I apologize in advance as this question isn’t directly related to a coding problem or question. Many web developers start out using jQuery as an essential library due to the massive amount of plugins available. It is fairly easy and requires little knowledge to implement a plugin into your code, and use it successfully. The downside is that it can be easy for a beginning developer to ignore learning JavaScript from the ground up, and depend on jQuery plugins to get them through most situations.
After years of doing this, a “developer” learns jQuery piece by piece, but does not have the fundamental understanding of how Javascript works or the mastery required to build custom functions or plugins. This is a common turning point where developers have a yearning to learn more, and really understand how this all works. jQuery aside, developers should probably learn JavaScript first, but this is commonly disregarded amongst beginners, as jQuery is easier to understand and simpler to write.
Although this is a loaded question, I am looking for a good direction to advance my understanding of jQuery AND Javascript. Having a solid understanding of jQuery, I really want to have the knowledge and flexibility to write any code in both jQuery and traditional JavaScript. I am looking for a good direction to advance myself, and for others in similar situations to move forward on the quest of js knowledge.
What are the best books, methods, or success stories you (the community) has from your struggles with learning JavaScript? What recommendations do you have, that myself, and many others can benefit from? Keep in mind, this question is on behalf of people who write jQuery on a regular basis, but struggle to really grasp all of the necessary concepts to master the language. And also, it is for people who started learning jQuery BEFORE javascript, and wish to have a fundamental understanding of both. Thanks in advance!
This is probably the number one reason I disapprove of jQuery. That said, I suffer from a similar issue: After using Game Maker to write my games for me, I can’t travel down layers of abstraction and into the realms of C++ or similar without significant effort.
Going up layers of abstraction is easy, that’s why abstractions exist in the first place – if they didn’t, we’d all still be writing raw machine code. Going down is significantly harder.
Ultimately, all I can really suggest is that, depending on how much “plain” JavaScript you actually know, pick up a beginner-level JS book and start from the top. Just try not to deviate into “this’d be so much easier if I just used jQuery” – if you find yourself doing this, it’s bad.