It’s hard to become a strong developer without knowledge of the core of the language itself. Just as you need to understand fundamental principles of the law before you can jump into a particular field of law. This comparison is purely accidental.
I understand that the majority of aspiring web developers want to get hired as soon as possible. I wanted this as well.
It seems much easier to do a crash course on JavaScript basics, jump into some fancy framework, make a ToDo list (let a puppy die), upload it to GitHub, then start looking for a job.
…but investing time in Vanilla JavaScript will pay off in the long run
Don’t get me wrong here. I am not biased against JavaScript frameworks in any way. It’s exactly the opposite. Many of them help you to write more readable and maintainable code. They let you write more abstract code that is often easier to debug.
But the JavaScript ecosystem is evolving pretty fast. New frameworks are being created. New functionalities are being added to the existing ones. And most important, many of today’s hottest frameworks will eventually be replaced, such as Angular 1
In such circumstances, do you still think that knowledge of a particular JavaScript framework is sufficient for a web developer?
Or is it better to understand how the language which all these libraries and frameworks are based on works under the hood?
f you posses a solid knowledge of JavaScript fundamentals, the only thing you need to get yourself familiar with when starting to work with a new framework is its syntax. The basic rules will be the same since under all the layers of abstractions. It is still just plain ol’ JavaScript.
If your knowledge is limited only to a single JavaScript framework, you will have a hard time learning a new one. Different frameworks are often based on a different set of JavaScript principles. In the long run you will spend more time trying to understand various frameworks and debugging the code you write in them.
All the JavaScript frameworks and libraries are inevitably based on its Vanilla core.
This should convince anyone that knowledge of a pure JavaScript is a must in the long run. It is a prerequisite for any successful developer, especially for one working mainly in the JavaScript ecosystem.
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