Get Programming with JavaScript

Get Programming with JavaScript is a practical introduction to programming. Through hands-on code samples coupled with carefully paced explanations, supporting video tutorials and a wide variety of examples, it will help you build knowledge and skills and set you on your way to coding expertise.

Learning to program gives you a great skill that is versatile, useful, stimulating, creative, fun, rewarding and in-demand. Learning to program with JavaScript puts one of the most widely-used languages at your fingertips, letting you develop applications for all manner of uses, devices, platforms and operating systems.

Learning follows thinking. The philosophy of this book is that by experimenting with programs in an online sandbox, finding out first hand what works and what doesn’t, and by attempting challenges, you will have to think carefully about the concepts in each chapter. It is that thinking which will lead to understanding and learning.

The sandbox lets you run programs and get instant feedback. Sometimes the feedback will be unexpected and force you to question what you thought you knew. Some ideas may click into place quickly while others could take longer; thoughtful consideration and further experimentation may be needed. Curiosity, commitment and resilience are key attitudes when learning anything and they will certainly help you to be a better programmer.

That’s not to say learning to program will be a chore! Far from it. Even after more than thirty years of programming, I still find the transformation of code into a useful and/or fun application to be almost magical. That lines of simple statements, when combined, can accomplish such a variety of outcomes is astonishing. And seeing others use something you’ve created to be more productive, more organized or just to have more fun, is a privilege and a pleasure.

So be prepared for an adventure of discovery and don’t be disheartened if you find some concepts tricky at first. Take your time, do the exercises and don’t forget the supporting video tutorials (when available). Learning to program is worth the effort.