Master Javascript

Pain did pay off. Got no problems writing quite complex Map-handling stuff now. Perhaps it’ll actually do something useful!

I have little desire or need to “master” this anymore. If I need something more complex than I’m already doing I’ll hire out. :)

The past days have been spent in Javascript-space, writing two new Prototype-classes to use in our current project. Have never written object-oriented Javascript on this level, so this is good training – if headache-inducing.

Javascript is turning out to be much more complicated than I thought it was.. I always used to think javascript was just for those silly little scripts that messed with your cursor or let you change the colors on a page.. and maybe some of the more advanced scripters made navigation menus and lists that toggled. It turns out javascript is very powerful and very complicated, and it is a tool that can make sites interactive and very fun to use.

Now I’m getting into using Ajax more and learning the DOM.

Ok, I really wouldn’t call myself a Javascript master; however, I am definitely able to use Javascript masterfully now. This is mostly thanks to one of the best technical books I’ve ever bought called DOM Scripting by Jeremy Keith. It’s one of those great books that you can read as a beginner and everything is totally clear; then well after you’ve mastered the techniques explained, you’ll be peeking at it again and again as a reference. For years I haven’t been willing to buy a Javascript book because there are so many free tutorials online. Well, you get what you pay for, and a lot of people writing tutorials out there really don’t know how to use Javascript properly. This is one of the few technical books I actually read cover to cover. This is one of those really easy Things to mark off—just read the book!

Ugh, and I thought CSS was hard! lol. I’ve mastered HTML.. well pretty much.. Now I am trying to figure out this damn javascript everyone is talking about. not to mention it is on every go*ddamn webpage these days.. and boy does it look brilliant. i have a webpage(site) of my own. (http://freewebs.com/freepinkthings) I want to master javascript so it would look more attractive… i think i’m going to take a course on it in university… i seem to be doing well in computer science so i wanna look into that.

I’ve really avoided diving into Javascript like the plague over the last few years. For the longest time, there was just so much bad javascript code being written that it kind of left a negative impression on me (much like poor use of Flash made me despise Flash-heavy sites).

But now I’m beginning to realize my error in judgement and regret not studying it more in depth years ago. It’s pretty obvious with the sudden burst of AJAX activity that Javascript will continue to be a major player in app development. And it’s finally shaking the sigma of being some bastard cousin of Java. So it deserves proper attention I think and mastering it can only increase my value as a programmer.

I recently picked up the Javascript Bible, so I just need to find the time to get though the 1000+ pages of it!

I hate JavaScript, I really do. It wasn’t the best introduction I had to web scripting when I first started learning it but I’ve come to realize that much to my chagrin, JavaScript is a necessary evil that’s probably not going away anytime soon. I’ve made significant efforts to avoid it but I know that if I [someday] take the time to master it, I’d be twice as marketable. Still, I’d choose PHP over JavaScript any day. Maybe one day they’ll start incorporating aspects of JavaScript into PHP and then I’ll never have to deal with it again!

I don’t like the way web based applications are going, putting a lot of logic on client side with abusive use of javascript. But well… it’s the way things are done nowadays, so I must master this obscure thing known as javascript, and then step into ajax of course.

I got a Pocket guide to JavaScript from O’Reilly at the WWDC – going to carry it around until I grok every page.