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A friend of mine is approaching programming (very beginner level) through JavaScript. Is there any resource you would suggest in the same vein of this? EDIT: s

A friend of mine is approaching programming (very beginner level) through JavaScript. Is there any resource you would suggest in the same vein of this? EDIT: since people are asking, I agree that JS is not the best language to get started, but let's just say he needs to learn that.

anarchyrucks 8y ago
Why is JavaScript an absolute requirement? I guess he can learn python as his first programming language which I personally think will be easier to setup/run in the machine instead of installing node.
- reacweb 8y ago
  Yes. And for beginners, https://py3.codeskulptor.org/ https://py3.codeskulptor.org/ is fantastic.
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    And also Python Tutor: http://pythontutor.com/ http://pythontutor.com/
    - QML 8y ago
      A great complement to that would also be to use Jupyter, whose notebooks are similarly interactive and not dead like typing into a blank terminal or IDE.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
LandR 8y ago
I would suggest absolutely not learning programming via javascript as your first language.
- haney 8y ago
  I agree that javascript is a bit odd for a beginner in terms of scoping, callbacks, truthiness, etc. However, it's really broadly applicable, JS would be a horrible choice for a university introductory course but might not be a bad choice for a hobbyist who's trying to quickly start doing things that keep them interested in learning. I would however, strong suggest that javascript shouldn't be someone's only language.
  - jakear 8y ago
    Python has the same scoping as JS. I really don’t get why people complain about this then propose python as an alternative. JS even got past that with let/const.
    - enitihas 8y ago
      In JS, declaring a variable without var gives it a global scope, in python not so. Also, js is a lot more inconsistent than python. The amount of js gotchas is huge(== weirdness, hasOwnProperty for iterating through object fields, binding of this, only 64 bit doubles as a number type). Python is much less surprising, and gives you much less opportunities to screw up.
      - jakear 8y ago
        That’s a strange decision with regard to variable definitions, but not really a “scoping” abnormality. As in: that’s the scope you’d expect from a global variable, but not the syntax you’d expect to get you a global variable. Anyways, a base VS Code installation will throw a warning about that. The other things are also not scoping. I’m not arguing JS is consistent, I’m just saying people should stop complaining about its scoping then offering python as a solution.
      - hannofcart 8y ago
        As someone who just spent a day hunting down a Heisenbug caused by using a default argument bound to a datetime.now(), I beg to differ. Honestly, all languages have quirks. When pummeling a language for gotchas, may he whose favourite language is without quirks cast the first stone.
martalist 8y ago
freecodecamp.org is pretty good at taking a practical approach to learning programming, primarily with JavaScript. But if your friend wants to also understand the basics of computer science it's worth considering doing both.
ivan_ah 8y ago
This might be of interest: https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs1101s/sicp/ https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs1101s/sicp/ (SICP in js)
sciurus 8y ago
Not a direct equivalent, but I've frequently seen people recommend https://eloquentjavascript.net/ https://eloquentjavascript.net/
- invalidOrTaken 8y ago
  Seconding this recommendation.
e12e 8y ago
I guess I struggle to see why it has to be Javascript exactly (even if js6 isn't all bad). How about reasonml or clojure(script)?
freetonik 8y ago
May I suggest my course on the fundamentals of programming with JavaScript ES6 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-xu4i_QDSxcoDNeh8rx5-pHCCTOg0XsI https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-xu4i_QDSxcoDNeh8rx5... It is heavily inspired by SICP and covers important topics like recursion, iteration, static vs. dynamic typing, testing and more. Each video is accompanied by a text version, a quiz and an interactive programming exercise (links are in video descriptions). The course is completely free of charge and I’ll be happy to answer any questions and help your friend solve problems if he or she decides to do the exercises on our site.

anarchyrucks 8y ago

Why is JavaScript an absolute requirement? I guess he can learn python as his first programming language which I personally think will be easier to setup/run in the machine instead of installing node.

reacweb 8y ago
Yes. And for beginners, https://py3.codeskulptor.org/ https://py3.codeskulptor.org/ is fantastic.
- bogomipz 8y ago
  And also Python Tutor: http://pythontutor.com/ http://pythontutor.com/
  - QML 8y ago
    A great complement to that would also be to use Jupyter, whose notebooks are similarly interactive and not dead like typing into a blank terminal or IDE.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

LandR 8y ago

I would suggest absolutely not learning programming via javascript as your first language.

haney 8y ago
I agree that javascript is a bit odd for a beginner in terms of scoping, callbacks, truthiness, etc. However, it's really broadly applicable, JS would be a horrible choice for a university introductory course but might not be a bad choice for a hobbyist who's trying to quickly start doing things that keep them interested in learning. I would however, strong suggest that javascript shouldn't be someone's only language.
- jakear 8y ago
  Python has the same scoping as JS. I really don’t get why people complain about this then propose python as an alternative. JS even got past that with let/const.
  - enitihas 8y ago
    In JS, declaring a variable without var gives it a global scope, in python not so. Also, js is a lot more inconsistent than python. The amount of js gotchas is huge(== weirdness, hasOwnProperty for iterating through object fields, binding of this, only 64 bit doubles as a number type). Python is much less surprising, and gives you much less opportunities to screw up.
    - jakear 8y ago
      That’s a strange decision with regard to variable definitions, but not really a “scoping” abnormality. As in: that’s the scope you’d expect from a global variable, but not the syntax you’d expect to get you a global variable. Anyways, a base VS Code installation will throw a warning about that. The other things are also not scoping. I’m not arguing JS is consistent, I’m just saying people should stop complaining about its scoping then offering python as a solution.
    - hannofcart 8y ago
      As someone who just spent a day hunting down a Heisenbug caused by using a default argument bound to a datetime.now(), I beg to differ. Honestly, all languages have quirks. When pummeling a language for gotchas, may he whose favourite language is without quirks cast the first stone.

martalist 8y ago

freecodecamp.org is pretty good at taking a practical approach to learning programming, primarily with JavaScript. But if your friend wants to also understand the basics of computer science it's worth considering doing both.

ivan_ah 8y ago

This might be of interest: https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs1101s/sicp/ https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs1101s/sicp/ (SICP in js)

sciurus 8y ago

Not a direct equivalent, but I've frequently seen people recommend https://eloquentjavascript.net/ https://eloquentjavascript.net/

invalidOrTaken 8y ago
Seconding this recommendation.

e12e 8y ago

I guess I struggle to see why it has to be Javascript exactly (even if js6 isn't all bad). How about reasonml or clojure(script)?

freetonik 8y ago

May I suggest my course on the fundamentals of programming with JavaScript ES6 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-xu4i_QDSxcoDNeh8rx5-pHCCTOg0XsI https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-xu4i_QDSxcoDNeh8rx5... It is heavily inspired by SICP and covers important topics like recursion, iteration, static vs. dynamic typing, testing and more. Each video is accompanied by a text version, a quiz and an interactive programming exercise (links are in video descriptions). The course is completely free of charge and I’ll be happy to answer any questions and help your friend solve problems if he or she decides to do the exercises on our site.