Javascript Learning

December 10, 2016 9:36 PM

Which is the best site to learn Javascript from?

What site would you recommend to learn Javascript in an interactive manner? I am new to programming and a beginner. I have seen a few sites that seem good (W3 is one-maybe) but not too impressed. Right now I am using freecode camp and just love it but not too impressed with their teaching manner (one e.g. -they will give you a problem with things like "function" without actually introducing the student to the term or its meaning first-a bit frustrating)
So any recommendations for Javascript programming sites to learn from would be great that have some or all of the following -
-interactive
-in-depth (from beginner to advanced)
-give problems examples
-are creative/well explained and well taught

posted by metajim to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Look at W3 School's tutorial. It hits a lot of your criteria. Lots of interactive examples, starts with elementary topics, goes as far as introductions to advanced topics.
posted by thelonius at 1:36 AM on December 11, 2016

CodeSchool has some really good courses
posted by pyro979 at 5:10 AM on December 11, 2016

Yes, I recommend CodeSchool as well. The beginner JS classes are free, but more advanced ones are behind a paywall. (Probably there will be a Boxing Day sale, so if you're interested in a subscription I might hold out until then.)

Codecademy is also good, and it's free, but it's more beginner-oriented.
posted by sea change at 5:56 AM on December 11, 2016

After learning the basics, the book that most improved my JS abilities was Jquery Trickshots. (Assuming you're using JS for websites).
posted by yorick at 7:20 AM on December 11, 2016

I taught myself Javascript. I would recommend starting with Codecademy's JS track and then moving to Code School. I would augment these with Dan Schiffman's videos. He's a great teacher and his work focuses on p5.js, which is a drawing library and can be more fun to learn with than standard CS problems (imo). If you get to the point you want to do stuff outside the browser, Node School is pretty good and they often have in-person workshops, depending on where you are.

Also excellent are Kyle Simpson's books. Up & Going is for people new to JS, I believe. He also teaches topics on Frontend Masters, which may appeal, and many are more advanced.

In general I find W3 to be lame, both for teaching and documentation. You'll want a good reference for the language itself, so searching for 'javascript + term + mdn' will be your jam. MDN is definitely the best HTML/CSS/JS documentation. The p5.js site also has an intro to debugging that is worth checking out, because often learn-to-program sites skip this vital tool.

Finally, you are probably not going to find one thing "all the way up" to advanced topics. Javascript is vast. I would recommend doing the beginner lessons on Codecademy and Code School and then coming up with a project you want to make and learning more intermediate skills by creating it.
posted by dame at 9:34 AM on December 11, 2016 [4 favorites]

KhanAcademy has good tutorials.
posted by johngoren at 11:15 AM on December 11, 2016

Reddit's /r/learnjavascript has a variety of options in their sidebar.
posted by rhizome at 1:24 PM on December 11, 2016

I found that Team Treehouse's FullStack JavaScript track was a good introduction, and then I started digging deeper with "JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts" on Udemy.
posted by synecdoche at 7:41 PM on December 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am biased, because I produced it, but our site at thegymnasium.com has a free course called "JavaScript Foundations" by Keith Peters that I think is extremely good. It definitely will check the "well explained" checkbox, Keith is a fantastic teacher.
posted by jeremias at 8:02 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]