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How to be a great JavaScript developer

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to watch this absolutely zany science program called Beakman’s World. Here’s a clip, if you’re not familiar with it.

It was super engaging, and I learned a lot from watching it. But the biggest thing that stuck with me was something Beakman used to often say to the audience (I’m paraphrasing here):

Being a scientist isn’t about knowing all the answers. It’s about knowing how to find them.

This is true for JavaScript, too.

Being a great developer isn’t about knowing all the answers to every problem that’s thrown at you.

It means that you know how to solve those problems. You have systems and processes for working through them. You know break problems down into small parts, debug issues, and research possible solutions.

Learning how to “think” in JavaScript is one of the hardest things to learn.

You can learn about the different JavaScript methods and browser APIs, but to be a successful developer, you need to know when and how to use them.

Making that transition is where many people struggle.

You know what you want to do, but… you have no idea where to even start. Maybe you eventually figure it out, but then you get stuck. What then?

There’s a better way to learn.

The Vanilla JS Academy is an eight-week program designed to help you “think in JavaScript.”

It provides a structured learning path, lots of fun projects, and the support you need to work through challenges.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Watch and Read. Each week, you’ll get a set of a lessons (a mix of videos and articles) focused on a core JavaScript topic.
  2. Build Awesome Things. Along with your lessons, you’ll get two fun projects to work on that reinforce everything you learned in the lessons. I don’t give you the answers. You’ll use what you learned that week to solve interesting problems and build cool stuff.
  3. Connect & Share. To help support your learning, you can join weekly video office hours and collaborate with your fellow students in an exclusive private Slack workspace. Ask questions, share what you’re learning, and get unstuck.

If that sounds interesting, head over to VanillaJSAcademy.com to learn more. If you sign up in the next two weeks, you’ll save a boat load of money.