Best JavaScript Classes Chicago, IL: Find Courses & Onsite Training

Chicago JavaScript Courses by School

Here are some of the top Chicago schools offering JavaScript training, including General Assembly (3 courses), Practical Programming (2 courses), and Ledet Training (2 courses). We’ve also included 2 schools that offer live online courses you can take from anywhere, including Chicago.

Noble Desktop

NYC location: 185 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016 US

Founded in 1990, Noble Desktop offers part-time and full-immersion courses on anything you can think of from design and coding to business. Located in New York City and providing courses both online and in-person, Noble Desktop prides itself on accommodating dynamic courses and bootcamps with hands-on learning, time-tested curriculums, and education from top industry experts.
Noble Desktop’s Top Live Online JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript Development Certificate
  - 324 Hours
  - $5,995
  Become a JavaScript Developer with this immersive certificate program. Learn object-oriented programming (OOP), create APIs, and learn popular frameworks and libraries to build functional and responsive websites. Over the course of this class, you'll learn fundamentals for JavaScript programming, front-end development with ReactJS and React Native, and back-end development with Node.js and Express.js. You'll also harness the power of MongoDB to organize and store your data. This class includes one-on-one mentoring and portfolio development to prepare you for a career after graduation.
- JavaScript for Front-End
  - 18 Hours
  - $975
  In this 18-hour class, students will take webpages to the next level by adding interactivity, animation, and logic with JavaScript and jQuery (the most popular JavaScript library that lets you do more with less code). Attendees will start with the fundamentals of JavaScript, learning variables, loops, arrays, functions, and how to apply them to elements in a webpage. Students then learn how the jQuery library can improve functionality, and how to use the many built-in jQuery plugins to add common features (such as slideshows, animated image enlargers, etc.) without having to manually build them from scratch. The class includes a free retake and a step-by-step workbook.
- React Development Bootcamp
  - 72 Hours
  - $2,995
  Build dynamic websites and applications with React and React Native. In this 60-hour bootcamp, you'll develop several fully-functioning apps. You'll start by learning how to compose components and deploy a React project to a server, then move to more advanced React Native development and API integration. By the time you complete the course, you'll have acquired core skills for a career as a Front End Developer. The React Bootcamp allows students who already know the fundamentals of JavaScript programming and basic HTML & CSS to take their skills to the next level.
- JavaScript Programming Bootcamp
  - 120 Hours
  - $2,495
  In this course, you’ll master the essentials of JavaScript programming to start creating web applications. Students will learn variables, functions, data types, asynchronous JavaScript, and more. This class is for beginners who have HTML and CSS experience but don't necessarily know any JavaScript.
General Assembly

Chicago location: 444 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611 US

General Assembly provides a variety of bootcamps and workshops in digital marketing, user experience design, and immersive courses in software engineering and data science. Students have a choice between part-time, full-time, or online classes, committed to finding you the most flexible fit for your busy schedule.
General Assembly’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript Short Course
  - 60 Hours
  - $4,500
  Gain fluency in JavaScript — the world's most popular programming language — and start leveraging its versatile capabilities to build rich, interactive websites and applications. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting.
- React Development Short Course
  - 40 Hours
  - $4,500
  Expand your JavaScript programming skills, and boost your profile at work — and on the job market. Learn to build sophisticated, scalable web applications. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting.
- JavaScript Bootcamp
  - 6 Hours
  - $250
  This JavaScript workshop is a beginner-friendly bootcamp designed for individuals interested in learning the fundamentals of JavaScript. In this hands-on bootcamp, students will be introduced to the core concepts of JavaScript and learn where JavaScript fits in the web development environment. In addition to fundamental concepts, students will also learn about Arrays, Function, Objects, Loops, and more. Students will learn how to write code in the command line and how to interface with a browser. Students will also get a peek into some advanced JavaScript usages to know what to expect as they continue their web development journeys.
Practical Programming

Chicago location: 29 E Madison St., Chicago, IL, 60602 US

Established in both Chicago and New York, Practical Programming offers online and on-site courses in Python, Data Science, Machine Learning, Web Development, JavaScript, Blockchain, and SQL.
Practical Programming’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript Immersive
  - 35 Hours
  - $1,250
  The JavaScript Immersive is meant to provide beginners with the skills they need to start building web applications from scratch. Students will build core web development skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Node JS with instructor-led training and project-based work. This 1-week web development course will give beginners the skills and tools they need to start their web development journey.
- React Development Bootcamp
  - 60 Hours
  - $2,995
  This 72-hour React Development Bootcamp prepares students to become front-end React web and mobile developers. Students will learn the fundamentals of React and React Native before moving on to API calls, web hooks, and environmental variables. Students will build three apps during the course, gaining valuable practice. After graduating, students will be qualified to be a react developer, front-end web developer, or mobile developer.
Ledet Training

Chicago location: 17 North State St, Chicago, IL, 60602 US

Ledet Training offers graphics and mobile training courses on-site across the U.S. including Washington, Denver, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Portland, Houston, and Fort Lauderdale.
Ledet’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- Open Source jQuery 101
  - 2 Days
  - $899
  Build on your foundational knowledge of CSS and HTML in this two-day beginner JQuery course. Through a combination of live instruction, individual and group projects, and class discussions, participants learn how to create sophisticated and interactive web pages. The class begins with a programming language overview that’s suitable for non-programmers. Study then moves to effects, animations, interface upgrades, forms, and server communication.
- Open Source JavaScript 101
  - 2 Days
  - $999
  Explore the wonderful world of JavaScript in this two-day, beginner-level course. This programming language helps participants create feature-rich websites for business or personal purposes. Through a combination of hands-on learning, instructor direction, and interactive discussions, students examine topics like JavaScript basics, browser window management, data storage and operations, control constructs, and standard functions.
Computer Training Source

Chicago location: 420 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611 US

Computer Training Source offers computer training courses in Chicago, Naperville, Schaumburg, and online. CTS provides students with a variety of courses including Microsoft Office, Adobe, web design, project management, and technology/networking.
CTS Training’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript Introduction
  - 2 Days
  - $899
  This 2-day JavaScript course is designed for individuals who are new to JavaScript and are eager to learn the fundamentals and core concepts. This course is broken into seven lessons, covering the following topics: basic JavaScript script, managing the browser window, managing the document, manipulating data, statement validation, calculating numerical values, and using regular expressions.
Certstaffix Training

Chicago location: 205 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60601 US

Certstaffix offers live online classes and group training onsite for corporate entities all over the U.S. They provide courses in End-user/Desktop, IT Pro Skills, Online Marketing, Business Skills, and Programming/Development.
Certstaffix’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript Programming
  - 3 Days
  - $1,740
  JavaScript Basics course starts off by teaching you the basics: syntax, how to access elements, dot notations, methods, and properties. It also covers variables, arrays, and different types of operators. Once basics are covered, it moves on to programming logic such as for/while loops and other conditionals. Finally, you get to apply your JavaScript knowledge by embedding it into HTML/CSS documents to create dynamic and functional websites.
Juno College of Technology

Toronto location: 483 & 485 Queen St West, Toronto, ON , M5V 2A9 Canada

Juno’s instructors are all experts in their fields, as well as experienced educators. The school’s Web Development Immersive is the most popular choice of courses, followed by options in JavaScript, Data Analytics, UX Design, Full Stack, React, and Word Press with Shopify. Courses are available in-person in Toronto or live online.
Juno College of Technology’s Top Live Online JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript
  - 65 Hours, 40 hr/wk
  - $2,000
  Those who have web development skills in HTML and CSS learn how to use JavaScript to make their websites interactive. Topics covered in this course include adding elements to a website with functioning inputs and animations and learning about the advantages of adding higher-level projects into their portfolios that incorporate JavaScript.
Sprintzeal Americas Inc

Chicago location: 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois, 60611 US

Sprintzeal Americas Inc. is a professional teaching institution based in New York City, offering technology, project management, and digital marketing courses. With training conducted online and in-person, each program is customized to fit the specific needs of every student. Additionally, Sprintzeal Americas Inc. offers a variety of boot camps and certifications, allowing students to quickly gain the knowledge and tools needed for successful careers in today's world.
Sprintzeal Americas Inc’s Top Chicago JavaScript Courses
- JavaScript
  - 32 Hours
  - $8,975
  This course offers comprehensive training in JavaScript, a powerful and essential programming language for web development, targeted at individuals without coding experience. The course focuses on practical hands-on experience and covers vital topics such as variables, arrays, functions, and control structures, among other JavaScript fundamentals. The coursework aims to equip participants with the skills to understand and manipulate browser behaviors, ultimately enhancing website interactivity and user experience.

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Learn More About Chicago JavaScript Courses

What is JavaScript?

Jawi Script is the lettering system used for writing the Malay language, which is one of the official languages of Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore. For those shaky on their Austronesian geography, those are mostly predominantly Islamic nations situated between Southeast Asia and Australia. When Islam spread southward and eastward from its birthplace in today’s Saudi Arabia, it brought with it, not only the religion’s holy texts, but also the Arabic language and the script in which they were written. The Classical Malay language both adopted and adapted Arabic script early in the fourteenth century CE by adding six letters to the 31 of the Arabic alphabet to account for sounds not present in Arabic. By the same token, nine of the original 31 letters are used very rarely in Malay, generally to spell Arabic loanwords. They no doubt carry high point values when playing Sahibba, the Malay version of Scrabble.

Jawi Script has been to a great degree supplanted by Latin script today in Malaysia and Indonesia, although it remains in use, and, for example, digraphic street signs are not uncommon. In more strictly Muslim Brunei, an edict from the Sultan requires the use of Jawi Script on all signage. Moreover, the Jawi letters must be twice as big as the Latin letters or Mandarin characters that might appear below them.

Jawi Script should under no circumstances be confused with Javanese Script, the writing system native to the Javanese language that looks nothing like Arabic, reads from left to right, and has been supplanted by Latin Script in the parts of Indonesia where Javanese is the lingua franca. And neither Jawi nor Javanese Script should be confused with JavaScript, the programming language invented in the mid-1990s in Mountain View, California.

Those were days when cave dwellers still had to club dinosaurs in order to get their supper, and the waters of Lake Michigan had yet to recede to reveal such natural features as Navy Pier and Lake Point Tower. When they weren’t busy hunting dinosaurs to extinction, some clever cavemen came upon the novel idea of connecting their primitive computers to each other, giving birth to the internet as we know it in 1993. That created an immediate and pressing need for programs that would allow laypeople to access the World Wide Web, in other words, web browsers. The first of these was called Mosaic, and was the work of computer scientist Marc Andreessen. Andreessen then went on to found a company called Netscape and offered the public the first browser designed with the lay user in mind, Netscape Navigator. It was an instant and enormous success.

Netscape wasn’t the only company that wanted its piece of this new technological pie. Brontosaurus-sized Microsoft wanted to get in on the action as well, and released its own browser, Internet Explorer. The result is known as the First Browser War, in which Microsoft and Netscape fought to the death over browser primacy.

Web pages in those days were static affairs that stared back at you from the screen and didn’t do much of anything. Moreover, you had to go back to the server (i.e., reload the entire page) every time you clicked on a link, which made matters slow and inefficient. Netscape perceived that adding something to Navigator that would allow for dynamic websites would significantly improve the online experience, and that that something should be a scripting language. That’s a language whose commands can be executed in runtime, and don’t need the compiling step required by other programming languages. Scripting languages are, as a general rule, simpler and easier to learn than programming languages, and the one that was created to go with Netscape Navigator was, after being called Mocha and LiveScript, finally released as JavaScript.

JavaScript was the intellectual child of Brendan Eich, who cooked up the language in a mere ten days, albeit using spare parts from other languages such as Java and C. Although Java’s syntax is one of the ingredients mixed into JavaScript, the two languages are very, very different. While they’re not as far apart as Malay and Montenegrin, they’re considerably further apart than Standardized and Brunei Malay. In 1995, however, Java was quite the thing in programming circles, and, as a means of promoting JavaScript, the folks at Netscape decided to borrow the Java name for their new scripting language. It causes no small amount of confusion to this day, although neither Mocha (clearly a chocolate-coated nod to Java) nor LiveScript were especially good names anyway.

In addition to coming up with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as a means of competing with Netscape, Microsoft reverse-engineered JavaScript, and, in a burst of dazzling originality, called their version Jscript. This led to a crisis in which websites had to be designed to perform properly either on Navigator or Explorer. To resolve this clumsy situation, Netscape went to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) in 1997 to request that JavaScript be adopted as the standard scripting language for web browsers. The ECMA saw Netscape’s point, and ECMAScript was established to allow all websites to display the same way, regardless of the browser on which they were viewed.

Who won the Browser War? After the initial predominance by Navigator, it was Microsoft that came out on top with Explorer, partly because it was shipped with every copy of Windows to a world that knew nothing of web browsers and was interested more in getting online than in the minutiae of a technology it largely didn’t understand. As for Netscape, it emerged from its own ashes as the not-for-profit Mozilla, which, in turn, begat a browser it wanted to call Phoenix, but had to change to Firefox because of trademark problems. Firefox remains a functional browser to this day in a market that is more equitably divided than when Microsoft ruled the roost with a ridiculous market share of 99%.

JavaScript, now under the guise of ECMAScript 2023, remains busily at work behind the scenes on your browser. That’s unless you’re one of the very few people who rely on text-only Links to do their web browsing; even the dark web’s browser of choice, Tor, runs JavaScript by default. JavaScript was designed so log-in screens would be possible, and you could add Sichuan green peppercorn oil to your Amazon cart. What Brendan Eich couldn’t have foreseen is that JavaScript would expand into a language that did a whole lot more than make text blink in your web browser.

Thanks to technologies such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and Node.js (the magical environment that allows programmers to use JavaScript outside of a browser), JavaScript can be used to construct entire full-stack applications. In addition to creating entire apps, JavaScript also powers the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). If your washing machine can notify you that its cycle is finished, or if you can figure out the calorie count of the smoothie in your blender, that’s because you’re using JavaScript. Moreover, such ubiquities as Uber, Netflix, and LinkedIn all make extensive use of Node, and, thus, of JavaScript, which has outgrown its name and scripting roots and has transformed into a full-fledged programming language in its own right.

What Can You Do with JavaScript Training?

Given its ubiquity, flexibility, and simplicity, you can do a very great deal with JavaScript once you’ve learned how to use it. Its applications range from the humble sign-in screen to no less an agency than NASA, which built technology to keep astronauts safe on spacewalks using the language.

Intergalactic adventures aside, JavaScript’s chief purpose remains the creation of dynamic and responsive webpages. Along with HTML (hypertext mark-up language) and CSS (cascading style sheets), JavaScript is one of the fundamental building blocks of just about every page on the World Wide Web, with “just about” used in the sense of a whopping 98.3% that rivals Microsoft’s market share after it won the First Browser War. Perhaps this can be viewed as Netscape’s ultimate revenge, although Mozilla, Netscape’s successor, is still a dwarf star worth about a billion dollars compared to the multi-trillion dollar red hypergiant that is Microsoft.

Thanks primarily to Node, JavaScript is no longer shackled to your web browser. A wide variety of libraries, including jQuery and Express.js, exists to provide ready-built clumps of JavaScript code, so as to spare developers having to build applications from scratch. Node was originally a back end technology, but it, too, has since expanded beyond its original purpose, and is used today for front as well as back end development, thus making it possible to construct a full stack application using just JavaScript. That’s not bad for something that began life as a scripting language, and is a testament, not only to Brendan Eich’s abilities in creating the language in ten days, but to the ingenuity of the developers who subsequently saw the potential in JavaScript, and made it into the most popular of programming languages today. Some 63.3% of developers worldwide currently use the language. Compare that number to the 49.3% of developers who use Python, and the comparatively scant 30.5% who use Java.

What Will I Learn in a JavaScript Class?

A thorough introductory JavaScript course will very likely take you from deploying the language to create websites to using it for full stack development. The former will involve using JavaScript together with the web’s other two Lego bricks, HTML and CSS. As for the latter, you can expand upon JavaScript and Node in a number of ways, perhaps the best-known of which is the so-called MERN stack. MERN is an acronym for MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node, the four technologies that allow JavaScript to be used to create entire applications. There are other approaches to that, including the MEAN stack (no, it’s not nasty; it just replaces React with Angular, another technology for client-side development) and the MEVN stack (which replaces React with and yet another client-side development library, Vue.js), but MERN is the one most frequently taught. On top of all that, you’ll pick up some valuable and marketable soft skills along your journey, too.

Scripting in tandem with HTML and CSS

At the very beginning of the web (again, back when humans were eating dinosaurs for supper), HTML came into existence and created a uniform standard for getting text and images to display in a web browser. It was the work of computer scientist Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, KBE, and OM, a signal honor he received in 2007 from Queen Elizabeth II, basically because, if anyone invented the internet, Berners-Lee did. HTML is generally the first computer language people learn, and is generally a prerequisite for JavaScript classes. JavaScript was designed to be used together with HTML to make webpages dynamic, active, and generally engaging. Today, the third ingredient in creating a webpage is CSS, cascading style sheets, which was part of Microsoft’s ordnance during the First Browser War. Essentially, HTML puts a webpage together, CSS styles it, and JavaScript brings it to life. That’s almost certainly going to be the first use of JavaScript you’ll learn. It will give you a chance to be exposed to JavaScript commands and syntax and such things as variables, if-else statements, callbacks, and array and string methods. You’ll also learn about APIs (application programming interfaces), the things that make it possible for applications to communicate with each other, and be introduced to JavaScript’s libraries, beginning with the elementary jQuery.

Node

Although the last letter in the MERN stack acronym is N for Node, Node is actually the sine qua non for the remainder of the stack. It’s a complete programming environment that radically changed the course of JavaScript’s evolution when it first appeared in 2009. Node’s primary function is to allow for the construction of server-side applications using an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use language that had been designed for something else. Among the topics you’ll study will be synchronous and asynchronous JavaScript using Node (JavaScript was initially designed to execute commands in order; asynchronous JavaScript allows for commands to execute in the background without disturbing the page being viewed by the user), and the use of the Node Package Manager (npm), which is a repository of packages of code that can be used to develop just about anything (there are 800,000 packages to choose from) using JavaScript.

Express

As its name suggests, Express, the E of the MERN stack, is a framework that greatly expedites the creation of APIs and web applications. Where Node goes, Express is reasonably sure to follow. Examples of how Express can be used are to be found with IBM, Uber, and Fox Sports Australia. Express calls itself unopinionated and minimalist, which means that there is no single right way to do something with Express. It also means that Express helps create designs that use the fewest hardware and software resources possible, and that it won’t get in Node’s way.

React

Whereas Node and Express are primarily back end technologies that can be used to develop the server side of your full stack masterpiece, the R in MERN is there to help with the client side. It’s a library of components for the creation of user interfaces. In other words, React provides you with a selection of blocks of ready-made code that you have only to plug into your program without needing to reinvent the wheel. You don’t even need to build your whole page using React; you can just stick the React bits into your HTML document. Although open-source, React is one of several software projects curated by Meta. (Angular, the MEAN stack’s replacement for React, was created by Google. The only way to escape Big Tech here is to use Vue to build your interfaces and single-page apps, as it continues to operate under the aegis of its creator, Evan You.)

MongoDB

Nearly every full stack application is going to involve a database, be it a list of customers, inventory items, orders, or whatever else you need to keep organized. There are fundamentally two types of databases: relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL). The former type stores data on templates with predetermined fields that need to be filled in for each person or item. The latter is a great deal more flexible and stores data in folders without fields. NoSQL is currently experiencing a wave of popularity, and Mongo is one such technology. Designed not only to work with JavaScript (it can also accommodate Python, Java, Ruby, C, C++, and a few others), Mongo forms the database component of the MERN stack, and allows you to hook up a database to your full stack creation and take JavaScript to what can perhaps be described as its ultimate lengths.

Disciplined Thinking

That’s already a lot of tangible skills to learn. However, while you’re struggling with JavaScript and the MERN stack, you’ll also be developing new neural pathways that will open you up to a few new soft skills as well. Leading that particular pack is logical thinking. Rather than mathematical symbolic logic, this means the ability to address a problem or task through logical inductive and deductive thought processes. Computers are nothing if not logical, and, while learning to talk to them won’t turn you into Mr. Spock overnight, it will at least teach you how to draw rigorous conclusions from the information you have. That goes hand-in-hand with another soft skill people like to see on your resume: problem-solving. Programming is nothing but an exercise in solving problems: the reason for creating an app is to solve a problem that you’ve been able to perceive. Both of these fit under the rubric of disciplined thinking, which is perhaps the best way to sum up the soft skills you’ll acquire from your work with JavaScript.

How Hard is it to Learn JavaScript?

In the overall scheme of programming languages, JavaScript is usually considered to be among the easier places to begin. The learning curve isn’t threatening to negotiate, and JavaScript is a high-level language, meaning that its syntax bears a certain resemblance to human languages. That doesn’t mean you can type your commands in English, but it does mean that you’re not going to be awash in symbols and totally arcane expressions as would be the case if you were learning a middle-level language like C. (The lowest-level language of all is binary code with its 1s and 0s, and it’s the only language your computer really speaks. All programming languages are a compromise between binary code and human tongues.) You’ll also have to factor in the difference between being able to use the language to build some straightforward projects and being an expert who can supervise a vast team of people building the next Google Maps (which employs JavaScript extensively.)

What are the most challenging parts of learning JavaScript?

By some degree of consensus, the most challenging JavaScript concept is asynchronous programming. Although it can be explained in 17 words—it’s programming that can run in the background while something else is going on for the user—getting from that definition to making it happen on your computer is rather a journey. Traditionally, this kind of programming employed a JavaScript function named callbacks (as in “I’ll call you back when the cake is ready to come out of the oven.”) The problem is that you can very quickly accumulate callbacks-within-callbacks-within-callbacks which can result in what’s sometimes called callback hell, or, because the lines of increasingly indented code look like Cheops on is side, a pyramid of doom. Suffice it to say that, if programmers invented those names, writing your first asynchronous code is going to cause you some grief, even with the development of newer coding techniques that at least spare you having to debug a pyramid of doom.

How Long Does it Take to Learn JavaScript?

YouTube has a video that claims to teach JavaScript in five minutes. Despite that, you should have realized (having read thus far) that you’re not going to learn how to use the language even to do as little as print out “hello, world!” in less time than it takes to soft-boil a ramen egg. On the other hand, learning JavaScript isn’t going to require a lifetime of unabating toil, either. The amount of effort you put into the task is going to affect how long it takes you to gain a functional knowledge of JavaScript that’s equivalent to a conversational knowledge of a human language without knowing how to conjugate irregular verbs or master the dative case. That can be put at something like a few months of working at it every day. Full fluency in JavaScript, equivalent to the ability to express abstract philosophical concepts in a foreign language (irregular verbs, dative case, and all), will take quite a bit longer than that, as one of the things that leads to that kind of fluency is experience using the language. In terms of the crucial question of how long you need to study JavaScript in order to be a viable proposition on the job market, that can take anywhere from three to nine months, depending on how hard you work at it, how quick a study you are, and how good you are at grasping how the language can be applied to solving problems.

Should I Learn JavaScript In Person or Online?

There are three fates, three stars in Orion’s belt, and three teaching modalities available to anyone wishing to learn anything in the age of the internet. The first remains the one that you experienced when you started going to school: a live teacher in the same room as you and the other kids. That’s undoubtedly the most familiar learning scenario you know, and is very likely the one you’ll think of first after you decide that you want to investigate classes in JavaScript. You’re going to discover that there aren’t as many of this type of class as you may have expected, but Chicago is a large enough market to have at least some live in-person JavaScript course offerings.

The current trend is towards online learning. Online classes are divisible into two categories: live and self-paced. The live online class is basically the same thing as a live in-person class, only you’re not in the same room as the teacher, although you do share the same moment in time. There will be other students participating in the class with you, and you’ll still get the teacher’s attention and ask questions. Your instructor will even be able to connect to your screen and help you out (with your permission.) Online classes actually have advantages over live in-person ones, perhaps the most attractive of which is that you don’t have to face the L at rush hour to get to class. You can go (or, even more attractively, stay) home, take your shoes off, and sit in a comfortable chair while you attend class. You’ll also be free from the inevitable distractions of a public classroom, which include everything from headache-inducing fluorescent lighting to people who spend the whole class texting under the table, thinking you can’t see them. That’s not to say that there aren’t distractions at home, but you have more control over the barking dog than you do over the air conditioning in a school classroom you share with a dozen other people.

The third teaching methodology at your disposal is the self-paced online class. Also known as asynchronous learning (in this case, that means that you’re not taking the class at the same point in time as the teacher; it has nothing to do with JavaScript programming itself), it consists of video tutorials you view when you can. The convenience is unparalleled, and may be the only choice that works for you if you’re a busy person trying to hold down a job and take care of a family while learning JavaScript. Some asynchronous classes do include some direct contact with advisors, mentors, or instructors, which will give you a chance to ask questions when something fails to make sense to you, but that’s not the rule. Self-paced learning has further drawbacks, the most critical of which is that pre-recorded video tutorials don’t evolve with the technological Zeitgeist, whereas live classes can always take in the latest developments in JavaScript programming.

Can I learn JavaScript Free Online?

In addition to the JavaScript in Five Minutes video on YouTube mentioned above, there is an abundance of free resources online for learning just about anything from people who think they’re experts and in a position to teach other humans their skills. While there are genuine experts making YouTube content, there are also people who know nothing about teaching and produce content more for garnering clicks than educating the masses. Established schools like Noble Desktop and General Assembly offer samples of their live classes on YouTube, and these can make helpful introductions to the subject matter and give you an idea as to whether you want to pursue JavaScript, but even the best two-hour video can’t teach you three months’ worth of JavaScript in an afternoon. Learning a professional skill simply can’t be done with the free resources available on the internet, however attractive the option might seem at first.

What Should I Learn Alongside JavaScript?

Without question, the most crucial complementary skill for programming in JavaScript is mastery of HTML and CSS. Moreover, you definitely should learn HTML and CSS first. In fact, most introductory JavaScript classes make knowledge of both languages a mandatory prerequisite, and, the better you are at them, the better the web pages you design will be.

A more advanced complementary skill for JavaScript developers is knowing how to use version control management systems like Git or Gitlab. These are used on a daily basis by programmers in the workforce, and are an essential tool for team collaboration. Using Git isn’t rocket science, so you can probably pick it up in short measure, and it’ll look good on your resume.

You might also learn something about UI (user interface) design. Learning to build webpages with JavaScript means that you’ll be able to code them, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that your work will be aesthetically appealing. Knowing something about the visual design side of creating a user interface will set you off from the pack of JavaScript developers who often just follow the instructions from creatives. A little development of the imaginative side of your brain will also help to counterbalance all that left-brain stimulation you’ll be getting from your JavaScript course.

Industries that Use JavaScript

Chicago began its commercial life as a fur-trading outpost. The 18th century saw a steady European demand for beaver pelts that could be felted and turned into hats, and America provided an enormous supply of fur compared to the depleted supply in the Old World, where beavers became extinct in Great Britain in the 16th century. The American fur trade eventually ran into similar problems, but, in its heyday, it was a thriving industry and a driving force in westward expansion. Although high-end hats such as Stetsons are still made of beaver, Stetson still uses antique equipment to process pelts to felt, so they don’t need much JavaScript to produce some of America’s finest hats. On the other hand, Stetson has a fairly elaborate website, so even they use JavaScript after all.

Fast-forward from 1833, when Chicago’s fur trade became effectively extinct, and what had been a trading post on Lake Michigan has become the third most important city in the United States. Chicago is home to well over thirty Fortune 500 companies, including such wide-ranging concerns as Walgreens, McDonald’s, and John Deere. It’s the country’s leading center for food manufacturing, home to the third-largest stock exchange in the country, the biggest commodities exchange in the world, and a wealth of banking and insurance companies. What’s perhaps less well-known is that Chicago has progressed from beaver pelts to high tech, and today the city is an important destination for startups in search of funding. Finally, Chicago is home to a substantial charitable and not-for-profit sector.

Food Manufacturing and Innovation

Chicago gave the world an alternative to thin-crust pizza, hot dogs with mustard, relish, onions, tomato, peppers, and celery salt, and came up with the idea of combining cheese and caramel popcorn. Perhaps it can be less gastronomically proud of having introduced the company that would introduce the Chicken McNugget to the world. (In all fairness, McNuggets weren’t on the menu at McDonald’s Store #1, which only offered hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and beverages, including milkshake machines that worked.) Today, Chicago is the country’s food processing and innovation capital.

Due to its location in the heart of America’s breadbasket and its links to the rest of the country by a highly developed transportation network, Chicago has been in the food processing business since the 19th century. What once meant meatpacking now means high-tech food innovation and the venture capital to go with it. Among the new spheres of research and development to be found in contemporary Chicago are alternative protein sources, performance-maximizing foods, specialty pet food, grocery and meal delivery platforms, and restaurant tech, including robotics and AI ordering systems at McDonald’s that will perhaps spare a human having to inform you that that the ice cream machine is out of commission.

How does JavaScript fit into turning fungi into vegan veggie burgers or developing sustainable packaging for new foodstuffs? All this novelty requires computers: innovation today can’t take place without software development, and that’s more likely than not to involve JavaScript. Web design is vital for food producers as more and more ordering goes online, while the full stack development potential of JavaScript can be used to create software that can bring non-GMO, vegan, organic, green Thai curry in a renewable box to Americans’ doorsteps.

Finance

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is the largest organization of its kind in the world. First launched in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, it started out life as an agricultural commodities exchange. It became CME Group in 2007, when it merged with the Chicago Board of Trade, an even more venerable financial institution that introduced futures training to the world. (A futures contract is a promise to purchase a commodity—traditionally agricultural products such as pork bellies or frozen concentrated orange juice—at a future date, with the intention to sell the contract before having to take delivery of 15,000 pounds of orange juice solids. Your assumption is that the contract will be worth more than you paid for it when you sell it. If that sounds like gambling, that’s because it is, although there’s more to it than just the random spin of a roulette wheel.) CME Group is also the holding company for Commodity Exchange, Inc., and the New York Mercantile Exchange, making it the world leader in derivatives trading of all kinds.

Futures trading has changed radically in the 21st century. They don’t even trade pork bellies anymore, having replaced them with lean hogs, which are live pigs rather than the bacon-yielding bellies of slaughtered ones. What would astonish a member of the Chicago Board of Trade of a hundred years ago is that agricultural contracts now take a back seat to far more elaborate instruments (even frozen concentrated orange juice is now traded on the InterContinental Exchange, based in Atlanta.) While soybeans, nonfat dry milk, and those lean hog futures are still traded on the CME, the exchange also handles futures for equity indexes, energy, metals (not only precious ones), interest rates, cryptocurrency (just Bitcoin and Ether for the time being), and, believe it or not, even the weather.

From this, you can infer that CME is at the forefront of the intersection of finance and technology, i.e., what’s known as FinTech. And CME is only the tip of the Chicago finance iceberg, home as the city is to the Chicago Stock Exchange, major banks such as Northern Trust and BMO Bank, and insurance companies including Allstate. JavaScript is a central element in FinTech development, both because of its near-universality in web development (which makes it ideal for creating websites and apps) and because of its ability to create cross-platform applications without having to start mobile and desktop versions of the same thing both from scratch. Among the JavaScript-powered FinTech apps in wide use are PayPal, the commission-free stock trading platform Robinhood, and the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase.

Innovation and Technology

FinTech isn’t the only aspect of technological innovation that can be seen thriving in the Windy City. Despite its roots in old-school finance, Chicago today is also a thriving tech hub, with plenty of incubators and accelerators to draw startups to Chi-town and away from places like Silicon Valley. The city is committed to its economic development and revitalization, and offers a variety of incentive programs to businesses of all sizes and types. Chicago provides the highest return on venture capital in the country, and, in 2023, the city’s businesses raised nearly $6 billion in venture funding. As a further attraction, office rental space in Chicago is far less expensive than it is in New York or San Francisco.

All of which goes to say that tech is thriving in Chicago, where you can work for a tech giant such as Google, Amazon, or IBM, find employment with startups in all phases of their development, or take a job with one of many independent software companies. JavaScript is obviously an essential ingredient in this rapidly expanding sector. Of course, the more programming languages you know, the better, but a great deal of software is being developed using only JavaScript. If your goal is to work in software development, Chicago offers plenty of opportunity as well as substantial room for growth.

Nonprofits

Once you get past the pizza and the celery-seed studded hot dogs at Wrigley Field, Chicago is a city that is not immune to social inequities, and is home to a number of underserved populations. The good news is that it’s also a highly charitable city, ranked 12th in the country, with a total of $6.1 million in charitable contributions coming from 36.5% of its citizens, based on their 2020 tax returns. The city government helps to support this extensive network of not-for-profit organizations, which, in turn, have done a great deal to help the city’s underserved populations. Notable Chicago nonprofits include Urban Initiatives (which seeks to empower youth through sports and play), the Center on Halsted (the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ center), and Chicago Cares (which organizes volunteers to meet the city’s greatest needs.)

All these organizations depend heavily on websites to raise funds and spread the word about their activities, and that’s where JavaScript is most likely to come into play in Chicago’s nonprofit sector. Web development probably factors less into the picture, although there certainly is always a need for good apps that can serve the not-for-profit sector and, thus, the community at large. Among the apps serving not-for-profit organizations built with JavaScript are Givesource, Crisis Text Line, and Track it Forward.

JavaScript Job Titles and Salaries

A solid grounding in JavaScript prepares you, primarily and most obviously, for a career as a JavaScript Developer. The job comes in various guises, and the titles and specific responsibilities vary from job to job. Given the versatility of the language, JavaScript Developers can find themselves working on the front or back ends of apps, as well as in JavaScript’s natural habitat, web development.

Web Developer

This is the category under which the Bureau of Labor Statistics classes most of the functions associated with JavaScript Developers. Those include developing and implementing websites, evaluating code, and optimizing website performance. For the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin statistical area, salaries for Web Developers tend to run in the $80,000 to $90,000 range, which stacks up well against the national median wage of roughly $78,000 for the sector.

Web and Digital Interface Designer

The BLS bundles a number of JavaScript positions under this rubric, the difference from Web Developers being that Web and Digital Interface Designers concentrate on design rather than technical execution. UI Designers fall into this category, as UI is most certainly a JavaScript-adjacent skill. Salaries for Web and Digital Interface Designers in Chicago center in the $70,000 to $75,000 range, which falls quite a bit short of the national median salary of approximately $83,000, let alone the national mean, which runs just north of $100,000.

JavaScript Developer

Other job and salary sites break down job titles further than the BLS does. Indeed, for example, has a category reserved just for JavaScript Developers. In Chicago, salaries for people working under that umbrella average out in the $90,000 to $95,000 range, which is in step with the national average. Generally, the responsibilities that are assigned to those working in this category are web, rather than full stack, JavaScript. The language is more useful than that, of course, so, when you’re looking for available positions, don’t forget to search for roles that involve back end development using Node.

Front End Developer

Another job title that involves no small amount of JavaScript responsibilities is Front End Developer, that is, people who develop the halves of websites with which the user interacts. UX (user experience) and UI are adjacent fields that use JavaScript extensively, although other languages are regularly used by front end developers. According to Indeed, average Chicago salaries for Front End Developers generally fall out in the $105,000 to $110,000 range, although outliers at either end are plentiful.

JavaScript Classes Near Me

Although the move in the IT training industry is away from live in-person classes and toward online education, Chicago, as the third-largest market in the country, does offer a few on-the-ground classes to consider when you’re looking for a JavaScript course. An example is ONLC Training Center’s JavaScript and jQuery Programming: Level 1. The class gives you the first layer of the JavaScript onion in some three sessions, along with coverage of jQuery, the rudimentary JavaScript library that allows programmers to write less and do more. Students should have at least an intermediate knowledge of HTML and CSS before they proceed on to JavaScript. ONLC’s facilities are located in Schaumburg, although the course may also be taken in an online virtual classroom for those who’d rather avoid the Chicago Skyway.

Among the online options at your disposal is a number of certificate programs and classes from New York City-based Noble Desktop. These begin with a JavaScript Development Certificate program, which goes into the subject matter in considerable depth. Lasting several months if taken full time, this certificate program produces full stack JavaScript developers who are adept at handling the MERN technologies. You’ll be expected to have knowledge of HTML and CSS before beginning this course. In addition to the time you’ll spend with your instructor in class, Noble Desktop includes eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions. You can use these for anything from asking questions about material studied in class to preparing yourself for the job market. You’ll also receive a free retake option (good for one year) as well as access to recordings of classroom sessions, just in case you don’t catch something the first time through. Included as a bonus elective is Noble’s SQL Bootcamp, which will nicely round out your database knowledge after studying (the NoSQL) Mongo as part of the regular curriculum.

Noble Desktop has a briefer JavaScript offering that may be of interest to you if the certificate program seems a little more than you want on your plate at present. This would be the JavaScript Programming Bootcamp. It teaches JavaScript programming in the space of about a month (full-time) without proceeding to the MERN stack the way the certificate program does. The bootcamp would be a good choice if you are only going to need JavaScript so you can work on websites. A single mentoring session is included with your tuition, as are the retake option and classroom recordings described above.

A longer-term Full Stack JavaScript Bootcamp is available from Grand Circus, a Detroit-based school that teaches online bootcamps in a variety of technologies. Their JavaScript entry goes beyond simple web development to include Node, Express, and Mongo. Students also develop a portfolio as part of their classroom work. Grand Circus places a career services department at students’ disposal for advice on resumes, profiles, 1-on-1 coaching, and mock behavioral interviews. The school offers a free three-hour Introduction to Coding Class, which is recommended for anyone interested in the JavaScript bootcamp.

Longer than most JavaScript short courses is the JavaScript Short Course from General Assembly. It runs for about three months (part-time) and provides in-depth study of basic JavaScript with jQuery. Once again, HTML and CSS are required to enroll. The course begins with self-paced online pre-work that must be completed prior to the first day of class. It covers the fundamentals of JavaScript programming and ensures that all students are adequately and similarly prepared to hit the ground running the first time the class meets. Individualized attention from instructors is available, and graduates gain access to General Assembly’s alumni community, which includes access to networking events and workshops.

JavaScript Corporate Training

Have you lain awake at night and wished that your existing team were more conversant in JavaScript? You don’t need to have lost sleep over it, but there are a lot of things that can be done by a staff that’s capable of programming in JavaScript. You can save a lot of money by taking care of straightforward web development and maintenance operations in-house, and have more control over the results. The language isn’t overly complicated to learn, and the odds are that, with the right type of instruction, your team members will pick up a highly useful skill in very little time.

Noble Desktop can offer you and your organization corporate JavaScript training that will have your team coding in the language in less time than you may imagine. Noble has three different ways of teaching your team: an online class that uses Zoom (or whichever teleconferencing platform you choose) and is custom-tailored to your team’s needs wherever they may be working. Or, if your team is centralized in one location, Noble can dispatch one of its expert instructors to your premises. You can also arrange vouchers for your employees to attend one or more of Noble’s regularly scheduled public classes; discounts are to be had for multiple voucher purchases. Please don’t hesitate to contact Noble’s corporate sales department for additional particulars.

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