Can anyone recommend a good JS course

teatotal 2017-01-12 13:07:35 UTC #1

Hi all

I'm really struggling with JavaScript. I'm working through @P1xt's guides and reading Ydkjs whilst also doing the FCC map but the concepts aren't sinking in.

Can anyone recommend any good but FREE video courses for JavaScript? There's lots on Udemy but I don't know if they're any good. Or good youtubers who explain the concepts?

I learn well through spoken/video courses and quizzes/exercises. Listening to things works a lot better for me than reading.

Thanks in advance!!

Omar507 2017-01-12 13:31:45 UTC #2

I completed FCC's Javascript Introduction before moving on the YDKJS, it did help me a lot.
My original plan was to also complete Codeacademy's Javascript course before YDKJS. You should check that out too.

chaneetsk 2017-01-12 13:59:37 UTC #3

Tan-Moy 2017-01-12 14:13:29 UTC #4

Yeah, I faced the same situation too and found this helpful. It's a little boring but informative. Also see if this helps you out or not. Ok. And even if you don't understand JS completely from YDKJS, don't worry. Do CS50 and then read YDKJS again. You will get it.

muchris 2017-01-12 14:37:53 UTC #5

I worked through some of the Codecademy exercisies. They seem to be a little easier than the FCC ones so it can help you work up to it.

Chris

cedwards036 2017-01-12 15:32:04 UTC #6

For an easily-followable, gently-paced course, Khan Acadmey is great. They cover both JS syntax/techniques and manipulating the DOM. Udacity is also good. They have a decent range of Javascript courses, from the linked intro one to more advanced design pattern and framework courses. Both are video-based courses, though Khan Academy has a neat interactive coding environment build into its video courses (the code the instructor modifies is live code that you can also modify for experimentation).

teatotal 2017-01-12 16:34:18 UTC #7

Thanks for that I've never tried Kahn actually. I'll have a look.
I love udacity but their basic JavaScript course requires previous knowledge of python or another programming language which I don't have

teatotal 2017-01-12 16:34:51 UTC #8

Thanks everyone! There's loads of really great stuff to be looking at here. I'll give them a go

MrNivorous 2017-01-12 19:10:40 UTC #9

Practical Javascript at Watch and Code is really useful and free

evedes 2017-01-12 20:15:55 UTC #10

I think besides codecademy course, which is elementar comparing it with the bcc one, you should read the w3schools about JS. For me it helped a lot because the w3school approach is very step-by-step. I learned the basics of JSON there and it helped me making progress in the FCC certification.

isavelyev 2017-01-12 20:43:00 UTC #11

Hi, I would recommend the following:

www(dot)eloquentjavascript(dot)net - This is an amazing free book (if you like it consider purchasing). This book really helped me to internalize key concepts, and turn my brain towards programming thinking. Sometimes it was really frustrating but with just enough rest/attempt cycles it breaks the ice.
http://speakingjs.com/es5/ch07.html - you can start right from Chapter 7 it will help you to get the understanding of JS design.
Register for this series, it's free, Wes is amazing - https://javascript30.com/
YDKJ of course, it's fantastic.
Get Programming With JavaScript - by John Larsen, you have to buy it, but it has nice deals like -50% quite often.

I just completed all the JavaScript challenges and lessons, I still don't feel comfortable with it. What should I do now?

teatotal 2017-01-12 22:59:30 UTC #12

I've started watching the first video series you linked and it's great so far! Just the sort of thing I need to learn an I'm actually not finding him boring although I can understand why he could be! It's great bite sized chunks I can watch in my lunch time too! Thanks again

dvddgld 2017-01-13 13:10:57 UTC #13

I gotta back this post up, EloquentJavascript, YDKJ and javascript30 are brilliant resources. I'm not familiar with the other 2 but it follows that @isavelyev has good judgement

If you plan on going further I also can't recommend FrontendMasters enough, it's not free but it is very high quality content. I was hesitant to pay but I've got more than my money's worth of knowledge back.

Edit: I should clarify - no affiliation, just truly impressed by the service. The founder actually got Kyle Simpson (YDKJS) into teaching!

isavelyev 2017-01-13 14:06:05 UTC #14

Thank you! Regarding the Speaking JavaScript - it's a book written by Axel Rauschmayer (http://www.2ality.com/), he is an incredible guy, the way he gets to his reader is amazing. I was able to pick up concepts while reading his book in the bus while traveling across the country, if you want always up to date stuff on the hottest ES6 - ES7 features, you have to follow him

"Get Programming With JavaScript" - frankly I didn't read this book yet, but I've monitored it while it was written. It's a book for complete beginners and by the end you finish with a ready to play text quest game!! I heard good reviews of this book.

There are so many cool resources but these are the fundamental ones.

Tan-Moy 2017-01-13 16:05:19 UTC #15

No problem. I am glad that I could help.

Neous1 2017-01-15 04:36:08 UTC #16

thank you all for the links and suggestions, it will surely help in building my JS library

luishendrix92 2017-01-15 05:52:46 UTC #17

As a somewhat beginner level, back when I wanted to learn JS I looked at CodeSchool's "Javascript Roadtrip", the first part is free but the rest is paid, I decided to pay and it was a good introduction to the language.

After you have the basics down you can go for books like:
- You don't know JS
- Eloquent Javascript
- Mostly adequate guide to functional programming in JavaScript
- John Duckett's jQuery book

Also, there are some free courses on YouTube that you can check out if you search "javascript course".

cangelozzi 2017-01-15 06:32:38 UTC #18

You got already incredible good advice.
I can only confirm:

For FREE (beside FCC):
- Code Accademy cover everything you need, until Prototypes!
- https://javascript30.com/ is a great practice with nice projects to follow.
- "Eloquent JS" (which I don't personally like so much) is a nice to have reading, with good practice at the end of each chapter.
- codewars, although being a bit more advanced, has the great thing that in each challenge you can review other users solution....fantastic learning!
- YDNJS are a series of fantastic books, a MUST! All structured beautifully with clear explanations and good examples to follow.

PS...bottom line what changed my JavaScript level it was:
- Udemy "JavaScript, understanding the weird parts"; the course was suggested on day one by my course director, and it completely opened my JS-understanding.
Udemy has often deals....(not long ago, you could get that course for 10 dollars) , while you work on the above free materials, keep an eye on it and wait for the deal.

faerthen 2017-01-18 08:06:27 UTC #19

I am in the same boat, so I took a step back and started Harvard's CS50 on edX. It's free and it's more fundamental, focusing mostly on C at first. Javascript gets used later.

The exercises are challenging, but there are a lot of people working this course, if you get stuck for ideas.

I'm finding it better for me to understand the fundamental computer science concepts than to try to get up to speed on JS first.

fuqted 2017-01-18 10:18:04 UTC #20

If you want to learn the basics of Javascript and get a grasp for coding in general, I'd say hands-down the best thing you can do is go to Codewars.com and pump out challenges.

If you're finding it impossible then do Udacity's CS101 up to chapter 3, then go back to Javascript with codewars and google.