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Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

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Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#2
Hi all, author here.

Backstory: I'm a CS engineer/teacher and this book is a side project started in December 2016. You can read a bit more about it here: https://medium.com/@bpesquet/walk-this-javascript-way-e9c45a....

The writing process is now completed and I'm actively looking for feedback to make the book better. Any opinion or advice about content, pricing, or that hastily created Leanpub cover would be greatly appreciated. However, please keep in mind that this is a self-published effort still far from being polished and open to improvement.

I'd also like this thread to stay focused on the book itself, not on the merits/weaknesses of JavaScript or the usefulness of choosing it as a first programming language.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#3
Very, very nice. I briefly went over some chapters and I especially admire the 'no framework' approach you've taken. I believe there's a real need for a book like this, kudos to you for making it happen! What inspired you to create this?

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#4
post #2

Hi all, author here. Backstory: I'm a CS engineer/teacher and this book is a side project started in December 2016. You can read a bit more about it here: https://medium.com/@bpesquet/walk-this-javascript-way-e9c45a... . The writing process is now completed and I'm actively looking for feedback to make the book better. Any opinion or advice about content, pricing, or that hastily created Leanpub cover would be greatl…

It's a great idea and I think the world does need a new book for pure JS.

There was a book released about 10 years ago by the guy who wrote jQuery. It started with basic JS and went all the way through to advanced features. It really helped me master JS.

Where I think that book is better then yours is that it focuses entirely on JS where as you spend a lot of time talking about http and the web works. Anyone reading your book to learn js will already know that.

An updated version for the modern day of the book I mentioned earlier would do very well.

I don't mean to sound negative and I applaud your effort and the time you put in to do it and wish you the best of luck!

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#5
I just got home from teaching JavaScript to a room full of people who've never written a line of code in their life.

This book is missing something critical that most intros to JavaScript overlook:

How does the student set up the plumbing and run their code?

It's amazing how much of a hump this is for many trying to get started. It also amazes me how oblivious most of us programmers are to it.

"Just open Chrome Dev Tools" or "put this in a file and run Node" are really strange computer tasks to someone who has never typed and executed code.

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#7

I just got home from teaching JavaScript to a room full of people who've never written a line of code in their life. This book is missing something critical that most intros to JavaScript overlook: How does the student set up the plumbing and run their code? It's amazing how much of a hump this is for many trying to get started. It also amazes me how oblivious most of us programmers are to it. "Just open Chrome Dev T…

Which method (Chrome Dev Tools, Node, etc.) did you teach to your students? Any other online resources you recommend?

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#8
post #2

Hi all, author here. Backstory: I'm a CS engineer/teacher and this book is a side project started in December 2016. You can read a bit more about it here: https://medium.com/@bpesquet/walk-this-javascript-way-e9c45a... . The writing process is now completed and I'm actively looking for feedback to make the book better. Any opinion or advice about content, pricing, or that hastily created Leanpub cover would be greatl…

It's a great idea and I think the world does need a new book for pure JS. There was a book released about 10 years ago by the guy who wrote jQuery. It started with basic JS and went all the way through to advanced features. It really helped me master JS. Where I think that book is better then yours is that it focuses entirely on JS where as you spend a lot of time talking about http and the web works. Anyone reading…

I assume a book titled "X from scratch" requires no previous knowledge for the intended audience. It's hard to talk about writing apis without knowing the difference between POST and GET

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#9

I just got home from teaching JavaScript to a room full of people who've never written a line of code in their life. This book is missing something critical that most intros to JavaScript overlook: How does the student set up the plumbing and run their code? It's amazing how much of a hump this is for many trying to get started. It also amazes me how oblivious most of us programmers are to it. "Just open Chrome Dev T…

Very true. Or things like "download and install git".

Oh wait you're on a mac you need Brew. But you're on windows? You're gonna need X. You're using linux and still don't know? (e.g. Parent installs linux on a computer for their child to learn programming on (e.g. buys them a rpi) )

Lots of "setup" stuff needs to be explained or at least guided through for a from scratch approach, but also needs to be easy to skim and skip if the person learning already knows how to do it.

Re: Show HN: The JavaScript Way, a book for learning modern JavaScript from scratch

#10

I just got home from teaching JavaScript to a room full of people who've never written a line of code in their life. This book is missing something critical that most intros to JavaScript overlook: How does the student set up the plumbing and run their code? It's amazing how much of a hump this is for many trying to get started. It also amazes me how oblivious most of us programmers are to it. "Just open Chrome Dev T…

I agree. Recently started learning to code and I could see how tutorials aimed at beginners assumed I would not only know, but be familiar with stuff like terminal/console, repository, IDE, etc
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