It was suggested I start a new topic, since I was kind of going off topic in another post when discussing programming. I joined this site to help accelerate my JavaScript studies. So far, it helps a lot to experience coding concepts in a different light. Making it more fun by playing games goes a long way for me.
It’s my life long dream to become a successful web & mobile developer.
I just passed a college course for Web Application Development and I was focused on passing Microsoft 70-480 Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3.
I know HTLM5 and CSS3 well though that I passed my college course, but the MS exam requires extensive JS that wasn’t covered in course. So, I keep delaying my exam until I can learn enough of JS to pass the practice exam. I’m combing multiple resources, lots of other sites with this one.
They all approach JavaScript in different was, but sure enough I spend 24/7 trying to ace this exam. All free resources that anyone can contribute are appreciated.
Guess I’ll do my part and share some resources as well.
JavaScript | MDN — the Mozilla Developer Network offers several tutorials and resources on JavaScript and the Web Platform in general. You can also find extremely detailed reference documentation. It is a great place for both learners and experts alike.
WebPlatform.org — Very extensive documentation and tutorials on JavaScript, HTML and CSS as well.
Awesome Node.js - Resources — Awesome resources about Node.js, as the name implies. Node.js is a platform that runs JavaScript outside the (limitations of a) browser, allowing you to use JavaScript as a real general-purpose programming language to create virtually anything you can think of (Web servers, command line applications, etc.). In fact, the CodeCombat servers run in Node.js, so it may be interesting to check CodeCombat’s source code as well.
CodeCombat — I guess this goes without saying, but it is good to add just for completeness’ sake. CodeCombat is a game that teaches you to code, writing real code. Also, its engine is fully open source and is built using a pretty interesting technology stack: Node.js, MongoDB, Backbone.js, three.js, Aether, Sass and CoffeeScript. If you like making SVG animations, tweaking user interfaces, manipulating document-oriented databases, or hacking at Abstract Syntax Trees to prevent cheating and to improve time-travel debugging, CodeCombat has what you are looking for!
Code School — Learn by Doing. Has several high-quality courses on diverse programming languages (including JavaScript) and development tools, some courses are even free.
Exploring ES6: Upgrade to the next version of JavaScript - Another excellent (and more recent) JavaScript book by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer, now focusing on the semantics and features of ECMAScript 2015 (the latest ECMAScript edition—JavaScript’s specification—that has just recently been officially standardized, also known as ES6). It is also available for free online.
UltCombo’s JavaScript Resources — my own personal list of resources. I haven’t updated this list in a while, but it is still very complete and also covers more advanced topics that are very useful to slightly more experienced JavaScript developers.
I’ve been trying Free Code Camp for a while now. Hopefully I can get that Front End Development Certificate by the end of February.
The main issue with online courses is they have a high attrition rate due to the low entry barrier and because they’re more self-paced. If you can deal with that by having good habits, you’ll be able to learn a lot from the internet.
What I liked about CodeCombat in particular was that it is fun enough for me play level after level until there were (nearly) none left.
by far, the one I just quoted has been the far most beneficial itunes podcast that I’ve listened to yet. I think it most applies to learning development and what’s current in JavaScript industry than all the rest.
It is free and it will have more of an effect in a short amount of time than anything else.
Also, there are some books that are very helpful that I’m currently reading.
I’ve included books that have HTML5 because it goes hand and hand with JS.
The final project for my Web Development course is to build a web site using what you’ve learned in class. This makes sense for good practice as an aspiring developer. Somewhere to show off and practice stuff you’ve learned from all these simulation websites.
I saw a really good example when browsing forums other day, and I saw this person @nick. I clicked on his website to check it out, http://www.nickwinter.net/. This is big help. I wasn’t really sure what to do as my central theme until I saw this. It’s a really good template and starter example for a website about a developer. It’s direct, but informative.
Although not directly related to JS, there’s also an app by microsoft developers called CodeShow ( https://github.com/codefoster/codeshow), and it shows you all the things you can do with CSS. A fully dynamic website should have elements of each of CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript, at the very least.
IDEs can make or break your development, point blank. Bugs, spell checkers correcting your code when you shouldn’t let them, and engines failing to load for reasons of corrupt installation or failed updates.
Save all your work yourself, do not use an automated method and use your own folders! Don’t use suggested/provided for you by IDEs.
Recently, I found out recently why these code simulators go fast for some and slower for others. The noobs (aka newbies) like me didn’t know to use debuggers or IDEs to correct their code before submitting to the project/website like CodeCombat. They can fill in the blanks for you! This whole time, I been trying to code manually.
Also, I wanted to throw this out there. I got Microsoft Visual Studio for free from my university when I logged into Microsoft’s DreamSpark https://www.dreamspark.com/. I used my .edu email as my login and once it was verified, I saw a whole bunch of free software.
You can also download a lot of stuff that’s open source from SourceForge ( http://sourceforge.net/). But honestly, I’ve tried open source editing tools for web development, and either they cost money for important features, or they lack the interfaces I’ve grown to love on IDEs for reasons mentioned above.
was just doing a random search to see if I could get this plugin for free, and apparently you can.
googled “jetbrains resharper free for college students” and came to a treasure.
same as dreamspark, sign in/sign up with your .edu email address.
> Free for students: > Professional developer tools from JetBrains
> Are you learning Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, Objective-C or .NET technologies?
> Or maybe you just plan to? Do it right from the start, with award-winning professional developer tools from JetBrains. And the best part: it’s free of charge.
adding another resource I found just now. You can now get GitHub premium account from this educational link. After they verify your .edu email, it may take a couple weeks to approve you.
correction update later:
after reading that it would take a couple of weeks to get approved, and then less than an hour later I get my approval email.
Powerup get! Welcome to the Student Developer Pack. Welcome to the Student Developer Pack
Hey [Name Censored], we have some awesome news
We’ve upgraded you to a Micro plan, which will be free for the next two years. After that, you’ll get an email saying that your coupon is expiring. You can reapply for another coupon if you still have academic status. We don’t have any collaboration limits, so any group projects you may encounter can be hosted via your account.
If you need help getting started with Git and GitHub, check out:
Spread the word: we love giving educational discounts to students, teachers, administrators, and researchers! Please send them to https://education.github.com
I tried Code::Blocks, but I couldn’t get used to it after being a Visual Studio and Xcode user. I like a friendly gui and a lot of good help/tutorials on using.
I’ve used this one, but it was lacking a preview feature, but other than that, it was almost perfect. Called BlueGriffon. http://bluegriffon.org/
This is what I use to edit my code for CodeCombat and Free Code Camp, Notepad++https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ But as far as I know, no debugger. It just makes code easier to read than standard notepad type program.
There’s also Adobe Brackets, but once again, lacks a free preview feature. http://brackets.io/
Best I can do at moment. Unless you have a Mac, you can download Xcode free. Try SourceForge? When I give up looking for something, I usually find it there. http://sourceforge.net/
I been coding for a few days now, and by far BlueGriffon. http://bluegriffon.org/ was the best free editor. It gives previews, drag & drop, and customizable code schemes. I’m going to use it to finish my site.
this is site where I look up what I need to know in JS/CSS/HTML any time I need to search a function/commands/etc.
I wasn’t really sure what to do as my central theme until I saw this. It’s a really good template and starter example for a website about a developer. It’s direct, but informative. 
