Where To Begin with JavaScript?!
Tags: beginners, javascript
Published: 2019-01-22 09:01:37

So I figured I would start to log my journey into JavaScript so that I can not only share my journey with others, but to have a written log of how far I've come that I can look back at.  


### Background  
I have worked 8+ years now in the networking and systems side of the IT world.  I recently was hired as an infrastructure engineer/devops engineer at an online only company which was perfect for me.  I was getting tired of the onsite IT and I could definitely see that cloud based infrastructure was the next trending area that most IT professionals would want to move into.

While I am here, I am getting to learn so many new things and really get to work hand in hand with the developers to do deployments, troubleshoot different parts of our applications, and use some of the newer tools out there such as Octopus, Jenkins, and Docker.  This really excites me as I know I am one to get bored when I have learned a system inside and out and all that is left is daily maintenance.

Now, what sparked me to start on the journey of learning JavaScript is seeing all the developers be able to create an idea in their head.  I have so many cool (at least to me) ideas in my head that I am unable to materialize because I do not know how to code.  This has been a journey I have wanted to do for the past 15 years of my life, and I figured now is the time.  

### The Journey Starts

I started determining which language I wanted to learn a few weeks ago, and it was a close race between Python and Javascript.  I chose JavaScript just because of how far and wide it can be utilized, as well as the node.js side of things where you can use it for server side things.  I figured this can be handy not only in my current job, but also personal projects and moving forward in my career.  Don't get me wrong, I think Python is extremely powerful and useful and will probably dabble in it once I have a good handle on JavaScript.  

So first things first, I needed to find a resource to learn from.  I did some Google searches and found resource after resource on the web.  It was daunting and I can say I spent many hours just finding new resources instead of learning.  I know my learning style is not one to just read a book and have it ingrained in my brain.  I needed exercises and plenty of them.  The two websites that I am currently going through are [JavaScript.info](https://javascript.info) and [FreeCodeCamp](https://www.freecodecamp.org/).  Also special shoutout to the Grasshopper app on Android for letting me learn no matter where I am.  I like the inbuilt exercises on freecodecamp, and I also like that javascript.info gives you tasks to do after most lessons.  I have found this to be super helpful as with having to do the tasks on my own machine, save the files, and sort of create a repository of my learning, I have something to look back on and revisit if anything gets a bit hazy.  My commenting skills have become unmatched!  Oh also a protip, for anyone newly into programming, to comment a line in most editors, hit `Ctrl+/` or `Ctrl+Shift+/` to comment a block of code!

### Where I'm at so Far

So far I have variables, print, alert, and some work with loops.  I've also learned arrays and strings and how to manipulate them.  This is just the basics for now, but I'm making progress and I'm extremely happy for that.  When I see some basic code now, I can at least decipher what it is trying to do.  The progress is coming slowly as time sucks and there's only so much of it, but I am getting more excited to learn instead of less motivated.  That is good for me.  There are few things that keep my attention span and I have a feeling that programming is going to be one of them.  

I will be making more posts in this series as I progress.  If you have any suggestions on resources for someone taking the leap into learning JavaScript, please pass them along.  It's always good to hear from someone who already knows their stuff and know what they suggest.  Thank you for taking the time to read my story!