DEV Community: Damian Wolf

Reasons to Master JavaScript (and How To)

Damian Wolf — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 14:26:08 +0000

JavaScript is one of the finest programming languages. It is the number one programming language when it comes to the number of repositories on GitHub, as it can be used to create almost anything related to frontend or backend.

JavaScript popularity is also seen on other educational platforms, such as LiveEdu, where streamers have created more than 40,000 videos and 2900 projects. That’s a lot!

JavaScript came into existence in 1995 and was designed by Brendan Eich. The programming language is now maintained by a team of experts and has been standardized as a specification, which gets updated from time to time.

Why Are Developers Passionate About JavaScript?

JavaScript is a heavily paid programming language. If you are good at JavaScript, you can get around $110,000 yearly in the US. That’s a lot! Also, JavaScript is a fun programming language to learn. You can use it to develop both frontend and backend applications. It is also readily used in game development, design and other unknown fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.

The ability to use your programming language skill into different domains can help you feed your curiosity and easily change domains whenever required.

When Popularity Meets Demand

As we have already mentioned, JavaScript is highly paid language. There is also a huge demand of good JavaScript developer in the market. Most of the demand is in the web development market, but you can also get a good response from other domains due to its versatile usage.

Reasons To Master JavaScript

With a clear understanding of the popularity and demand of JavaScript, let’s dive deep into core reasons a programmer should master JavaScript. By mastering JavaScript, you are opening yourself to opportunities that you might have missed earlier. Clearly, the reason to master a programming language can differ from person to person, and that’s why we will try to find objective reasons to master JavaScript and stay away from the subjective viewpoint as much as possible.

WordPress, the World’s Leading CMS is Moving towards JavaScript: Have you heard about “WordPress moving towards JavaScript? Yes, the most popular CMS on the internet is going to embrace the power of JavaScript slowly.

Matt Mullenweg asked everyone to learn JavaScript deeply. He is the creator of WordPress and understands the importance of JavaScript right now. However, WordPress will not completely transit to using JavaScript, but will heavily use it in the frontend. You can read, “Clearing the air: Is WordPress being rewritten in Node.js and React?” to understand the role of JavaScript in WordPress.

JavaScript is the backbone of the Web: JavaScript is the backbone of the web. It’s true that you can create a website without using JavaScript, but that will be a dull experience for the end user -- no animation, no form helpers and so on. To make a website or web app completely functional and user friendly, you must use JavaScript.

You can check, “21 top examples of JavaScript” to know what you can do with JavaScript. There is no limitation whatsoever. Your creativity is your tool to make the most out of JavaScript.

JavaScript has one of the Best Ecosystems: A programming language popularity depends both on its feature set and its ecosystem. JavaScript is lucky when it comes to the ecosystem. Thousands of JavaScript developers constantly work towards the tools, frameworks and open source projects to make JavaScript what it is now.

JavaScript ecosystem enables a developer to make the most out of his skills. You can create an application using front-end development tools, CLI tools, GUI tools, back-end tools and much more. The diverse ecosystem is what makes JavaScript a great programming language to pick up.

You can read, “Overview of the JavaScript ecosystem” to know more about its ecosystem.

JavaScript is easy to learn and master: JavaScript can be a great programming language for beginners. If you love learning and like web development, you are good to go. There are tons of online resources which you can use to learn JavaScript. You can also see other developers work on JavaScript projects. LiveEdu.tv, a live-learning platform enables anyone to watch other experienced professionals working on a real-world project. Premium JavaScript projects that are aimed at intermediate audience are also featured on LiveEdu. So, it is worth checking it out.

You can also check out, GitHub repository that lists good JavaScript learning resources.

How to master JavaScript

Now, let’s look at some ways to master JavaScript. If you think that we will go into the nitty-gritty of JavaScript and share some code snippets with an explanation, you are wrong! We will try to tackle the question in a more generalized manner so that everyone is benefited.

Learn Passionately: How eager and passionate you are about learning JavaScript? If you scale it 7-9 out of 10, you are in a good position already. Clearly, many developers are not passionate about their learning, and this is where most of the problems happen.

You need to be passionate about what you are learning. JavaScript might be one of the easiest languages to get started with, but it is hard to master. Without dedication, passion and the urge to learn, it is hard to go far with JavaScript.

Stream your learning process to get instant feedback: Learning anything requires constant feedback. If you are not getting feedback or getting slow feedback, your learning speed is affected considerably. You can get feedback from a senior JavaScript developer or just stream your learning process on LiveEdu.tv. LiveEdu.tv is a live-learning platform where you can stream your projects and get access to an amazing community. Check it out yourself.

Check out codeHatcher from San Francisco, US who has heavily invested in his healthcare app for doctors. The app uses JavaScript heavily.

Build projects and document your experience: You might have heard it that building projects can give you better learning experience. The same is true in the case of JavaScript. To fortify your learning, you should also document your day-to-day activities. “Blog Projects” by LiveEdu.tv is a good way to document your experience and also interact with other learners and developers who can only help you gain the upper hand. They provide “Project Diary” where you can add a new post to write down your experience.

Take advantage of online courses and other resources: The internet is full of resources for JavaScript. If you want to master JavaScript, you need to take advantage of the resources available online. You can get started with the online courses from different MOOC provided, such as Udacity, Coursera, eDx. You can also check other important resources when it comes to JavaScript. For example, GitHub awesome JavaScript resources, 10 priceless JavaScript resources, JavaScript Learn page, etc. You may also want to check out popular JavaScript blogs and follow them for more information.

Conclusion

If you have taken the decision to master JavaScript, congratulations as you will reap the benefit of the move in the coming years. JavaScript is already big and will expand in the coming years. Its ubiquitous presence is already felt in the industry and among the developers who are into web development. It is slowly having an impact on other major fields such as AI, VR, and AR.

So, what do you think about the points discussed in the article? Comment below and let us know.

Note: I'd like to make clear that I don't work for LiveEdu.tv, but know many of these guys and love watching their work.

Staying Motivated and Focused while Coding

Damian Wolf — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:11:27 +0000

One of the most common questions among programmers is how to keep motivated and focused while coding. It is an epidemic in an industry where everyone is trying to build something for themselves or the company they are working for. Losing focus, or watching cat videos, when you should be solving the problem that you have been stuck on for weeks, can be a huge obstacle. But you are not alone. Just like you, there are many coders who struggle to stay focused and motivated on both their personal and professional projects.

In this article, we will discuss some tips and strategies to help you stay focused and motivated while coding. Before we start, we should always remember that it takes 15-20 minutes to get back to the proper level of concentration after a distraction happens. So, if you work in a place prone to distractions, either relocate or make it clear to others that you don’t want to be disturbed.

Let’s get started.

Tips to stay motivated and focused while coding

Join a Guild

Just like many other trades, coding requires group work. If you are a lone wolf and want to get work done all by yourself, chances are you will lose motivation on the project you are working on.

The best way to deal with the loss of motivation and focus is to join a guild, a community that can help you deal with these issues.

Livecoding.tv is a perfect platform to connect with like-minded people. On the platform, you can broadcast your project and get followers. Some of these followers might take an interest in your project and want to chip in with their valuable thoughts.

Focus on what you love

Computer science is an extensive field. With so many sub-fields such as web design, system programming, game programming, etc., programmers can get confused on which sub-trade to focus on. Most of the time, a wrong choice can kick off a downward spiral in your output. For example, if you don’t love system programming but are still focusing on it, the chances are that you will quickly get demotivated and lose focus.

To counter it, you need to find what you love. Try out web development. If you love what you are doing, continue. If you don’t, then try out something else.

Find the best project to work on

Good job! You have found what you love. Now, you need to build stuff. The same rule of thumb applies to other projects as well. You need to find work that really interests you. So, choose a project that will let you push it to the end without losing motivation.

Also, it doesn’t matter if you are building something that might not be a huge financial success. Want to create an app that shows crazy cat videos? Do it! And, follow with it until the end. Add something unique to it and let users have fun with it. Will it reach a million downloads? Who knows? Throw what you have and hope for the best.

Broadcast

You have chosen your field and a project you love. Can nothing go wrong? After all, it is based on what you love to do. However, motivation depends on many other factors. For example, not getting user feedback can halt you in your path. Also, working on personal projects can be a tough task as boredom starts to set in quickly.

The best way to counter this is to reach out to people. Show others what you are working on, and you will soon start getting some good feedback. In return, you can create a following and market your app even before release. You can broadcast on Facebook for casual interaction or go to Livecoding.tv for a better overall broadcasting experience!

Incremental and structured learning

As a coder, there is no end to learning. It doesn’t matter how many years of experience you have, you need to learn every day. The biggest issue here is structured learning. Many coders seem to learn a lot, but in a non-structured manner, yielding them almost nothing in the long-term. When you find yourself investing so much time without actual growth, the chances are good that you will lose focus and motivation.

To counter it, learn incrementally and with structure. Don’t just jump between frameworks and programming languages. A structured learning process will always motivate you to do better with your projects.

Keep a healthy lifestyle

It doesn’t matter how much you love coding, if you don’t have a good lifestyle, you will suffer in terms health and being productive. Keeping a healthy lifestyle can give you a clear edge and help you make progress in both your work and personal life.

Conclusion

So, here are some tips to keep yourself motivated and focused while coding. We hope you liked it. However, while the above tips work they can work differently for different people. How do you keep yourself motivated and focused?

Hi, I'm Damian Wolf

Damian Wolf — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 13:26:08 +0000

I have been coding for 2 years.

You can find me on Twitter as @damianlwolf

I mostly program in these languages: Java, JavaScript.

I am currently learning more about Unity.

Nice to meet you.