JavaScript Experience

JavaScript has become more important with HTML5. Therefore I started to improve my JavaScript skills in the recent month. I took a deep dive in the language working through different books and examples. I also take a quick tour of node.js and was impressed about its functional richness, modular approach and its simplicity in use. After some hardcode text editor programming I decided to use WebStorm as IDE. What a relief to be back in the world of context sensitivity!

I started reading the JavaScript bible of Mr. Crockford 'JavaScript: The Good Parts'. But this was hard stuff for a reentry in the JavaScript cosmos after a few years of abstinence. Although this book covers the really main and important points, you should have some practise in the language itself by working this book. Of similar quality and covering most of the typical design patterns is the book JavaScript Patterns written by Stoyan Stefanov. I found it easier to read and understandable than Crockford. For exploring node.js I read Node.js & Co by Golo Roden that covers the main aspects of node.js by following the development of a sample application. I hadn't worked it through completely but I found it well structured and easy to understand.

That was a short summary of my JavaScript experience during the first months of 2013. The functional approach and its dynamic are some good parts of the language. But I do not wonder why Google invented Dart as an alternative language for the web. Building huge applications with JavaScript must be hard and could only be done with a bunch of very experienced, talented and disciplined developers and such are not always easy to find ;-)