alvincrespo

Javascript is pretty amazing, to say the least. I’m not saying that just because it is my favorite language, only Ruby occupies that space, but because its actually pretty damn easy to learn and apply daily. There are three things that make javascript amazing today:

1. The community
2. The frameworks
3. The support - browser support of course

Now I started learning javascript back in college - Introduction to the WWW - at RIT. It was a great class, not because of javascript itself but because it was the first time I’ve ever had to program, not compile, and see results instantly. Yes, the fact that you get to see what you’ve programmed instantly without having to build your code is amazing. Instant satisfaction baby, thats what counts and thats what clients love.

Javascript itself is amazing; its elegant, simple and just damn great to read - thats if it was done right. When you read javascript, it makes sense. Not like other languages like c++ or objective-c, where honestly if you picked it up and read it, it would be a WTF moment. Now this doesn’t disqualify the language; especially since they are used to build the environments and technologies we use on a daily basis. And if you’re a gamer, you should know that c++ is being used to smooth up those nice little polygons on your TV. So yeah, javascript isn’t everything but at the same time it is.

It comes down to using the tools you need, when you need it the most. Javascript comes to the rescue for most web based applications as it allows you to hit the ground running. Its great for amateurs and a miracle for pro’s. So, learn it today, tomorrow and the next day until the end of the internets. But for now, here are some resources to get up to speed; for both amateurs and pros:

• Javascript Itself
  • http://www.addyosmani.com/resources/essentialjsdesignpatterns/book/#writingdesignpatterns
  • http://ejohn.org/apps/learn/
  • http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/the-basics-of-object-oriented-javascript/
  • http://learn.appendto.com/
  • http://www.codecademy.com/
  • https://developer.mozilla.org/en/A_re-introduction_to_JavaScript
• Testing
  • http://jsfiddle.net/
  • http://jsperf.com/
  • http://docs.jquery.com/Qunit
  • http://zombie.labnotes.org/
• Frameworks
  • http://jquery.com/
  • http://jqueryui.com/
  • http://jquerymobile.com/
  • http://www.sproutcore.com/
  • http://zeptojs.com/
  • http://mootools.net/
• Tools
  • http://getfirebug.com/
  • http://code.google.com/chrome/devtools/docs/overview.html