How I learned Javascript

About me

My name is Suraj Sharma, currently working as MERN stack developer.

Why I wanted to learn Javascript

Before I knew the limitations of not using javascript, DOM manipulation was unknown thing to me. All the DOM updates happened in the server (a PHP server). For each user events related updates full page refresh was needed. I wanted to have live updates feature in my website. CSS animations were kind of hard than what JS could accomplish.

How I approached learning Javascript

I bought a book, Coding with JavaScript For Dummies. This was a huge turn of event for me. Browser executable programming language that too in my website, wow!
I completed the book in less than a month but I also needed practice in the newly gained knowledge and a mentor to guide me through the process. Mentors were hard to find, but anybody can self learn and practice. So I decided to create a social site like facebook just using JS, HTML/CSS as frontend and PHP, MYSQL as backend tech.

Challenges I faced

Javascript has low learning curve. Anyone interested in it can master it in weeks. The worst challenge I faced was callback hell or so we used to call. Learning that async/await existed, problem was resolved. Since, I come for python background, where code is line by line executed but such doesn't happen in JS for most of the case. Understanding this and finding workarounds for it was a challenge in itself. I used promises for that.

Key takeaways

Key learnings and takeaways were, we, humans are limited by the self-confidence of how much we can accomplish. Success and failure are two sides of same coin, hating one and loving another won't get you much of a growth. Understand and accept them.

Tips and advice

I cannot emphasize on practice, more. You get free time, practice and love the brainstorming process when your are stuck, and as always we have stackoverflow. There are 1000s of ways you can solve a problem and no problem has remained unsolved. Trust yourself and your mind. You are superhuman!

Final thoughts and next steps

I wish I had a mentor who could have guided me on the hurdles and more, but self learn and self love, doesn't remain unnoticed. Your struggles will also keep you a step ahead than ones who haven't. Error is not a exit but an entry to somewhere better!.
Happy coding