How Much is a JavaScript Course?

JavaScript courses have a wide range of costs, from a few hundred dollars for short classes to several thousand or tens of thousands for complete study programs. Prospective students should consider their available budget and educational goals versus the potential benefits of different courses. Professional training courses, for example, could result in a new or improved career, justifying their higher cost, but only if the skills taught are necessary for the career you seek. An advanced course could also provide the tools you need to develop a sellable application. However, if you do not have a specific career or project goal, a career-focused course could be an unnecessary expense.

In general, the longest, most comprehensive courses will have the highest cost, but the most expensive courses may not be the best match to your needs. Short, targeted courses are less costly but could leave out topics you want to learn. Within courses of the same general length and instructional depth, there are also less expensive options, but you must decide if the tradeoffs for such savings are acceptable. 

College Programs: The Most Expensive Option

Colleges and vocational schools rarely offer single, stand-alone classes on JavaScript. A complete degree program like computer science or web development can be prohibitively expensive, costing in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some schools offer shorter programs of only one or two years’ length, but students must still purchase multiple classes to complete these degrees. Some colleges do offer single JavaScript classes, usually as part of their continuing education programs, but still, these classes include more detail and require more time investment than comparable courses elsewhere. Their costs are also correspondingly higher, typically ten thousand dollars or more. Still, accredited schools generally have the highest instructional quality, and if your goal is a thorough understanding of JavaScript and its complete array of added tools, you may consider this education worth its cost. If, instead, you want to begin working with JavaScript right away, a faster, more streamlined course like a professional training program or bootcamp is a more cost-effective choice.

Professional Development Programs: Immersive Career-Focused Classes

Students interested in JavaScript as a career skill should consider certificate programs offered by professional training centers like Noble Desktop. These courses are tailored to prepare students for specific careers using JavaScript, narrowing their curriculum and reducing their required study time and cost. Students need only a few months of direct instruction, rather than a semester or more for a college course, and so certificate programs cost correspondingly less, though still several thousand dollars. To increase their return value, professional programs include career guidance and coaching that help students find a better job using their newfound skills. 

Live Training Classes: Ideal for Beginners and Unsure Students

For students who want to learn JavaScript for personal projects, a comprehensive course might include more material than they need. Those unsure if they want to pursue a career related to JavaScript might regret the effort and expense of a professional training program. Both types of students might prefer a shorter introductory course, which still teaches fundamental JavaScript programming and demonstrates its uses. These courses are typically only a few hundred dollars and last just a few days. Some introductory JavaScript classes are focused on specific uses of the language, such as web design, and spend more time on related features. Note, however, that students who take an introductory course and then decide to pursue further training will spend more, in total, than students who take a single complete training course.

Other students have already mastered the basics of JavaScript and only need training in additional techniques and tools. These experienced programmers should look for shorter, advanced, topical courses, which are also manageably priced at a few hundred dollars each. Experienced students should also consider whether they need a live course. While live instruction can be helpful to quickly acquire complex material, with fewer delays due to confusion or errors, advanced students may be knowledgeable enough to find resources and diagnose mistakes on their own. If so, on-demand classes might be an acceptable and lower-cost option.

On-Demand Classes: Excellent Supplements at Reasonable Prices

On-demand classes, also called self-paced or asynchronous, present their lessons through written texts and pre-recorded videos. Students can study these lessons whenever they are available. Removing the need for live class sessions is not only more convenient for students with limited or irregular schedules but also lowers the cost of these classes. On-demand classes cover a wide range of material, from introductory lessons to advanced topics, and students may find them especially useful when they need only certain material and not a complete course. The actual cost of on-demand lessons can vary widely, however, depending on the school’s pricing model. Some schools allow purchases of individual lessons, while others sell classes as bundles or charge a subscription fee for access. Generally, on-demand courses are a good option for experienced programmers adding to their knowledge or new students seeking an introduction to JavaScript. For those who need full fluency in JavaScript, especially those who are seeking a related career, the lower cost of on-demand lessons may come with significant drawbacks. Live courses, especially professional training programs, provide faster feedback, better motivation, and better career guidance, all of which help to prevent delays and frustrations often encountered in longer on-demand courses.

Free Resources: What Are They Good For?

A complete survey of available JavaScript training materials will also include several free resources, including specialized sites like Learn-js.org and Learn JavaScript. Free tutorials are also available on YouTube and on the websites of professional training schools like Noble Desktop and Codecademy. These free resources can be helpful for novices seeking to understand JavaScript and its uses. Starting programmers can use these lessons to become more familiar with JavaScript and prepare for more in-depth study. Free tutorials can also answer specific coding questions, discuss particular JavaScript tools, or explain complex techniques, making them a useful resource for professional and amateur coders. However, most free resources are limited in some way. YouTube videos provide no guarantees about instructional quality or accuracy. Videos from schools, too, may vary in quality and completeness, even if the instructors are more likely to be knowledgeable. School sites often limit their selection of free tutorials, intending them only as a demonstration of longer, more complete paid courses. Free lessons also provide no feedback, except perhaps the comments of fellow students. Trying to reproduce a complete education in JavaScript is difficult (if not impossible) using only free resources. For reputable, thorough instruction that will ensure your confidence and fluency with JavaScript, you will need paid instruction of some type.

Learn JavaScript with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers several live online JavaScript courses varying in length and cost. The least expensive option is a short introductory course, JavaScript for Front-End, which teaches basic JavaScript programming for front end web development. To keep the class to just a few days’ length, students should have prior experience coding in HTML and CSS for web design or front end web development. The course then introduces JavaScript’s functions for webpage scripting, teaching students the features and techniques needed to use JavaScript at a basic or ‘vanilla’ level, without added tools. This background allows students to learn advanced JavaScript techniques and tools in later courses. The second half of this class teaches one such tool, the GreenSock Animation Platform (GSAP), which uses JavaScript to create animated web elements. This class comes with a supplemental workbook and awards a certificate upon completion. Students also have the option to retake this class once for free, for up to one year.

For students ready to learn JavaScript at a professional level, but who cannot commit to the time requirements or expense of a complete certificate course, Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Programming Bootcamp offers a strong foundation in JavaScript and career guidance centered on JavaScript’s use in web development. Compared to a full course, the JavaScript Programming Bootcamp takes only a few weeks (for full-time students) rather than several months and costs far less. This course does request that participants have some prior experience with web design or front end web development, at least enough to be familiar with coding in HTML and CSS. In this bootcamp, students receive a complete education in JavaScript’s features and programming techniques, plus experience with some popular JavaScript libraries and features added to recent releases. The course also includes career guidance (including one 1-on-1 mentoring session with the instructor), practice with sample interview questions, and several projects that can become a starting portfolio. The bootcamp includes a proprietary workbook and awards a certificate upon completion. Students can also retake this course once for free within a year.

Students who need a complete education in JavaScript to advance their careers should consider Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Development Certificate program. This set of courses, assembled to prepare students for a career in web development, teaches JavaScript programming plus several related tools. The program takes a few months, even for full-time students, and requests that students already have some training in web development or web design. In its first unit, this program teaches fundamental JavaScript programming, in classes identical to those for the JavaScript Programming Bootcamp. Subsequent units teach additional JavaScript tools used in web development, including the Node.js and Express.js libraries, a database management system called MongoDB, another commonly-used data management language called SQL, and the React library for creating JavaScript components, blocks of code that form small reusable applications. One program unit discusses the web development industry, addressing career options, likely interview questions, and further studies students might seek. Students also receive eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with an instructor to address difficult topics or receive further career guidance. Several projects throughout the course build each student’s starting portfolio, and participants receive an official certificate upon completion. In addition to several supplemental workbooks, students can access video recordings after each class. They can also retake the course once for free for up to one year.