Why learn JavaScript foundations?

Codecademy Team
Learn more about why you should build a strong foundation in JavaScript when you first learn the language.

JavaScript is one of the world’s top five programming languages. In fact, this year roughly 70% percent of Stack Overflow users asked JavaScript questions. This marks JavaScript’s sixth year as the top language in the ranks of Stack Overflow, the programming world’s most popular QA forum.

JavaScript’s mass popularity makes sense after all, it’s the language of browsers in the world wide web. On top of this, JavaScript is ever-growing in other applications outside of web development. Desktop applications, like Slack and Skype, are built with Electron.js to support cross-platform compatibility.

Alas, JavaScript is notorious for being a language that new learners rush into because people usually learn JavaScript to make something. As a result, a lot of essential foundational knowledge gets glossed over.

JavaScript is often the first language for people without a formal Computer Science education. But there’s a reason a lot of universities don’t teach JavaScript in a student’s first programming course. JavaScript is very nuanced; the language is full of quirks and caveats that are endemic to it as a language and tied up to the history of how it was created and how quickly it was adopted as a technology. In JavaScript, it’s tricky to see what’s happening under the hood because so much of it can seem like magic keywords. Seeing what’s happening under the hood is often useful for a beginner as they begin to grasp foundational Computer Science concepts. To top off this list of quirks, the 2015 updates to JavaScript changed the look and feel of the language. The list goes on.

We know JavaScript can be really tricky and we want to walk you through it so you can be a rockstar professional with competitive skills. The team behind this intensive knows that JavaScript is quirky and we love it anyway! From debating whether JavaScript is a Taurus or a Gemini based on it’s creation during May of 1995, to choosing the perfect Capstone so you can show off all your new programming knowledge, we’ve had a blast designing this curriculum with approachability and flexibility in mind. Our team has made some changes to improve the content:

  • We’ve added programming concepts that contextualize JavaScript syntax.
  • We taught you the basics of JavaScript without the browser, so you can focus on the language before you build websites with it
  • We’ve made the learning more accessible, so when you move on to more advanced JavaScript, you are ready to understand its caveats and nuances
  • We teach ES6 and older standards so you are prepared to know the difference when you see code from before 2015.

We’ve developed a strong foundation that will set you up for success as you progress to advanced programming. When you take the Programming with JavaScript Intensive, you invest in the introductory material early and avoid playing eternal catch-up with the JavaScript nuances many gloss over.

By the end of this Intensive, you’ll:

  • Create, functions and build data structures
  • Understand how these concepts tie into the larger world of programming
  • Be ready to succeed when you dive into front or back-end web development or learn another programming language.

We’re excited to start this journey with you!