Preserved Topic: just getting started

I am very interested in learning javasript. I've seen a lot of the amazing things that can be done and I'm sick of giving my graphics work to other people. It's time to do it myself. Any advise from the masters out there? Good books? Words of wisdom? I've never done a single bit of programming before in my life and have absolutely no clue what I'm getting myself into--all I know is that I want it.
Thank you, in advance, to anyone who responds. And I'll have a signature ready for my next post.

Oh, and Doc, your homepage is amazing, how do you do it??

Programming is scary until you get into it.

Javascript is also scary until you realize that it is not. You may get really turned off when you look at someone elses code, it is scary foreign, and downright ugly at times... BUT when you write your own code it makes perfect sense.

Ok, here is my sugestion, do a search for a Javascript tutorial, I know that there are good ones out there on the web. Look for one that is for beginners. Work through it do all their examples, see how they work.

Then when you are ready to go off on your own, make sure to comment on all of your code. This is from the heart if you are a beginning coder and you do not comment on every line you will find yourself confused. It is good form to learn and to know, it will never not be a benifit.

Actually, I would strongly reccomend *not* looking at JavaScript tutorials on the web. I did that when I first got into JavaScript. Then I got a good book that explained it in detail. I don't think that any tutorial I had looked at explained correctly what was going on. Nor did any tutorials ever contain enough information for me to learn how to, say, recreate Doc's front page.

You can use them if you want. If you'd prefer a book, I reccomend JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly). (http://www.oreilly.com) However, when I used this, i *had* had previous programming experience, and that was probably helpful in understanding some of it.

In any case, good luck!

-Slime

I'll have to agree with Slime that most single tutorials don't quite have enough info. However, I learned by jumping between MANY of them. It can take awhile but you'll start to see things more clearly after time. I had absolutely no programming experience before I starting diving in except for HTML (which is nothing compared to every other comp language out there).
I must be honest Slime, I have the same book and for me it made absolutely no sense at all when I first started out. Very technical. It sounds like you have been at this for awhile so it probably made perfect sense for you (bastard!). However, now the book is good. I like it because, obviously, it's a reference manual and you can find anything in there on the subject. I wish I had your talent Slime.
Anyway, if you want any sites Fred, two that were good for me (and still are!): http://www.dansteinman.com/ http://www.bratta.com/
Good luck. Just stick to it and try not to get too discouraged.


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Bitte baby, fifteen's my limit on shnitzengrueben.

Yeah, it does use a lot of vocabulary, even with the skill I had, I realized that lots of people wouldn't be able to understand it from scratch. However, it explains everything down to the last detail, and really gives you a good sense of what's going on, once you understand it. It has an excellent reference secion at the end. Half the book, in fact, is just reference, and contains everything.

Thank you again to everyone who responded. I just went out and bought a couple of really fat tomes and have been starting on the website searches as well. I'm taking a 6 month sabattical from the world--locked in a closet with nothing but my books and a computer. When I emerge I will be a master...(yeah, right)
Oh well, It'll be a good start. Thanks again for your wisdom and encouragement.