The rise and rise of JavaScript « DanNorth.net.
One of my resolutions this year is to continue researching JavaScript. Not jQuery, not CoffeeScript, plain old JavaScript. Reading this article by Dan North did nothing but make me want to read all the things.
The article is a bit lengthy, but worth it. Dan’s explanation of the quirkiness of JavaScript being lovable and that really resonates with me.
If anything, JavaScript continued to prove itself in 2011 and using that as an indication, we’re in for a treat in 2012.
Comments
Good call. So much has happened with JavaScript over the past year. So many new frameworks or small utility library/scripts. It’s a lot of ‘new and shiny’ to take in. It’s wise to be patient and see how things play out, too, before investing heavily in the new and shiny.
I have this conversation with colleagues often, especially when talking about CoffeeScript. My thoughts are this: Go to the core. Learn how to write better JavaScript. Learn the nuances. Learn how these frameworks/libraries/utilities all work under the hood. Stop treating everything as ‘magic’.
I have the same aspirations. I love JavaScript, and use it in many different contexts, but I still have a drive to learn more. I am currently reading and working through The JavaScript Ninja by Resig, which is great at explaining how and why things are done.
As my new year’s resolution, I’m learning to code, primarily through Codecademy.
Codecademy has tutorials only on JS at the moment. Do you think it’s a good language for a beginner programmer to begin with?
It’s timely that you ask! John Resig (the original man behind jQuery) recently wrote on just that. I think it’s a great idea!