Javascript: Foreign but Familiar
18 Jan 2023A recollection of my pleasant experience thus far with Javascript.
Just like home
My experience with Javascript has been mostly positive. Since Javascript is so object-oriented, learning it has been familiar to me due to my experience with C, C++, and Java. Although the syntax is different here and there being a lack of strong typing, I have found that the freecodecamp exercises have been very helpful in getting me comfortable with the ins and outs of the language relative to Java. With the help of WODs and the new but interesting concepts in ES6, learning java script has been a gratifying process.
Learning through competition
Athletic software engineering has proven to be useful and entertaining. The practice WODs have been conducive in exercising my critical thinking skills and reframing them for the Javascript context. The “isUnique” practice WOD in particular opened my eyes to the possibilities of Javascript’s object-oriented nature. My solution, which involved a nested for loop to check for repeated character paled in comparison to the video’s solution of creating an object that essentially functioned as a hashtable. The WOD which in addition to being a fun way to challenge myself and compete against my classmates, was enlightening for my previously lacking knowledge of the object methods of Javascript.
Out with the old in with the new
Furthermore, ES6 has been challenging but interesting in my Javascript learning experience. New concepts such as destructuring and arrow functions were confusing as presented in the freecodecamp exercises and to this time still have me re-googling their syntax and capabilities. I am not in the proper mindset to fully utilize destructuring, but just looking at their functionality on paper makes me excited to streamline my web development process and make things more convenient. One usage that comes to mind now with my basic understanding of the destructuring of objects and arrays, is cutting down potentially convoluted references to properties of certain objects. Having the ability to refer to a property with a variable seems incredibly convenient.
All in all, learning Javascript has been inviting with its object-oriented nature, but challenging with its differing syntax and new concepts.