4 ms·

Ask HN: Can I learn JS in a month?

1 points by html5web 14y ago

I'm HTML and CSS geek, but I've little knowledge of JS. Can I learn JS in a month? Resources, books...?

kral 14y ago
I think you can learn almost any language in a couple of week, but mastering them is a completely different story...
- html5web 14y ago
  Right saying. As far as I know, learning programming languages looks like learning human language, if you know one language from a definite language family you can learn any other relative language with ease. I'll try to do my best to practice more with JS.
tonyblundell 14y ago
Could you learn French in a month? You could learn the basic structures of the language, and enough words to get by in a lot of common situations. But you wouldn't have the same dexterity as a fluent speaker and would often find yourself lost for a particular word.
- html5web 14y ago
  Right you are Tony, I just want to learn for basic usage. Then I'll try dig dipper into JS.
stretchwithme 14y ago
iTunes university has a free JS course. Its a college course. I'd also learn jQuery. The selectors work like CSS does, so that will be familiar to you.
adhipg 14y ago
I've just been trying out CodeAcademy[1] and it seems like a nice place to get your hands dirty if you like learning things interactively. They do have a track on jQuery as well - which is something that I think you should be interested in coming from the HTML/ CSS side of things where you want to add interactivity to your pages. These courses should be quick to run through, get your confidence up and have you playing around with JavaScript on your own projects very quickly. There are a few other similar sites out there. [1]http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript
- html5web 14y ago
  I've tried some lessons on CodeAcademy the lessons are actually interesting and interactive.
html5web 14y ago
Thanks for references mates!!!
gavinflud 14y ago
You could certainly learn how the general syntax of the language and how things like prototyping and callbacks work. Why limit it to a month though? Learn the basics, develop an understanding of how it works and then carry on learning as you go. As for books: "JavaScript: The Good Parts" and "jQuery in Action" should help you out.
- html5web 14y ago
  The fact is that I'm moving to another country after a month and it will help me to find a relevant job for me with the knowledge of JS. That's why I'm trying to learn JavaScript as soon as possible. Thanks for reference!
  - gavinflud 14y ago
    A month studying JavaScript and jQuery (lots of employers place specific emphasis on this) will give you a decent knowledge of the language. Definitely enough to put it on your resume and use it competently.
lutusp 14y ago
Your inquiry leaves something out that's important -- whether you have learned any computer programming languages before. I ask because writing HTML and using CSS don't count as "programming", they're more like word processing. Computer programming has little in common with HTML and CSS development work. So as far as learning JavaScript in a month, it depends on whether you've had any exposure to other computer languages. If not, then a month of exposure to JavaScript might not be enough to make you productive in the language. Adding JavaScript to your knowledge base is certainly a good idea, but if you haven't done any programming before, and to become proficient, you might want to schedule more time for it.
- html5web 14y ago
  Before learning HTML & CSS I've practiced with VB on Visual Studio 2008 and created couples of little programs using VB (Notepad, IE based Web browser, Media player etc). So I've basic knowledge of programming languages.
argimenes 14y ago
Why come here to ask? Go forth and learn, my friend ... :-)
- html5web 14y ago
  Here's place where experienced guys gather, thus I'm asking the quest. :)
TimPietrusky 14y ago
If you want to get into JavaScript OOP, you should read http://killdream.github.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-javascript-oop/index.html http://killdream.github.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-javas...
- html5web 14y ago
  Thanks Tim!

1 points by html5web 14y ago

I'm HTML and CSS geek, but I've little knowledge of JS. Can I learn JS in a month? Resources, books...?

kral 14y ago

I think you can learn almost any language in a couple of week, but mastering them is a completely different story...

html5web 14y ago
Right saying. As far as I know, learning programming languages looks like learning human language, if you know one language from a definite language family you can learn any other relative language with ease. I'll try to do my best to practice more with JS.

tonyblundell 14y ago

Could you learn French in a month? You could learn the basic structures of the language, and enough words to get by in a lot of common situations. But you wouldn't have the same dexterity as a fluent speaker and would often find yourself lost for a particular word.

html5web 14y ago
Right you are Tony, I just want to learn for basic usage. Then I'll try dig dipper into JS.

stretchwithme 14y ago

iTunes university has a free JS course. Its a college course. I'd also learn jQuery. The selectors work like CSS does, so that will be familiar to you.

adhipg 14y ago

I've just been trying out CodeAcademy[1] and it seems like a nice place to get your hands dirty if you like learning things interactively. They do have a track on jQuery as well - which is something that I think you should be interested in coming from the HTML/ CSS side of things where you want to add interactivity to your pages. These courses should be quick to run through, get your confidence up and have you playing around with JavaScript on your own projects very quickly. There are a few other similar sites out there. [1]http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript

html5web 14y ago
I've tried some lessons on CodeAcademy the lessons are actually interesting and interactive.

html5web 14y ago

Thanks for references mates!!!

gavinflud 14y ago

You could certainly learn how the general syntax of the language and how things like prototyping and callbacks work. Why limit it to a month though? Learn the basics, develop an understanding of how it works and then carry on learning as you go. As for books: "JavaScript: The Good Parts" and "jQuery in Action" should help you out.

html5web 14y ago
The fact is that I'm moving to another country after a month and it will help me to find a relevant job for me with the knowledge of JS. That's why I'm trying to learn JavaScript as soon as possible. Thanks for reference!
- gavinflud 14y ago
  A month studying JavaScript and jQuery (lots of employers place specific emphasis on this) will give you a decent knowledge of the language. Definitely enough to put it on your resume and use it competently.

lutusp 14y ago

Your inquiry leaves something out that's important -- whether you have learned any computer programming languages before. I ask because writing HTML and using CSS don't count as "programming", they're more like word processing. Computer programming has little in common with HTML and CSS development work. So as far as learning JavaScript in a month, it depends on whether you've had any exposure to other computer languages. If not, then a month of exposure to JavaScript might not be enough to make you productive in the language. Adding JavaScript to your knowledge base is certainly a good idea, but if you haven't done any programming before, and to become proficient, you might want to schedule more time for it.

html5web 14y ago
Before learning HTML & CSS I've practiced with VB on Visual Studio 2008 and created couples of little programs using VB (Notepad, IE based Web browser, Media player etc). So I've basic knowledge of programming languages.

argimenes 14y ago

Why come here to ask? Go forth and learn, my friend ... :-)

html5web 14y ago
Here's place where experienced guys gather, thus I'm asking the quest. :)

TimPietrusky 14y ago

If you want to get into JavaScript OOP, you should read http://killdream.github.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-javascript-oop/index.html http://killdream.github.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-javas...

html5web 14y ago
Thanks Tim!