Why JavaScript is The Future and Where and How to Learn JavaScript

Saurabh Hooda -

Is JavaScript the Future? Indeed, It Is!

Future is uncertain and mysterious. However, these very qualities of the forthcoming motivate humans to try to predict it, may it be in the context of human existence or technology. Talking about technology, programming languages have become vital to it in the 21st-century.

We’ve all sorts of programming languages capable of accomplishing a diverse range of tasks. JavaScript is one of the leading programming languages. In fact, it is called the programming language of the web. JS is a part of the ever-increasing number of programming options, many of which are, in actual fact, inspired from it.

The advent of Node.js enabled JS to extend its reaches to the server-side. It became much easier for organizations to come in contact with full-stack developers that can work on both the frontend and backend using JavaScript. Hence, there is no need for cross-checking the fact that JS is among the best programming languages to start learning in 2019.

JavaScript is the main powerhouse behind the rapidly evolving Internet. It is the present and will be the future. The rampant development of the high-level programming language asserts to the fact of JavaScript is the future. Still not convinced? Well, here are some reasons supporting the notion:

  • Empowers Over 95% of The Web – As of today (20th December 2018), 95.1% of the Internet is powered by JavaScript. The stats are likely to increase in the near future
  • Excellent Choice of Frameworks – AngularJS, Ember.js Metero.js, ReactJS, and VueJS are just a few of the wide variety of frameworks available for JavaScript
  • Superfast – ECMAScript 6 and related technologies are developed for modern web requirements, where speed is a must..
  • Readily Available Packages – There is a package for almost everything you can think of. In fact, npm is the world’s largest software registry with a total of over 800,000 build blocks. So, the possibilities of creating with JavaScript are simply immense

 

How to Learn JavaScript?

Learning JavaScript is much easier in the present day, all thanks to the Internet. The vast ocean of Web has so many places that offer a productive JavaScript learning experience. Additionally buying books and enrolling at non-virtual classes can also help.

More and more people are looking to learn by means of the virtual way. There are several benefits of doing so, such as learning at the comfort of your own preferable location and a flexible way of doing the same.

There is a multitude of online web resources that you can use for learning JavaScript. While some are completely free, others are partially or completely paid. Moreover, newer places to learn JavaScript are coming out every now and then.

The answer to the question, “How to Learn JavaScript?” has no definite answer. It depends entirely on one’s preferences. You can attend virtual lectures, go through tutorials, join online classes, read articles, study ebooks, view YouTube videos, and so on.

Therefore, the most important things that you need while learning JavaScript, or any other programming language, are patience and persistence.

 

Where to Learn JavaScript?

CodeAcademy’s Intro to Programming in JavaScript is an inclusive program. It is designed to teach learners all the requisite concepts for front-end and back-end development using JS. The 7-week Intensive Program covers:

  • Getting Started with JavaScript
  • Conditionals and Functions
  • Scope and Arrays
  • Loops and Iteration
  • Objects
  • Errors and Debugging
  • Capstone | Replicate a Library

In addition to the abovementioned program, CodeAcademy offers a wide range of JS courses. Each of the course is divided into several interactive lessons to make the learning process simpler and efficacious. Some of the available offerings are:

  • Asynchronous JavaScript
  • Introduction to JavaScript
  • Learn ReactJS: Part I
  • Learn Node-SQLite

CodeAcademy offers a Pro membership which unlocks several other JS courses, including:

  • Building Interactive JavaScript Websites
  • JavaScript Errors and Debugging
  • Learn D3

Additionally, Pro members also get the benefit of gaining access to projects and quizzes pertaining to various JavaScript courses. CodeAcademy also offers courses for Bash/Shell, C++, HTML & CSS, Java, Python, Ruby, and SQL.

freeCodeCamp is the best place to learn programming languages and frameworks, completely for free. It offers a comprehensive learning ground for JavaScript, starting with the basics and then moving to advanced topics. The web resource also offers information on related technologies.

In addition to comprehensively describing various aspects of JavaScript and several concepts pertaining to the same, freeCodeCamp also offers some concise, all-text JS tutorials, including:

  • Typeof
  • Undefined Primitive Value
  • Where to
  • Window Confirm Method
  • Window setTimeout Method
  • With

freeCodeCamp also offers links to some other apt JS tutorials present over the web. Arguments, Boolean, Closures, Error Handling, Loops, Object Instantiation, and whatnot. You name it, they have it.

Hackr.io is one of the most preferred places to gain access to some of the best tutorials available over the Internet pertaining to learning programming languages, frameworks, and web technologies. Tutorials available for JavaScript, and other programming languages, as well, ranging from a diverse variety of video lessons, articles, books, and much more.

Perhaps the most substantial aspect of learning from Hackr.io tutorials is the ranking system. It is awarded based on ratings given to the tutorials by the Hackr.io community. Web developers, designers, professionals, hobbyists, etc. belonging to different regions of the world make up the community at Hackr.io.

You will find free as well as paid tutorials at Hackr.io, giving you the choice to go for the ones that you deem the most suitable. In addition to JavaScript, Hackr.io also offers tutorials for a plethora of programming languages, including:

  • ASP.NET
  • C/C#/C++
  • Clojure
  • Elixir
  • Go
  • Haskell
  • HTML5
  • Kotlin
  • Swift
  • MATLAB
  • PHP
  • R
  • Rust
  • Scala
  • TypeScript

Hackr.io also flaunts a thriving forum section, with sub-sections for the various programming languages, frameworks, and web technologies it covers.

Udemy offers one of the widest range of courses and training programs. It has a comprehensive range of tutorials for JavaScript. Unlike other names on the list, Udemy isn’t limited to programming languages and web technologies.

On the contrary, Udemy offers fitting tutorials for fashion designing, lifestyle, marketing, music, photography, and much more. Coming back to JS, the web resource has a total of 50 courses. Each of them is put together by industry experts or professionals. Some of the best ones are:

  • Advanced JavaScript
  • JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts
  • JavaScript Basics for Beginners
  • JavaScript Interview Prep: Practice Problems
  • Learn Modern JavaScript: Getting Started
  • Learning Algorithms in JavaScript from Scratch
  • The Complete JavaScript Course 2018: Build Real Projects!
  • The Modern JavaScript Bootcamp
  • Make a Responsive Portfolio Website: JavaScript and HTML
  • Make a YouTube Clone from Scratch: JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL

Enrolling at an Udemy course allows learners to learn from the masters as well as learn at their own pace. Moreover, each course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and offers downloadable resources.

W3Schools is another appropriate web resource to learn programming languages and web technologies. It has several hundreds of code examples to simplify learning JavaScript. Moreover, it allows starting with JavaScript basics and then moving to advanced topics.

In addition to the learning material, W3Schools also offers references and tutorials related to JavaScript and other web technologies it puts up for learning.

The most distinguishing feature of W3Schools is the Try It Yourself editor, which allows learners to execute the code given in the examples in a sandbox. Moreover, you can also edit the code before executing it.

  • YouTube

YouTube, estimated to hit 1.86 bn users by 2021, is, undoubtedly, one of the leading platforms for entertainment and learning. The video sharing platform is not only loved by people looking for casual entertainment but also by avid learners.

The versatile nature of YouTube makes it a suitable web resource for learning JavaScript, and other programming languages as well. There are all sorts of JavaScript tutorials and lessons available.

Searching through YouTube can be a daunting task, especially because of its every growing video base. Don’t worry though, here is a list of some apt JS-focusing YouTube channels that you can start with right now:

  • All Things JavaScript, LLC (Subscribers – 5.6k)
  • freeCodeCamp.org (Subscribers – 591k)
  • JavaScript Teacher (Subscribers – 5.8k)
  • JSConf (Subscribers – 109k)
  • LearnWebCode (Subscribers – 196k)
  • The Coding Train (Subscribers – 686k)
  • whatsdev (Subscribers – 22k)

So, that completes the list of some of the best places to start learning JavaScript. JS is one of the easiest programming languages to learn and offers some of the most outstanding opportunities for those mastering the craft.

 

Do you agree with the article? Share your views with us via comments. Also, let us know your inspiring JavaScript stories.