Learning Javascript

[d000hg]

AS3 is a nice language. I thought that was ECMA4 but maybe not...

[russell]

Don't know about Ruby, but Python is every bit as horrible as Javascript.

What we should be using is ECMAScript4, which is Javascript with classes (basically the same as ActionScript 2, although that's not important). Which makes it a pretty decent object oriented language akin to C# or Java, but manages to be mostly backwards compatible.

It's really sad that with all the wave of hype about HTML5 being used for serious applications, that we're still stuck with this numptie scripting language.

Python is nothing like Javascript, have you ever programmed using it? Or did you look up a code snippet. ECMAScript4 now I know you haven't a clue.

[Bacchus]

New clientco has a system that is heavily dependent on Javascript. I've done some very basic stuff before but can anyone recommend a decent online website, book or videos to learn from?

You don't have to learn Javascript, it's just kind of obvious

HTH

[NickFitz]

I'd recommend Mozilla Developer Network.

I find it useful but I'm sure Nick will be along soon to tell me why they're terrible

On the contrary, MDN is very good indeed

Avoid W3Schools like the plague though.

Bookwise, Douglas Crockford's JavaScript: The Good Parts is essential reading.

[fullyautomatix]

Javascript is pretty powerful as a language but its limitation is that it runs on the browser. But as a dynamic language it can get really powerful if you know how to use it. Book wise try to read Secrets of the Javascript Ninja by John Resig.

[Malcolm Buggeridge]

JS and webby stuff may be in vogue but is ugly and there are a gazillion code-monkeys out there who can do it. It's the one area I've always stayed away from where possible.

I use Javascript a lot but actually write very little as there seems to be a jquery plugin for prectically everything I want to do.

[d000hg]

Python is nothing like Javascript, have you ever programmed using it?

Perhaps re-read his post and you'll spot he never suggested any similarity except they were both crap.

[Sysman]

Javascript is pretty powerful as a language but its limitation is that it runs on the browser.

If scripting outside the browser is what you are after see Nick F's reply to a post I made about LUA:

It looks extremely similar to JavaScript (which it pre-dates) - in fact, most of the example code snippets on the Wikipedia page would be valid JS with the addition of nothing more than ()s, {}s and ;s and would function identically, particularly the ones relating to closures and lambdas.

[d000hg]

Or you can just run JS outside the browser anyway. Though it seems a weird choice to me.

[Durbs]

Or you can just run JS outside the browser anyway. Though it seems a weird choice to me.

Went on a Microsoft Win 8 developer camp recently and JS is a big well supported option for creating Metro apps. Wouldnt fancy it myself like, I went the C#/XAML route, much more civilised. Dude next to me was using JS and it looked awful to my eyes. I may give the JS Metro tutorials a go but for me, JS has always been ugly to read, hard to debug, but a necessary evil for my job.