Re:Ask HN: How should I start with modern JS?
by brudgers on Tuesday February 02, 2016 @10:31AM
(#11020018)
I'd add: no Node, no NPM. Learn the browser and it's tools. Avoid all dependencies at first so that going forward, there will be a basis for determining if taking a dependency is worth the long term cost and the upfront cost of using it.
Once you get a grip on what the language is capable of and how to use it, then you can understand how the frameworks work and why they save time / make life easier (or harder).
I once worked with a programmer that learned Laravel without actually learning PHP. That's great - he could jump into Laravel projects, but when it came time for him to help on anything custom or WP sites; he was completely lost. He also had no idea how or why Laravel worked; just that he memorized x snippets of code and they produced a result.
It'll make you a better programmer in the long run.