JavaScript Basics

via Udacity

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Details

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Provider

Udacity
Pricing

Free Online Course
Languages

English
Duration & workload

3 weeks, 6 hours a week
Sessions

On-Demand

Found in

Overview

We're here to help you get you started with JavaScript!
In the twenty plus years since its inception, JavaScript has become the _lingua franca_ of the web, that's to say, it's become the main tool to create interactive content on the Internet.

In this course, you'll explore the JavaScript programming language by creating an interactive version of your résumé. You’ll learn the JavaScript programming fundamentals you need while building new elements and sections to enhance your résumé.

This course is also a part of our Front-End Web Developer Nanodegree.

Why Take This Course?
Today, front-end developers work with web designers to create the interactive experiences that make the web the addictive playground we know and love. As the size and influence of the web have expanded, so has the importance of ensuring a website offers users an unforgettable experience.

Perhaps your end goal is to create a HTML5 game, code the front-end for an app idea you have, or maybe you want to use one of the growing set of libraries that let you compile code written in another language or for another platform down to JavaScript. With JavaScript, you can do all these things and more.

###Project
You will create an interactive résumé that you can share to the world and show your growing skills at the time.

Having a good résumé is a key component of securing a better job. We'll give you the template styles and code to create a modern and mobile friendly résumé (also called a curriculum vitae/CV outside the United States) that you can modify and customize.

Syllabus

### Lesson 1: Getting Up and Running

Learn about the tools we'll be using throughout the course and begin modifying web pages with a little bit of code.

- Introduction of résumé project
- Components of the résumé
- Introduction to browser developer tools
- Running commands on the console
- Appending elements to the page

### Lesson 2: Data Types

Dig deeper into JavaScript as we introduce you to the building blocks of the language as you write more complex code using variables and advanced data structures like JSON, Objects, and Arrays.

- Variables
- Strings
- Evaluating values
- Arrays
- Objects
- JSON
- Validating JSON

### Lesson 3: Flow Control

Finish the résumé while you learn how to make your code more modular and reusable by using conditional statements, loops, and functions.

- Conditional statements
- For and while loops
- Functions
- Encapsulation

Taught by

Cameron Pittman

Reviews

3.2 rating, based on 19 Class Central reviews

Start your review of JavaScript Basics

Anonymous

I'd pick 1.5 stars if I could. This course covers many important aspects of the JavaScript syntax, but ultimately fails to convey them in a concise and easy-to-understand format that should be the basis of a beginner's class. Many topics boil down…

I'd pick 1.5 stars if I could.

This course covers many important aspects of the JavaScript syntax, but ultimately fails to convey them in a concise and easy-to-understand format that should be the basis of a beginner's class. Many topics boil down to "here's this code, do it this way" without ever explaining the underlying concepts or *why* these decisions are being made. The overarching 'resume project' relies on pre-defined functions that are used throughout the lessons, but never reviewed to explain how they work. You may as well just tell your students "a wizard did it".

Furthermore, about halfway in, "for in" loops are introduced as a new way to iterate through arrays. In the very next lesson, there's a warning to all students: You should *never* use for in loops to iterate through arrays. It's a bad practice. Stop using them. So, then ... why did you ask your students to do this in the first place? And then, throughout the rest of the course, the solutions presented by the instructors all loop through arrays using "for in" -- the practice that was just advised against earlier!

Very amateurish presentation, sloppy code, and a patch job insert warning that makes it look like the instructors really had no idea what they were doing in the first place. Begin your JavaScript studies somewhere else, you'll be glad you did.
Anonymous

I'm working on the final project for this course and finding myself at almost a complete loss. I feel like I haven't gotten any of the tools I need - and this coming from someone who thoroughly enjoyed and gained a lot from the Into to HTML/CSS cour…

I'm working on the final project for this course and finding myself at almost a complete loss. I feel like I haven't gotten any of the tools I need - and this coming from someone who thoroughly enjoyed and gained a lot from the Into to HTML/CSS course, and who's successfully completed Android for Beginners before deciding to re-focus on JavaScript.

As mentioned by other reviewers, this course does not flow well, and teaches the forIn loop skill which is integral to how the instructors built the project, and then forbid students from using it. That's fine in a way (though I'm miffed to have spent so much time on something I may never use IRL), but the alternatives were not taught well at all! I've been sitting for hours trying to figure out how to develop other useful loops for my project, and it's massively demotivating to feel like I don't even know where to start! I like that most Udacity courses give students a lot of free reign and expect us to do independent research, but at least give me somethig to work with. I am a beginner, after all!
Alex Sagel

Much like other reviewers have mentioned, this course fails to convey basic information in a cohesive way. Frankly this is one of the worst Javascripts classes i've seen, and as a scripting language beginner, it was quite difficult. The quizzes are quite scattered and the answers usually leave you perplexed. Overall, the course progresses far too quickly. It's a shame because I found the HTML/CSS class amazingly insightful.
Vinayak Mehta

Nice course for someone who wants to learn JS basics. You'll be making your own portfolio with a template. JSON will be used to populate the webpage entries.
Anonymous

The concepts are just really badly explained and there are jumps in logic with critical elements just not being mentioned....a very frustrating course to follow!!
Anonymous

A really frustrating course. So much is unexplained. There's no element of fun which is present in many other JavaScript lessons out there. I recommend starting with A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript instead. Although you will have to purchase the book, the accompanying online exercises along with the book are a much more realistic way to learn a new topic. I find it much easier to access old information in the book and lessons as opposed to this Udacity course which makes it really difficult to look through previous material.
Anonymous

Started out fine but soon the course became unorganized. The way quizzes and project exercises are set up just don't work well; lots of discontinuities.
Cj Ramos

It's not cohesive and difficult to follow. Ultimately it made me feel like I hate coding and want to give up entirely, even though I loved my college C++ course and java courses. Not sure why but this makes me feel like I would be better off as a landscaper. But seriously, it jumps around so much it will have you guessing at the quizzes and doesn't fully explain what you need to know as to go thru it.
Chris Duncan
Davide Madrisan @dmadrisan
Mario K.
Henry McGrath
Santhosh Vaiyapuri
Sam Jajoo
QZ
Vamsi Mohan
Andy Sidhu
Anon
Cant Hold Us League