Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I proceed?

Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by itamarst on Saturday November 05, 2016 @09:04PM (#12882850)

1. Don't try to learn 5 technologies at once. Pick one.

2. As a first pass, don't overfocus on the details, focus on the conceptual model: what are the key abstractions, how do they work and how do they interact?

3. Read a book, not just tutorials. Harder for newer frameworks, but got to be something. A decent book will give you a much deeper view than a tutorial, helping you with item 2 on the list.

4. Start looking for common themes that connect to existing knowledge. None of this is really new stuff; front end frameworks inherit ideas from GUI frameworks, and from backend web frameworks. I've written a bit about doing this for programming languages (https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/03/10/compare-contrast/), but same concept applies elsewhere: everything is variations on a theme, basic functional requirements forcing particular forms.

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Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by PythonicPro on Saturday November 05, 2016 @09:15PM (#12882893)

Thanks for the tips! Any books you'd recommend for learning modern front-end?

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Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by anthonyko on Sunday November 06, 2016 @01:46AM (#12883731)

I had a lot of problems with front-end stuff as well. Turns out I didn't know Javascript well enough. Solved it by going through this course: http://watchandcode.com/p/practical-javascript

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Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by brianzelip on Sunday November 06, 2016 @09:38AM (#12885242)

I've found the 'You Don't Know JS' series very helpful for understanding JS from the ground up. In book form or for free via !gh, https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS.

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Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by dancek on Sunday November 06, 2016 @10:31AM (#12885486)

You Don't Know JS has to be the best and most detailed book about JavaScript that exists. It might be a bit much for a beginner, so just skim it at first and come back when something doesn't make sense.

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Re:Ask HN: Overwhelmed with learning front-end, how do I pro... by HillRat on Sunday November 06, 2016 @01:41AM (#12883714)

Nicolas Bevacqua's JavaScript Application Design: A Build First Approach isn't a bad place to start -- Manning has a few books on SPA design and development that are well-suited for experienced developers who are new to modern web front-end dev.

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