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Nathan Begnaud
8,221 PointsWhat's The Point Of JavaScript?
I've asked this question before and now I understand that it's closely related to Jquery, and Jquery you can actually do stuff with. I've been learning Java for about 2 weeks now and aside from the prompt and alert function I don't see how it will benefit me when making a website. People say it helps your website run faster? Can you give me an example because I don't see how it will affect your website speed at all.
7 Answers
Lush Sleutsky
14,044 PointsNathan, personally speaking, I think you are saying it is boring to learn not because it actually it is, but it is because of the teacher, Jim Hoskins. The JavaScript Foundations track is laughable, and I am very surprised more are not complaining about it. The teacher does not "teach," but rather just writes JavaScript code, and tells us what he is writing while he is writing it. Not to mention he makes typos and what-have-you, and only fixes the typo after he confuses the living daylights outta you, without explaining more in depth about the heavy confusion. It just does not make sense to me how the track is live, and that others are not finding it brutal. Some people can do a certain thing very well, but are not able to teach that thing very well at all, and this is where Jim is at in my humble opinion. Big time! The track is hard to get through, and I find myself wishing for it to be over, just so that I can get a new teacher. JavaScript will have to be studied elsewhere besides Treehouse for me, because it is not being taught, it just being written with little to no explanation. Not to mention the code challenges barely matching up to the videos. I have HUGE complaints about te JavaScript Foundations track and about Jim Hoskins, and they get bgger and bigger with each passing day. That track needs to be reworked from the ground up!
Nathaniel Williams
3,005 PointsI had a very difficult time with this track, but found outside websites and tutorials that filled in some of the blanks. This track really needs some work. Its comforting to know that I wasn't alone in feeling confused and frustrated.
troy beckett
12,035 PointsMaybe its because css is a lot more immediate and easier. Possibly javascript is just that bit harder and is the point that separates the people who really want to be web designers and those who want to make simple websites.
But oh my god I'm struggling to get through each video. I was so excited to get past css and start making amazing websites but I'm struggling big time.
I hate to say it but I do find jim hoskins very boring to listen to, but is that because javascript is a lot harder and requires more thought and brain power than css.
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 PointsBig topic. Here's a small answer:
JavaScript helps you build rich, interactive websites. It allows you to solve problems without a backend component (though you could have that too, via PHP, mySQL, etc.). Also, there are many powerful libraries and tools--like Node.js, Ember.js, and AJAX--that allow you to also work the backend using JavaScript.
JavaScript isn't the only way to build interactive sites (and the key word here is "interactive"), but it's a user-friendly approach that dovetails easily with HTML and CSS, has low overhead for spinning up tools (just open a browser and start coding), and is easy to learn.
Treehouse answers this question in part through the intros to several courses. I suggest watching the first few videos of the JavaScript and AJAX courses, for starters.
hiroshi
13,701 PointsFirst off, Java and Javascript are two very different things; the first is a programming language that compiles to byte code and runs on the desktop inside the java virtual machine, the second is used almost exclusively in the browser for web pages (and nothing else*).
Javascript is a programming language that lets you add additional functionality and interactivity to your web pages by interactivity with the Document Object Model. jQuery on the other hand is not a programming language, but a javascript library which is designed to make writing javascript easier by taking many of the common things you always need to do and making methods to shortcut it.
Anything you can do with jQuery can be done using pure out of the box javascript, it just might take you longer. These two statements are equivalent:
$('#myID') and document.getElementById("myID")
The first is jQuery, the second is pure javascript. The jQuery method actually does the second method behind the scenes.
hiroshi
13,701 Points- you can use javascript server side with Node.js, but its the exception.
Jason Anello
Courses Plus Student 94,610 PointsHi Jon,
I think these would be the same $('#myID')[0] and document.getElementById("myID")
Oisin Kilkenny
14,213 PointsJavaScript enables a user to interact with a website; It is the behavior of a website. jQuery is a library that helps you do more with JavaScript without having to write as much code. jQuery isn't closely related to JavaScript, jQuery is JavaScript. Java and JavaScript are two completely different languages, and I'm pretty confident in saying it doesn't effect the performance of your website.
Joe Brown
21,465 PointsStick through the track and get the basics, once you get over to things like the jquery course, creating an interactive website project(if you go that far) and AJAX, then you will have answered your own question. You will see javascript "in action". Its always boring learning "about" a language. Computer Science 101 with the c++ language in college was mind numbing boring(my professor made it more so), but once you learn to actually "do" stuff with the language, whatever language it may be, you can then have fun and create stuff. You dont really get to see the language in action until you get into some of the libraries or api's made for that language. But if you havent gone through the boring aspect of learning, in javascript for example, how to use objects and anonymous functions,etc, you will be completely lost when trying to do the "cool" stuff the library or api makes possible. Just try to retain as much as possible and then when you move on you'll see the significance, javascript or any language.
Nathan Begnaud
8,221 PointsThanks guys, gave me more insight on Javascript. It's just really boring to learn lol.
Stephen Webster
4,759 PointsIt may be a very boring language to learn, but so was HTML and CSS until I ran into Guil and Nick on Treehouse. Those two blew their subject matter out of the water. I actually had to go buy a book, its called Learn Javascript in 24 hours. After reading that book, I can somewhat follow along with this track.
Marvin Barger
5,433 PointsMarvin Barger
5,433 PointsI think that, like others have said, the track needs an overhaul. One of the things that I really enjoyed about the HTML/CSS Project and deep dives, is that you built a project with Nick, picking up some thoughts on what was going on, then in the deep dive you got a firm grasp with what you actually did with Nick, and why. The JS section is missing that.
Lets face it, JS is clientside, and made for the web, but we rarely see the fruits of the labor in the lessons for JS here. I think that is what makes it such a struggle, is you only see things happen in the console, where no user will ever look.
These lessons, at least from what I experienced, and some skimmed ahead, don't really show the drop-down menus, the responsive restructuring of the site, the animations, and so on, that JS is so widely used for. Again, I have not fully completed the course but am in the process, and apologize if I am misspeaking.
I find myself having to re-watch the lecture multiple times, and I take notes on Evernote and follow along in sublime. I have a fantastic mentor that I can speak with, and more than once I have had to ask him to explain many JS concepts because I am simply glazed over from not only lack of application, but use of var names that are really close to keywords (i.e. var myVar = "blue";) in the language and so on. I think the intentions for using those naming conventions were great, but the end outcome did not meet the expectation, most likely because we are students.
Hopefully there is a re-vamp of this course, because as it stands, it can be a bit daunting, partially because like you are asking here, you have next to no way to see any real application.