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JavaScript JavaScript Foundations Variables Scope

Jonathan Mata
Jonathan Mata
6,772 Points
Posted by Jonathan Mata
Jonathan Mata
6,772 Points

Worried

Should I be worried that Im having trouble understanding some of the instruction in this video. While progressing through HTML5/CSS3 i never felt lost. But since the beginning of this JavaScript course it's not clicking the same way and its discouraging. Is that a natural feeling?

10 Answers

Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points
Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points

I was feeling the same way few days ago. Like Paul Calabrese said, just keep going. i been trying to understand JavaScript for a while. Now the i look back i tell myself the this is a slow progress you can't rush it. But it speed it up if you have the attitude to keep going even when you get discouraging.

lol Back to the point.

Now after learning JavaScript on my own for 2-4 months. I feel like i understand it way more than before, when i use to look at a problem and felt like i was staring into space. no glue on what was going on. An now i look at a problem and is like I'm reading instruction i have no idea how, but is just there, it just Click with what you know from your experienced. Don't give up. Even the Best Of The Best Programmer Use Google For Help :). Stay Hungry!

Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points
Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points

Hey man, good feedback from someone who broke on through to the other side of this!

In pushing through, I have been going to the forums to search more for answers to guide me along - especially since I plan to use other sources as supplements on this one (books, other sites, etc...). Just curious what your approach was? How long did you struggle on tasks before giving up and going to the forums? You're right on about staring into space on the computer clueless - half of the time I swear I am staring at the screen with a blank face and drooling on my keyboard.

I THINK the reason why javascript is harder is because it references within itself a lot versus HTML and CSS which are a little more straight forward. It just seems to be a bit more technical.

Also, has javascript been the most challenging aspect you have experience thus far? Can we anticipate some other road blocks in our near future?

Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points
Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points

I'm definitely in the same place as you. I think javascript might just be a little harder to grasp. I pushed through the javascript course and it kind of makes more sense in theory than it did at first (I was completely lost.)

Personally, I plan to dig a bit deeper, study harder, and spend a little more time on javascript than I had to on html and css. I was feeling a bit discouraged as well, but if you click around the forums - you will see that we are not alone!

Jonathan Mata
Jonathan Mata
6,772 Points
Jonathan Mata
Jonathan Mata
6,772 Points

Thank you for your response Paul. I will definitely push through and at a slower pace. It's good to hear I am not alone.

Markus Ylisiurunen
Markus Ylisiurunen
15,034 Points
Markus Ylisiurunen
Markus Ylisiurunen
15,034 Points

Hello Jonathan!

I also started learning JavaScript some time ago. At the first I was really lost and felt like I will never be able to solve the problems on my own. When I was trying to do something with JavaScript and the code just didn't work, I didn't even have clue where to start solving the problem. Now that I've digged more into it and read some articles and books, I feel like I will be able to solve problems on my own.

So the point of this is to keep going and not to give up. JavaScript is definitely way more complicated than HTML or CSS since it's a true programming language. But just keep pushing and eventually you'll find yourself being able to do lots of amazing things with JavaScript.

I'm still in a learning "phase" myself too but I feel that I could use JavaScript in a real life project pretty well.

Hope this helps even a little bit :)

Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points
Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points

Me and 4 Of my friends from TreeHouse are in a Slack group, we work on projects and talk about anything related to the web. If you or anyone would like to join, Leave your <h1>Email</h1> and <h1>Name</h1> to send you a invited to the group. Everyone would benefit from this. Giving you experienced working as a group.

Lukas Coffey
Lukas Coffey
20,382 Points
Lukas Coffey
Lukas Coffey
20,382 Points

Hello Jonathan,

It is not at all unusual to feel lost in the code once you proceed past HTML and CSS. Especially since Javascript can feel like back-end programming at times, it is intimidating especially when starting out. Do not be discouraged if everything doesn't click right of the bat, programming is difficult and takes time. It doesn't always click for me either, and we're not alone!

The best thing to do is to search and if you don't understand something, go look it up in a book or consult our mutual friend and colleague, Google. Consulting other sources of information can really help to gain a different perspective on a subject, and lets you look at it in a different light. If someone else understands it, then you can too, it just may take a little time. That's what helped me.

Hope that helps a little! :)

Salman Akram
PLUS
Salman Akram
Courses Plus Student 40,065 Points
Salman Akram
Salman Akram
Courses Plus Student 40,065 Points

Hi Jonathan,

I asked same question few months ago, the old JavaScript Foundation is unfortunately not great. :(

You can start here new JavaScript Basic by Dave McFarland, alot of people are satisfied with it.

Other options below:

JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development

Code School's JavaScript courses

Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points
Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points

Yes! The new JavaScript Basic By Dave McFarland are very good! worth every sec.

Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points
Paul Calabrese
Paul Calabrese
13,516 Points

Hey party people, The following link I found on youtube and helped me a bit with the concepts of javascript. They definitely took the Javascript "for dummies" approach, which was nice. I posted this is its own thread in the forum, but I think the way the site is structured certainly favors posting if you have a question rather than just general discussion.

Anyway, here's the link, hope it helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf_cb_Nw5zY

Zach Allan
Zach Allan
19,452 Points

I think having a group of people to work with is an awesome idea. I'd love to join the group! My email is zack.rabie@gmail.com

Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points
Edgar Gil
Edgar Gil
13,322 Points

Send you the invite Zack Rabie

Anita Amini
Anita Amini
6,389 Points
Anita Amini
Anita Amini
6,389 Points

@edgar gil I would love to join as well. my email is neats29@icloud.com thanks.

Anthony Albertorio
Anthony Albertorio
22,624 Points
Anthony Albertorio
Anthony Albertorio
22,624 Points

Try the codacademy.org JavaScript course as a reference as well. Programming is a bit difficult to learn at first, but the more you do it, the faster it will click. If you can't grasp JavaScript, try Python, since it is the same concepts. All programming languages share most of the same basic concepts, so if you pick up one, the next one should be easier to learn.