True path to become a JavaScript Ninja — I
JavaScript is everywhere in the world now, dominating all other programming languages. A lot of developers are moving towards javascript and our community is spreading widely. But the problem these new developers are facing now is that they do not know how to start learning JavaScript or which path to follow. So i decided to write my experience with JavaScript, how i started learning JavaScript and how to follow a path which will lead you to become a JavaScript Ninja. This path will not be easy and it will take a lot of time to dig-deep into JavaScript and understand how JavaScript works. So always stay focused and motivated. We will learn a lot in this journey. Just stay connected and follow this process with commitment.
Who could join us in this journey ?
This path will lead us towards deep concepts of JavaScript. So, beginners can join us in order to learn JS and developers who already knew JS can join us in order to learn deep concepts and clearing their doubts. So, this path is for each and every person who is connected to JavaScript anyhow. This path will not focus on front-end JavaScript or back-end JavaScript. It primarily focus on the core JavaScript. Which will help you making better understanding of both front-end and back-end JavaScript.
👋 Join Us. We will learn together and share our knowledge which will lead us to better future. Help us shaping our future. Be a part of our community.
Prerequisites
There is no such things which is necessary to follow this tutorial but it is good if you have following things :
- You must have a text-editor installed to practice code.
〰 Sublime Text - You must have a web browser installed to browse links.
〰 Google Chrome - Try to save your code on a repository over Github. It will help you in learning one of the most important tool that programmers or developers use
git.
Lets start with some introduction to JavaScript and start thinking with a totally different perspective.
Introduction to JavaScript
👨🏻🎓 According to wikipedia , JavaScript is a high-level, dynamic, weakly typed, object-based, multi-paradigm, and interpreted programming language.
or
👨🏻🎓 According to Mozilla, JavaScript is a cross-platform, object-oriented scripting language. It is a small and lightweight language. Inside a host environment (for example, a web browser), JavaScript can be connected to the objects of its environment to provide programmatic control over them.
After having a mouthful of these definitions, Lets try to understand what they really mean is.
“ JavaScript is a technology which powers the web. Every time you interact with the web, you are directly or indirectly interacting with JavaScript. Whenever you are uploading any file or you are experiencing any real-time stuff, there is javascript in behind. So, simply javascript makes web much more beautiful and powerful. ”
If our body is web, then our muscle and bones is HTML, our appearance is CSS and our brain is JavaScript.
Real-life examples where we can see JavaScript working behind the scenes are —
- File Uploading *
- Real-time updation of data
- Watching online videos in full-featured web players
- Interactive Single page applications, etc
📈 JavaScript is used by 94.8% of all the websites, the rest are just built using HTML and CSS. Check out more.
* Note : There is a way to upload file without using JavaScript. But majority of web isn’t used it because it doesn’t provide much flexibility. You can use HTML5 to send data directly from your form to server.
… 🔎 To learn more about JavaScript click here.
Okay, now we know what JavaScript really is but why should i learn it ?
According to Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2017 results, Javascript is the most popular programming language and it really is!. Javascript is approximately present in each and every single device which is connected to internet right now. This makes Javascript the most important programming language to learn in 2017. Javascript already has huge community and it is growing every year.
Till now, it is clear that what really is JavaScript and why it is important to learn it in 2017. Now we will move on and start our journey to become a JavaScript Ninja.
🏁 Let’s start the journey
In order to become a JavaScript Ninja, you have to pass through three phases. Each phase has its own importance which you will know very soon.
There are three phases through which every ninja must have to go. These phases are :
- Learning Phase ( Chapter One )
- Practicing Phase ( Chapter Two )
- Expertise Phase ( Chapter Three )
⚜️ Learning Phase
The first phase of every thing is learning phase. In this phase you will learn and master the building block of every programming language and a programmer, “THE SYNTAX”. But before that, you must know which syntax to learn.
1. ES5 or ES6 ?
Now what the hack these things are ?
If you are new to JavaScript , this question is certainly popped up in your mind.
Ammm Yes… while learning JavaScript, you will surely encounter two terms : ES5 and ES6. In both of these terms, ES means EcmaScript and its definition is :
“ EcmaScript is the standardized scripting language that JavaScript (and some other languages, like ActionScript) implement . You can say , ECMAScript is a subset of JavaScript. JavaScript is basically ECMAScript at its core but builds upon it. Languages such as ActionScript, JavaScript, JScript all use ECMAScript as its core.”
So, EcmaScript is just a standard which JavaScript follows.
⚠️ ES5 is standardized in 2009 whereas ES6 is standardized in 2015. Since then, every year a new EcmaScript standard is launching, following ES7 in 2016 and ES8 in 2017.
Now the main question which one to choose between ES5 and ES6? Here is simple explanation, ES5 is supported by most of the web browsers and ES6 is supported by modern web browsers.
💡 There is a tool named as “Babel” which will help us compiling ES6 into ES5. We will learn a lot about it in next phase of this journey.
If you ask me for my personal Suggestion, first go through ES5 and then start learning ES6. It will give you more basic understanding of how javascript changed over time and how things like arrow functions, which confuses a lot, are related to ES5 functions. Then it will be too easy to understand and grasp ES6. You will also feel very confident in JavaScript because then you will know that how JavaScript is changed over time and what changes has been made in javascript since 2009.
2. Core JavaScript
Second thing you have to learn is what things do you have in your arsenal ? A JavaScript Ninja’s arsenal is a pile of Loops and iteration , Functions , Expressions and operators, etc. The more you know about it, the more powerful you become.
Below is a list of some useful things that you must put in your arsenal. Go through each one and learn it in deep. Practice is important while learning them. Keep practicing them and play as much as you can.
🌟 ️Want to learn how to practice coding in javaScript ? Click here…
- Let, var and const.
- If-else statement
- For loop
- For…in loop
- For…of loop
- While loop
- Do…while loop
- Switch statement
- Functions
- Map, Filter and Reduce
- Try…catch…finally block
- Break and Continue Statements
- Expressions and Operations
- Numbers, String, Arrays and Objects.
📌 If you want to practice online. Click here and start playing with JavaScript.
3. Follow a style guide
Every programmer or developer must follow some coding standards. This things will help them producing more quality of code and understanding code of other developers in the community. Some of the style guides are mentioned below. Select any one of these and start following them from your first day.
⚠️ Personal recommendation : Airbnb JavaScript Style guide. I like it because it is clear and well documented with examples. So, it is super easy to understand.
Conclusion
This the first phase of the process of becoming JavaScript Ninja, you have now :
- skin-deep knowledge of JavaScript
- know how to start learning JavaScript
- know which resources to use while learning
- know how to learn and practice simultaneously
- know core things every JavaScript beginner must know
- know which style guide to follow.
We didn’t went too deep into JS because our first target is to build basic understanding of JavaScript. Right now, our main focus is not to start experiencing power of JS our target is to be independent ( start learning by ourself ). After going through all the stuff listed above, you can able to start digging over internet by yourself, searching for things which is important. So open your wings and fly through the realm of JavaScript.
There is still lot more to learn. Its just first phase, second and third one is going to be much more difficult. So without wasting further time, start practicing JavaScript. This phase is all about learning. Read as much as you can find out about JavaScript.
About this post
This post is the first of its series “True path to become a JavaScript Ninja”. Next will be on next Monday Morning at 08:00 AM (UTC+05:30). Stay tuned!
Happy Coding !!
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