Getting Started
Gitter
We use Gitter as a group chat and to send links etc. Create a github account and login!
Drop Box
We use Drop Box to share useful books and other resources.
CodeHub Discussions
See what we have been up to over the previous sessions by reading Katja's excellent write ups on the discussions board.
Goals
Top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields all set goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation . It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organise your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.
Think about why you are learning Javascript and what you are aiming to achieve and break it down into a list of goals.
Write your goals down to greatly increase your odds of achieving them.
Operating System
We recommend using Linux(Ubuntu) or Mac for development due to the Linux Terminal. If you are using Windows you could try setting up a Virtual Machine to run Ubuntu.
Editing Code
There are many ways to edit code, find one which suits your needs:
Browser Based
Text Editor
Atom is written in Javascript and is hackable! MS Visual Code is open source and also pretty swish.
IDE
Web Storm the best IDE around at the moment, ideal for big projects.
Old School
If you want to get old school install vim via the command line and never use your mouse again!
Pro Tip: Install vim and type vimtutor in your terminal to take it for a spin!
Recommended Reading
We would recommend starting off by reading a book on Javascript to get familar with the basics.
Eloquent Javascript is a group favourite as it is well written, complete with exercises and available free online.
Further Reading:
- Javascript - The Good Parts
- You don't know JS
- Secrets of the Javascript Ninja
- The Pragmatic Programmer
- Clean Code
Online Courses
- Free Code Camp (Most starred project on github after Twitter Bootstrap!)
- Tree House
- Code Academy
- Udacity
- Introduction to Programming Course with MIT on Edx.
It's particularly important with Javascipt to make sure the resources you're using are up to date... a resource that's just a couple of years old can be way out of date; Javascript frameworks and methods are evolving rapidly.