask because writing HTML and using CSS don't count as "programming", they're more like word processing. Computer programming has little in common with HTML and CSS development work.

So as far as learning JavaScript in a month, it depends on whether you've had any exposure to other computer languages. If not, then a month of exposure to JavaScript might not be enough to make you productive in the language.

Adding JavaScript to your knowledge base is certainly a good idea, but if you haven't done any programming before, and to become proficient, you might want to schedule more time for it.

html5web8• 14 years ago

Before learning HTML & CSS I've practiced with VB on Visual Studio 2008 and created couples of little programs using VB (Notepad, IE based Web browser, Media player etc). So I've basic knowledge of programming languages.

argimenes• 14 years ago

Why come here to ask? Go forth and learn, my friend ... :-)

html5web8• 14 years ago

Here's place where experienced guys gather, thus I'm asking the quest. :)

TimPietrusky• 14 years ago

If you want to get into JavaScript OOP, you should read http://killdream.github.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-javas...

html5web8• 14 years ago

Thanks Tim!

Ask HN: Can I learn JS in a month?

Related Stories