Learn JavaScript the Hard Way

Learn the basics of JavaScript for web development. Aimed at total know-nothing beginners, this course teaches you simple modern JavaScript so you can make React, Svelte, Alpine.js, or HTMx websites and feel like you know what you're doing.

Course Contents

This course contains the following modules and lessons. Every course offers free samples of the first 10 lessons so you can decide if you want to take the course, and excerpts from all lessons after that.

• 00: Gearing Up
  
  Getting the software you need to finish this module.
• 01: A First Program
  
  Your very first JavaScript program.
• 02: Comments
  
  How to comment out parts of your code and write help for your future self.
• 03: Simple Math and Strings
  
  Doing simple math and creating displayable text in strings.
• 04: Variables
  
  Variables for storing and referencing information.
• 05: Constants
  
  Constants are variables that you claim will not change.
• 06: Escape Sequences
  
  When you write a string how do you put a string in it?
• 07: Prompting Input
  
  Asking a person for input from the terminal.
• 08: Command Line Arguments
  
  Accepting input from the user as command line options on your script.
• 09: Files
  
  Reading files with the fs (filesystem) module.
• 10: Files, Args, and Variables
  
  Combining reading files with accepting command line arguments.
• 11: Functions
  
  Creating small pieces of code and jumping to them with functions.
• 12: Functions, Files, Variables
  
  Combining everything learned so far with functions, files, and variables in one.
• 13: Modules
  
  Packing a group of related files into a single component called a module.
• 14: True and False Tests
  
  The start of logic comparison operations.
• 15: If and Else
  
  The introduction of branching with if and else.
• 16: While Loops
  
  The concept of repeating a block of code with a while-loop.
• 17: Sequences and For Loops
  
  Lists of data and enumerating them with a for-loop.
• 18: More Arrays
  
  Studying Arrays even more and becoming proficient at nesting them.

• 19: Data Objects
  
  First step with objects just for key/value data.
• 20: First Game
  
  Creating a little game to combine everything learned thus far.
• 21: Simple OOP
  
  Going from Data Objects and Functions to Object Oriented Programming.
• 22: More Complex OOP
  
  Using the new ES6 style of classes is much better than the last exercise's classes.
• 23: Inheritance
  
  Learning about the concept of inheritance in OOP.
• 24: OOP Game
  
  Creating an OOP version of our little game.
• 25: Functions and Recursion
  
  Studying a complex use of functions calling their self to do a loop.
• 26: Transforming Data
  
  Processing Arrays with handy functions and callbacks like map and reduce.
• 27: Applying Functions
  
  You can chain sequences of functions together to perform more complex sequences of operations.
• 28: Scope and Closures
  
  The concept of scope in ES6 vs. older JavaScript and why you should use let and const instead of var.
• 29: Partial Application
  
  A more complicated technique to push your understanding of callbacks and filters.
• 30: Callbacks, Events, Promises and Async
  
  This exercise covers the many, many, many ways that JavaScript handles asynchronous events.
• 31: Modules and `import`
  
  The final exercise covers the use of import and modern ES6 modules.