What does Javascript even do...?

JavaScript is a very powerful language. To get an impression on what you can and cannot do the series "Crockford on JavaScript" on youtube might be helpful.

In case you want to start with JavaScript: Be sure to get familiar with its bad parts and how to only use the good ones. Once you know about the good parts you can use it to even write powerful web applications with several thousand lines of code.

Also these books are a pretty good choice: JavaScript the good parts JavaScript the definitive guide JavaScript Patterns

Have fun Marc

Javascript can run on the front-end or the back-end. Most (all?) that you will encounter at Treehouse will be front-end. Javascript on the front-end runs in your browser and is usually used to enhance the functionality of a website. Things like carousels, form validation, hover events, and popup dialogs are usually done with javascript, however some things, like hover events, that used to be done with javascript are increasingly being done with CSS. Another use is for data exchange with a server after a page is already loaded. Using AJAX, you can communicate with a server, and dynamically update the page, after it is already loaded, without having to reload the entire page. If you are interested in back-end javascript, look into Node.js. You can use it to build the server side of your web-app.

Thanks guys!