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Tristan Gaebler
6,204 PointsWhat does Javascript even do...?
What does Javascript actually do? Is it back-end or front-end? What can it do?
3 Answers

robberbaron
23,869 PointsJavaScript 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

Aaron Graham
18,033 PointsJavascript 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.

Tristan Gaebler
6,204 PointsThanks guys!
Aaron Graham
18,033 PointsAaron Graham
18,033 PointsUpvoted for mentioning Crockford. He is definitely a good resource. A little opinionated at times, (JSLint usually brutalizes my code for things like spacing) but certainly knows javascript and how to teach it.