Articles

Finding time to learn

You know learning is important. You want to do it, but you can’t seem to find the time.

You’re drained after work. All you want to do is relax on the couch. On weekends, you want to spend time with friends and family.

How do you find time to learn?

Which should you learn first? Frameworks or JavaScript?

One question you may have when thinking about learning JavaScript is whether you should learn JavaScript first or frameworks first.

You may have heard both sides of the argument.

If you learn JavaScript first, you’ll learn the basics, but it might bit slower, and it might be abit more painful before you can build components.

If you learn frameworks first, you’ll be able to use frameworks, and you’ll be able to build things quicker compared to using JavaScript.

Which one should you choose?

Results of the restructure

A month ago I told you I made a major decision for Learn JavaScript—to restructure the course materials I created—and I’m here to update you on the results!

How I’m going to teach authentication

This article is a response to a question I asked last week. I wanted to know if I should teach authentication in Learn JavaScript. Since I’m building Learn JavaScript for students like you, I wanted to hear your opinions.

I read through a hundred responses. I gave myself a week to think through it. And I came to a conclusion.

I’m going to teach authentication in a separate course.

I want to share why I made this conclusion.

New CSS features that are changing web design

There was a time when web design got monotonous. Designers and developers built the same kinds of websites over and over again, so much so that we were mocked by people in our own industry for creating only two kinds of websites:

Is this the limit of what our “creative” minds can achieve? This thought sent an incontrollable pang of sadness into my heart.

I don’t want to admit it, but maybe that was the best we could accomplish back then. Maybe we didn’t have suitable tools to make creative designs. The demands of the web were evolving quickly, but we were stuck with ancient techniques like floats and tables.

Today, the design landscape has changed completely. We’re equipped with new and powerful tools — CSS Grid, CSS custom properties, CSS shapes and CSS writing-mode, to name a few — that we can use to exercise our creativity.

Is your code good enough?

Do you worry about the quality of your code? Are you afraid of writing bad code? If someone reads your code and they say it sucks, how would it make you feel?

Would you feel like shit?

Should I teach authentication in Learn JavaScript?

I ran into a problem while writing Learn JavaScript. This problem is about teaching Ajax.

I’m deciding between three possible solutions right now. Since I am making Learn JavaScript for people like you, I want to hear your thoughts before I decide.

Are you a real developer?

Has anyone asked you whether you are a real developer?

Has anyone ever told you in your face that you’re not a real developer?

The important part is not what they think. It’s what you think.

Avengers, Star Wars, and learning code

I’m a weirdo. I’m always working (either coding or teaching you how to code). I code on during work, at night, and even on weekends. I can’t seem to separate myself from work.

Recently, I learned to relax. I discovered that one of my favorite activities is to watch movies. I only watch some of them though. For example, I chase after every movie in the Marvel universe (for Avengers), but I don’t watch anything related to Star Wars.

But why? Are Marvel movies better made than Star Wars? Do they contain more compelling stories? Do they have better actions and effects?

Not exactly.

I wanted to know why I watched some movies and not others, so I dug into my own psychology (like I said, I’m a weirdo; forgive me for doing weird things). I found a surprising reason. I can even use this reason to explain how I learned to code 😂.

Why I switched from Sublime Text to Visual Studio Code

A student asked why I switched over from Sublime Text to Visual Studio Code, and he’s wondering whether he should switch too.

Here’s a quick answer to that question.