How do Beginners Learn JavaScript?

A beginner’s first step to learning JavaScript, whether they are an experienced programmer or a complete novice, is to learn JavaScript’s foundational concepts, terms, syntax, and programming techniques. For coding novices, this study may be more challenging, as they must also learn foundational programming concepts like variables, commands, syntax, logic, functions, loops, and algorithms. Fortunately, many introductory JavaScript classes explain these concepts alongside their specific implementations in JavaScript. These first lessons introduce JavaScript’s unique elements and behaviors, usually by showing the results of sample code fragments. Working from this basis, an introductory student next learns how JavaScript’s separate elements combine to create functional behaviors: interactions with a host environment (and through that host, with users), data storage and retrieval, and algorithms that define the relationships between events. As students learn each of these concepts, they will practice them by creating short sections of code, likely using JavaScript development tools like code editors and test consoles.

After practicing each technique separately, students next combine these structures into longer and more interesting programs that produce meaningful effects. For example, a simple script might generate and display a website, drawing that page’s contents from a predefined database or user inputs. However, simple scripts have limited usefulness. To create longer and more interesting scripts, including full websites or applications, students next learn how to use libraries, collections of pre-written code that can be attached to scripts and referenced as shortcuts. Introductory classes usually introduce one or two common libraries, but students will learn how to add and reference libraries so that they can use more such tools later. 

Beyond this general material, the specifics of a student’s early JavaScript study often depend on their intended uses for the language. Classes teaching JavaScript for web development describe more about how the language interacts with web browsers, including its interfaces with HTML and CSS. Classes teaching how to create mobile applications include more detail about handling touchscreen inputs and using libraries to manage device-specific displays. Despite these task-specific lessons, most of what beginning students learn will be applicable on any device, thanks to JavaScript’s platform-independent nature.

Getting Started with JavaScript

General programming experience is not strictly required to learn JavaScript, but it is helpful. Familiarity with fundamental programming concepts like variables and algorithms simplifies the challenge of learning these concepts within JavaScript. Even reviewing a tutorial book chapter or video lesson on general computer science and programming can provide a helpful boost that will improve a student’s understanding when they study JavaScript. Fortunately, JavaScript is one of the easiest programming languages for novices to learn. With good instruction or a well-written class, any student should grasp its principles regardless of their background.

Still, to be fully prepared, JavaScript students should already understand the underlying structure of web browsers and websites. The most frequent uses of JavaScript are in web design and web development, and most introductory classes on JavaScript focus on its use in websites. Additional web development knowledge like web server and database management is helpful, but not necessary. Basic preparations to study JavaScript include a working understanding of HTML, the coding language that specifies the contents of websites, and CSS, which directs how those contents are displayed. Even if a student will be studying on their own, they will need this prerequisite knowledge.

Whether a student’s goals include web development or not, being able to create and edit websites gives them more tools and options when learning JavaScript. JavaScript’s platform-independent nature means that learners don’t need any special software to start using it. Programmers can write JavaScript directly into the HTML code of websites, using any text editing program, then open the page in a web browser to see if the code works as intended. If students would rather write and test their scripts in a more controlled, helpful environment, they can use an Independent Development Environment (IDE). IDEs are programs that combine a text editor with useful tools like template guides (to quickly build common script types), debuggers, a testing terminal (to see if a script behaves as intended), interfaces with Git (a collaborative programming platform), and automated support for faster user interface and database development. Students don’t need these tools to start learning JavaScript, but they can be valuable as studies progress. Plus, becoming familiar with IDEs early on will help later as a coder’s JavaScript projects grow more complex. IDEs exist both as online applications and downloadable software. Some IDEs are free to use, like Dreamweaver, Atom, or Sublime Text. Some other IDEs are open-source and inexpensive, like Visual Studio Code or Brackets. Paid JavaScript classes usually include access to the development environment the instructor prefers to use. Specialized or advanced classes may include or recommend an IDE with features that help with certain uses of JavaScript, such as video game development.

The First Steps When Learning JavaScript

The first part of a beginning JavaScript class introduces the language’s fundamental concepts: how it works, what it does, and how it fits into the larger field of computing. Next, JavaScript lessons explain each of the language’s ‘words’: the functional pieces that either monitor for user actions or cause other operations. Operations can include defining variables, retrieving values, displaying text or images, performing calculations, selecting between different operations, or triggering multiple operations. Instructors typically introduce each concept and its functional implementation(s) using code samples, then ask students to complete exercises that create similar effects. 

Prepared with these building blocks, students then learn how to use them to perform specific actions like accepting user inputs, updating data structures, and triggering actions in response to events. Triggered actions can include generating text, images, and animations or opening files like websites. Other actions initiate sequences of actions or build logical structures that guide the relationship between events and actions. Together, simple operations build into algorithms that generate longer, more complex behaviors. Programmers then assemble algorithms into complete scripts that perform calculations, display complex graphics, store and retrieve data, or build and display websites. Some scripts are complete tools like a calculator, a clock, a digital sketchpad, or a calendar. Initially, though, students’ scripts will be simple, far from the complete websites, applications, or video games produced by professional coders.

Students’ coding practice is typically performed within a host environment like a console. JavaScript is a scripting language, meaning that it needs a host program to interact with specific devices. Most actions in JavaScript, then, interact with a host environment. As they progress, JavaScript instructors also familiarize students with one or more implementations of JavaScript, such as JavaScript for web development (as run on a web browser or server), mobile applications, or smart devices. For example, scripts for websites often read, display, or alter HTML.

Students then progress from this simple or ‘vanilla’ coding style to more complex and efficient methods that use pre-written sections of code like objects, components, and custom functions. These tools can be written manually, but are more often added to scripts using code collections called libraries. Beginning classes typically include only a few common libraries, usually selected to assist students with particular tasks like web design or animation. Libraries also provide tools for implementing JavaScript in different environments like mobile devices. However, by the time a student can understand these tools and needs to use them, they will no longer be a JavaScript ‘beginner’.

Free JavaScript Tools for Beginners

Due to JavaScript’s popularity, beginners can find many free online resources, starting with several websites specifically created to teach JavaScript. Learn-js.org is an ongoing project hosting free, interactive JavaScript tutorials, beginning with the basics and including several advanced lessons. The free online book JavaScript for Impatient Programmers, by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer, is designed to teach JavaScript to beginners. The Modern JavaScript Tutorial is a full hypertext book explaining JavaScript from its basic concepts to advanced topics. Learn JavaScript offers its first 77 written lessons, associated flashcards, and seven online projects for free, with additional lessons available for a one-time payment. 

In addition to these dedicated resources, some coding sites, technical schools, and businesses host free written and video lessons on JavaScript. These sources include freeCodeCamp, Codecademy, the Odin Project, and Microsoft’s Learn site. Free video tutorials are also available on YouTube or the websites of online schools like Noble Desktop, Coursera, and Udemy. These teaching resources can provide an introduction to JavaScript and are especially useful to begin studying the language and trying simple coding projects. However, few free lessons provide any kind of feedback. Students must research on their own to find answers, must compare different sources to find alternate explanations, and rarely find help spotting errors in their malfunctioning code. Free resources also cannot confirm students' progress to advise when they are ready for more advanced topics. Learning JavaScript effectively through free resources requires additional dedication and motivation compared to paid, formally organized instruction.

As beginning students explore JavaScript, tools like editors, independent development environments (IDEs), and code sandboxes can be helpful. These tools provide a structured environment for writing code, a space to test different programming ideas, guides and hints to illustrate possible solutions, and wizards to assist with complex tasks. Using a professional-quality editor also familiarizes beginners with these programs, which is useful experience when progressing to more advanced work. Popular free programs include independent development environments (IDEs) like Visual Studio Code (aka VS Code) and Apache NetBeans and code sandboxes like JS Fiddle and JS Bin. Note that these tools only supplement the learning process and will be meaningless without study, but they can help active students visualize and manage their code.

Live JavaScript Training for Beginners

While free resources are helpful as a starting point for novices and can suffice as an introduction to JavaScript when necessary, live instruction advances students faster, with less frustration and greater confidence in their abilities. Students gain many advantages from live courses, whether attended in-person or online. For example, free resources vary widely in the quality of their instruction and information, and even the best-written pre-recorded lessons cannot provide feedback to restate topics or answer questions. A live JavaScript instructor is usually an expert programmer and a practiced teacher, and the classroom setting lets students ask for alternate explanations, answers, and advice. A live instructor helps beginning students understand the connections between early lessons and more advanced topics. Coding practice, in particular, is easier in a live setting, as the instructor can provide timely guidance and correct errors, avoiding delays and frustrations. Students can also assist one another, and working together on programming projects better prepares students to collaborate in professional development settings. On average, live courses include the most practice problems and projects, ensuring that students correctly understand each concept and demonstrate their knowledge. Many live courses also include written materials and interactive exercises as supplements to class sessions. Plus, formal JavaScript courses typically include access to necessary software resources, in the form of online applications, downloadable software, or for in-person classes, preinstalled software on classroom computers. This assistance reduces uncertainty for beginning students.

Live courses require students to attend classes and complete work on a schedule, which some consider a drawback compared to self-guided study using free resources or on-demand courses using purchased pre-recorded lessons. However, for some students, a fixed schedule can be beneficial, providing motivation and focus to improve and speed their learning. To reduce their impact on students’ lives, some live courses offer alternate scheduling options like evening or part-time classes. Also, many introductory JavaScript courses are short programs, requiring only a few days of study for students to build a firm foundation and decide what further study they will pursue.

The Next Step

After either taking an introductory JavaScript class or completing several free tutorials, a student is no longer a ‘beginner’ but still an amateur. To progress further requires additional study through topics often described as ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’. These topics include complex programming techniques like object-oriented programming, promises, and functional programming; challenging tasks like building user interfaces and security features; and additional tools like libraries and frameworks, which expand programmers’ options and improve their efficiency. Intermediate and advanced courses also address more specific uses of JavaScript, such as creating web servers, writing mobile applications, analyzing data, or building machine learning systems. Each new subject introduces multiple techniques, tasks, and tools. Advanced courses also address more professional coding methods, including collaborative work with other programmers, automation using development environments and other assistive tools, and streamlining JavaScript for faster loading and processing. 

Throughout these courses, students work on increasingly complex and realistic projects, building toward the coding problems and tasks encountered by professional JavaScript users. Most active programmers confirm that their classwork was only a starting point. The best way to improve and maintain their coding skills, during classes and afterward, was with coding challenges and practical work. Still, after completing an advanced class, or after a complete professional training course, a graduate should be able to confidently tackle professional-level coding projects. Depending on the focus of a student’s advanced studies, they might find entry-level work in web design, JavaScript software development (including online and mobile games), or front end web development. Alternatively, they could start building and selling products like websites, applications, or JavaScript for devices. Alternately, they could progress to subjects like back end or full stack web development or machine learning, which use JavaScript but require other skills as well.

Free resources are rarer for advanced topics, though they do exist. Most advanced free JavaScript tutorials address single tools like libraries or development environments, specific problems encountered by programmers, or particular types of scripts or projects, such as website animations. Like introductory free resources, advanced materials also suffer from a lack of feedback, although experienced programmers may be better able to resolve problems and research concerns. The most significant problems with continued JavaScript study using free resources are their uncertain quality and their incomplete and disorganized nature. Students usually need a formal JavaScript course, either on-demand or live, to advance beyond basic competence. A formal class ensures that each new topic is placed in its correct context and covered thoroughly without gaps. These courses include focused courses on individual topics (tools, techniques, or project types), general intermediate or advanced courses that cover multiple topics, and professional training programs that take students from beginning through advanced lessons.

Start Learning JavaScript with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers several live online courses in JavaScript, primarily focused on its use for web development but including features used in all JavaScript applications. The shortest of these courses, JavaScript for Front-End, addresses JavaScript’s uses for front end web development. This course recommends that students have some prior familiarity with web design or front end web development, or at a minimum, experience coding in HTML and CSS. The course begins with lessons on JavaScript’s fundamental concepts, commands, and techniques, progressing through multiple examples teaching students basic (or ‘vanilla’) JavaScript programming. The second half of the course teaches the GreenSock Animation Platform (GSAP), an animation tool built on JavaScript that assists with creating animated content for websites. This course includes a proprietary workbook and awards a certificate upon completion. Students can also retake the course once within a year.

Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Programming Bootcamp, also recommended for students with prior web design or front end web development experience, focuses specifically on JavaScript programming for web development but provides a thorough education in the language. Beginning with lessons on JavaScript’s fundamental elements and programming methods, the course instructor addresses each important topic in depth. The bootcamp’s lessons also include core coding techniques, features unique to newer JavaScript releases, and commonly used JavaScript libraries. This course features several projects that allow students to demonstrate and practice their skills and also create a starting portfolio. The instructor will discuss career planning and interview preparation in class, and the course also offers a 1-on-1 training session for each student. This course includes a proprietary workbook and a certificate of completion, and students may retake the course once, if needed, for up to one year.

The most complete of Noble Desktop’s JavaScript courses is the JavaScript Development Certificate program, an immersive course spanning multiple weeks, designed to train professional JavaScript programmers. This program begins with the same lessons as Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Programming Bootcamp, with the same recommended prerequisites. The course’s second unit addresses the uses of JavaScript in web development, explaining additional JavaScript tools like the Node.js and Express.js libraries and integration of JavaScript with MongoDB, a database management system for websites. The third unit, equivalent to Noble Desktop’s React Development Bootcamp, explains the React library, which enables the creation of reusable blocks of code called components, and then demonstrates React’s uses for web development. This certificate program also includes a bonus unit on SQL, a data management language used in web development. The course concludes with several portfolio-quality projects and career guidance for the web development industry. In addition to its live online classes, this course also includes supplemental written materials, access to class recordings, and eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with an instructor. Students receive an official certificate upon completion of the program and may retake the full course once for free within a year.