This month, I published two articles on Envato about resources for JavaScript and jQuery.
For those who get involved in a form of development – be it back-end, front-end, or some other type of developer – we end up forgetting what it was like not to know how to do so something. It’s kind of like riding a bike or swimming, right?
We may remember when we learned, but how much do we remember about losing our balance or not knowing how to keep our head above water?
And that’s what I think it’s like to be on the outside of a programming language, how it interacts with third-party components (like the browser or the filesystem), and how the language is structured.
Because of that, I think it’s important to publish resources periodically on topics like this for those who are looking to get started.
Resources for JavaScript and jQuery
In the first article, I cover a general introduction to JavaScript (I mean, the article is called What is JavaScript?).
The article covers the following points:
- Atwood’s Law
- A definition of JavaScript
- Attributes of the language
- How the language is used
- What libraries and frameworks are available for it
- Other resources for learning it
If you’re interested, then be sure to check out the rest of what’s published.
In the follow-up article, What Is jQuery?, I attempt to answer that question as if it was asked by someone who’s never heard of the library.
I think this is especially relevant for those who are involved with WordPress since the application ships with the library as part of its core set of libraries.
The article covers the following:
- A brief history of the library
- The DOM
- Some basic functionality of the library
- Method chaining
- Event-handling
- Animation
- Ajax
- Extensibility
If you’ve been using jQuery but aren’t sure about some of the above features, or you’re looking to begin using the library then review what all is included in the article.
If you’re interested in chatting more about the articles, please leave comments on the respective article. Other than that, I hope they’re useful for those looking to get started in JavaScript programming.
The JavaScript economy is more active than ever. Though I think it’s important to learn the foundational language of the libraries and frameworks that are available, sometimes it’s just as effective to start with one of them and work your way to the core language. There are also additional places to start, too: React, Ember, Angular, and so on.