Welcome to Let’s Code JavaScript
Let’s Code JavaScript is a show about professional web development. Here’s where to start.
Junior developer? Start with the How To channel.
If you’re just starting your professional journey, the How To channel is for you. It’s a scripted walkthrough that will teach you what you need to know to code with the pros. Start with the first episode and watch it all the way through to the end.
Intermediate or senior developer? Start with the latest Live season.
If you’re an experienced professional, the Live channel is for you. Professional development is all about working with existing code, and that means that our priority is to constantly reduce maintenance costs. We have four main strategies:
- Reproducible Builds
- Test-Driven Development
- Refactoring and Evolutionary Design
- KISS Principle
The Live channel shows how these strategies play out in real-world development. You see everything—false starts, mistakes, and successes—which gives you the skills you need to apply these strategies to your own work.
The Live channel has over 150 hours of content, but don’t worry, you don’t have to start at the beginning. I suggest starting with one of our most recent seasons. Here’s the whole list:
- Season 1: Node.js
- Season 2: Front-End Development
- Season 3: Productization
- Season 4: Design and CSS (includes CSS testing and refactoring!)
- Season 5: Real-Time Web
- Season 6: Advanced Real-Time Networking
There’s a ton of great content in the Live channel, so check out the table of contents and pick chapters that look interesting. You might also want to watch our final recap chapter. It reviews four of the most interesting ideas we covered in the Live series:
- Episode 610: A Few of My Favorite Things (introduction)
- Episode 611: Reproducible Builds
- Episode 612: Evolutionary Design
- Episode 613: Visual Testing
- Episode 614: Testing Without Mocks
Check out the Lessons Learned channel and The Lab, too. They’re pretty old, but there’s some gems in there. I particularly recommend our Legacy Code series.
Advanced developer, but new to JavaScript? Watch these first.
If you’re an experienced developer, but new to JavaScript, the Lessons Learned channel has animated references that will be useful for you.
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Definitive Guide to Object-Oriented JavaScript. JavaScript's objects are a bit… weird. This video and its associated visualization website will help you figure them out.
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DOM Events, UI Testing Strategies, and Selenium. A nice introduction to working with browsers’ Document Object Model.
The first four chapters of the How To channel will bring you up to speed on JavaScript tooling and workflow. They’re meant to be watched in order, but you could probably skip ahead to the chapters that interest you.
- Chapter 1: The Reproducible Build (start with episode 3, “The Automated Build“)
- Chapter 2: Safe Coding
- Chapter 3: Cross-Browser Testing
- Chapter 4: Front-End Modules
Once you’re up to speed on JavaScript, the Live channel suggestions above are a good place to continue.
Make learning part of your routine.
It’s hard to keep up when life gets busy. Most episodes are less than 15 minutes long and they can be viewed on most popular mobile devices. Watch an episode during your commute, or take a few minutes during lunch. Each video has a DRM-free download link so you can watch even when you’re not online. (But please limit your downloads to videos you watch while subscribed. It keeps us on the air.)
When you have more time, be an active learner. Read and participate in the comments under each video. Create your own copy of the source code and see if you can repeat or improve upon each episode. Experiment with alternate ways of solving the problems we encounter, and share your ideas in the comments.
Enjoy!
Most of all, enjoy the show!