If you have been learning JavaScript, or web development in general, and you still feel you are not good enough at it, or if you struggle to remember what you have learned and to put it into practice, this article is for you.
You have probably heard this one before:
To become a better developer, you have to build a lot of projects.
If only it were that simple. Especially for beginners who have no idea how projects work.
This article takes that fear away and lays out what you should and should not do to learn JavaScript far more quickly and far more effectively.
Before we get to the tips themselves, let us look at how we learn.
The usual approach to learning JavaScript, or any other programming language, is this: you go top-down, or the other way round.
What do I mean by that?
Some of us learn the fundamentals of a subject before moving on to the next stage. Others learn by building a complete project, following a video or a step-by-step guide, without knowing the basics.
Both methods have their upsides and their downsides, and this article is not the place to weigh them up. If one of them works for you, that is fine.
What I am going to show you here are simple tricks that, followed properly, will not only speed up your learning but also help you remember what you have learned.
Right. On to the first tip.
Set a goal and choose what you want to learn
JavaScript is huge and it has many branches. So the best thing you can do is pick one technology and leave everything else aside.
If you are only just starting out, that decision is a hard one, because it is hard to know where to begin. In that case you need to follow a well-structured curriculum. More on that below.
What matters here is learning to choose one JavaScript technology and to focus on that one alone.
How? JavaScript, as you may know, is used both on the client side (the front end) and as a server-side programming language on the back end. And each of those sides comes with its own technologies.
On the front end, for instance, we use vanilla JavaScript (JavaScript with no library added), and front-end JavaScript such as React, Angular or Vue. On the back end, we use a flavour of JavaScript called Node.js, along with its framework Express.js.
As you can see, there is a lot to learn.
So, to avoid feeling overwhelmed and bored, you have to focus on one thing and leave everything else aside.
Which raises the question: where do you start?
That brings us to the next tip.
Follow a well-structured curriculum
Never learn whatever happens to land in front of you. You need a structured curriculum.
On a training course you will almost certainly follow a standard curriculum. As a self-taught developer, finding a standard structure to guide you is down to you.
That is what makes sure you are not skipping anything you ought to know about the subject.
You can look at online learning platforms such as Udemy or Elephorm for a structured curriculum. The point of this step is simply to have something guiding you all the way through. Once you have a structured curriculum, get stuck in and learn.
But… do not get stuck in tutorial hell. What do I mean by that? The next tip has the answer.
Start with the fundamentals, then just start building projects
So you now have a decent grasp of the fundamentals. What next?
Start building things, even if nothing works at first. You will find that you learn far more along the way than you ever did following tutorials.
It is a bit frightening, because you may feel you are not good enough to start a project. Trust me, you can. Just take that bold step and you will never regret it.
You can start by finding an open-source project on GitHub and reading the source code to see how everything is wired together. There is a lot to gain from that, because you get to see how every topic and sub-topic connects into a complete solution.
That is how you come to appreciate what you have learned, and how you end up wanting to learn more. From there you can start thinking about a feature you could code yourself. Start coding with what you know, and get stuck. That is normal.
Then you will have to find your way out.
Know how to search for solutions
Believe me, even if you spend years going through tutorials, watching videos and reading guides, you will still run into problems as soon as you work on a project.
Knowing how to find solutions is one of the big skills you will need.
As I said above, getting stuck while working on a project is normal. Finding a solution to whatever you run into is your job.
Most of the time, Google and Stack Overflow are your friends. But always start with Google and look at the options in front of you. You will be amazed at how much knowledge you can pick up that way.
Get used to reading the documentation
Have you ever wondered why this or that person is so good at what they do? The secret is that most of them are in the habit of reading the documentation, which is why they know their subject inside out.
Just as every product comes with a manual, technologies and frameworks come with their documentation. It can be technical, especially for beginners, but it is very readable. And believe me, the more comfortable you are reading documentation, the further you will get on your journey as a developer.
The upside here is that you get first-hand information from the people who built the thing, which grows both your knowledge and your confidence on the subject.
Conclusion
At some point on your journey as a developer you have wondered whether what you are doing is worth it, because things took you longer than you expected. That is completely normal. Do not give up. Be yourself and learn at your own pace, but be consistent.
And never forget: once you understand the basics, move straight on to applying what you know through projects. Never wait until you feel you have piled up enough knowledge.
Also, if you can find a coding buddy, do it. It keeps you motivated.
I hope these simple tips are useful to you. Do share them around the web. And if you have tricks of your own that work for you, share them with us in the comments.
