Learning JavaScript is hard!
Of the three languages in the front-end stack (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), I hands-down think JavaScript is the hardest to learn.
Today, I wanted to talk about why it’s so damn hard, and what you can do about it. Let’s dig in!
Why is learning JavaScript so hard!?
Here’s an incomplete list of the various issues I ran into when trying to learn JS.
- Tutorials that assume you have a CS degree or a ton of experience.
- Lots of abstract examples and
fooandbareverywhere. - Projects that are too big and complex, so you get stuck, can’t get help, and give up.
- Passive/aggressive or incomplete answers on StackOverflow.
- Lots of “just use {tool or library}” type tutorials.
- Lessons that starts with “Just…”, followed by some really complicated instructions.
- JavaScript methods are inconsistent and often behave unexpectedly.
- What do you learn first? What’s important, and what can you ignore?
- You learn how something works, but when you sit down to build a real project with it, you have no idea where to start.
I know I’m not alone, because many of my students have shared similar stories with me.
The “secret” to learning JavaScript is fun projects + a structured learning path + tons of support
A few years ago, I ended up creating a workshop to help beginners go from “OMG this is impossible!!!” to “oh, wow, I can actually do this!” in a fun, practical way.
It included over a 100 lessons, 18 fun projects, and a supportive community of learners. Here’s how it worked…
- Every other day, you get a project to work on, 1-3 short lessons that provide some background, and a template to help you get started.
- On the in-between days, I share my approach to the project and some of the common challenges and “gotchas” that students often run into.
If you get stuck, there’s a 24/7 private Discord community exclusively for students, where you can share your work, ask questions, and get help. You would attend as a “live cohort,” completing the same projects at the same time as a group of others.
It was wildly successful, and even helped jump-start some of my students careers.
Making myself a little web tool and using a whole range of stuff that Chris Ferdinandi’s Vanilla JS Academy taught me.
I struggled with JavaScript for a decade so I really would recommend it for anyone who needs a big friendly confidence-booster.- Laura Kalbag
But… there were always people who wanted to attend, but had other commitments when it was running, or were worried about keeping up, or wanted to go faster, or needed to take a break because of a vacation and then felt like they were falling behind.
I’ve had a lot of folks ask me to create a self-paced version, so I did!
I’m about to launch an updated of the workshop as a self-paced course next week, but if you join today you’ll automatically get $100 off the price!
Imagine being able to just sit down and code
If you struggle with JavaScript, I can help you…
- Spend less time Googling and more time working on cool stuff.
- Learn modern best practices and code patterns.
- Get the skills and confidence to really understand JavaScript.
- Follow a structured learning path to grow your skills more quickly.
- Work on real projects and build your portfolio.
Best investment and course I have taken. If you want a bite sized course that will hold you accountable take this course. I have reduced the amount I Google and use Stackexchange by 50% and actually feel like I understand what I am coding.- Walter Jenkins
🎉 Awesome bonuses!
Over the course of running this workshop, I’ve answered tons of questions from students. I’ve compiled them into a collection of video Q&As.
And when you’re done with the course, I’ve also included 18 extra projects (with templates and solutions) to help you dig deeper and really solidify what you’ve learned.