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Illustrated JavaScript coding course for absolute beginners [pdf]

51 points by lovegrenoble 3y ago

atxbcp 3y ago
200 slides to cover loops and conditionals ?
- bitwise-bouncer 3y ago
  Not inherently bad. Especially considering that the target audience is people who have never said “hello world”, it is invaluable to have frequent opportunities for finding success.
  - namaria 3y ago
    I'm conflicted on such sandboxed approaches. On one hand it makes sense to shield learners from more frustrating things like grokking actual software artifacts, systems design problems and interfaces. On the other hand, programming logic per se is pretty damned simple, shouldn't take a hundred slides to impart, and the real challenge is actually figuring out interfaces and artifacts. If we create the expectation that it's all about logic and that the environment should automagically work, aren't we crippling learners? How can someone design or debug if they don't know how things actually fit together behind the scenes?
overtomanu 3y ago
Says pdf file corrupted when trying to open via browser and okular. is it just me?
- mcny 3y ago
  Yes, just clicked on the link on Firefox nightly on Android and opens ok for me
jefozabuss 3y ago
it introduces variables on the 93th slide and uses the site's functions until then. I'd say it's more like an illustrated codeguppy js course than a general js course. I think if your market is mostly kids it might be easier for them to be able to click on the shapes/sprites and have the parameters UI open up for that clicked object as you get used to this in many apps. E.g. they could tweak the parameters "x, y, size, fill, etc" and see real time how the code changed. Or have the parameter name hover over the parameter like in some jetbrains products.
- austin-cheney 3y ago
  You are not completely wrong, but it certainly looks like the standard HTML canvas API as opposed to some API specific to codeguppy. The slides do not clarify this. The point at the beginning of the slide deck is to jump into writing the text immediately as opposed to "block" type languages like Scratch.
im_lince 3y ago
I prefer to choose a JavaScript mini-project and build it from scratch rather than going through the slides. The real pain of learning something lies in the errors. Also, https://eloquentjavascript.net/ https://eloquentjavascript.net/ is a good resource for JavaScript beginners to start their journey.
otterpro 3y ago
This is intended for middle and high school students (who has never been exposed to coding). I used to teach coding to kids in school, so this is an invaluable free resource, and I might use it for teaching javascript in future
JKCalhoun 3y ago
We need more of these things. Just put off by being shepherded right away into creating an account. That usually sends me packing.
7373737373 3y ago
One thing that always frustrated me about advanced Javascript tutorials (not like this one) is that they don't include an explanation of the runtime model/structure - what "async" even means practically. The "What the heck is the event loop anyway?" talk (https://youtu.be/8aGhZQkoFbQ?si=wJIqnm3jEYB-uFSO https://youtu.be/8aGhZQkoFbQ?si=wJIqnm3jEYB-uFSO) with its associated website (down at the moment? https://latentflip.com/what-is-the-event-loop-anyway https://latentflip.com/what-is-the-event-loop-anyway) is amazing and essential for that
codeguppy 3y ago
Hi there -- This is Adrian, the author of the course and codeguppy.com platform. First of all: thank you very much for your feedback. As of now, the course has 693 slides and covers also more advanced concepts such as closures and classes. The intended audience for the course are teachers ... but independent learners (especially those interested in p5.js) may find the course useful as well.

51 points by lovegrenoble 3y ago

atxbcp 3y ago

200 slides to cover loops and conditionals ?

bitwise-bouncer 3y ago
Not inherently bad. Especially considering that the target audience is people who have never said “hello world”, it is invaluable to have frequent opportunities for finding success.
- namaria 3y ago
  I'm conflicted on such sandboxed approaches. On one hand it makes sense to shield learners from more frustrating things like grokking actual software artifacts, systems design problems and interfaces. On the other hand, programming logic per se is pretty damned simple, shouldn't take a hundred slides to impart, and the real challenge is actually figuring out interfaces and artifacts. If we create the expectation that it's all about logic and that the environment should automagically work, aren't we crippling learners? How can someone design or debug if they don't know how things actually fit together behind the scenes?

overtomanu 3y ago

Says pdf file corrupted when trying to open via browser and okular. is it just me?

mcny 3y ago
Yes, just clicked on the link on Firefox nightly on Android and opens ok for me

jefozabuss 3y ago

it introduces variables on the 93th slide and uses the site's functions until then. I'd say it's more like an illustrated codeguppy js course than a general js course. I think if your market is mostly kids it might be easier for them to be able to click on the shapes/sprites and have the parameters UI open up for that clicked object as you get used to this in many apps. E.g. they could tweak the parameters "x, y, size, fill, etc" and see real time how the code changed. Or have the parameter name hover over the parameter like in some jetbrains products.

austin-cheney 3y ago
You are not completely wrong, but it certainly looks like the standard HTML canvas API as opposed to some API specific to codeguppy. The slides do not clarify this. The point at the beginning of the slide deck is to jump into writing the text immediately as opposed to "block" type languages like Scratch.

im_lince 3y ago

I prefer to choose a JavaScript mini-project and build it from scratch rather than going through the slides. The real pain of learning something lies in the errors. Also, https://eloquentjavascript.net/ https://eloquentjavascript.net/ is a good resource for JavaScript beginners to start their journey.

otterpro 3y ago

This is intended for middle and high school students (who has never been exposed to coding). I used to teach coding to kids in school, so this is an invaluable free resource, and I might use it for teaching javascript in future

JKCalhoun 3y ago

We need more of these things. Just put off by being shepherded right away into creating an account. That usually sends me packing.

7373737373 3y ago

One thing that always frustrated me about advanced Javascript tutorials (not like this one) is that they don't include an explanation of the runtime model/structure - what "async" even means practically. The "What the heck is the event loop anyway?" talk (https://youtu.be/8aGhZQkoFbQ?si=wJIqnm3jEYB-uFSO https://youtu.be/8aGhZQkoFbQ?si=wJIqnm3jEYB-uFSO) with its associated website (down at the moment? https://latentflip.com/what-is-the-event-loop-anyway https://latentflip.com/what-is-the-event-loop-anyway) is amazing and essential for that

codeguppy 3y ago

Hi there -- This is Adrian, the author of the course and codeguppy.com platform. First of all: thank you very much for your feedback. As of now, the course has 693 slides and covers also more advanced concepts such as closures and classes. The intended audience for the course are teachers ... but independent learners (especially those interested in p5.js) may find the course useful as well.