Learning JavaScript is a must if you ever want to become a web developer. Still, with the wrong learning approach, this language can quickly become an insurmountable obstacle.

It’s easy to get lost in all the resources you can find online, from tutorials to simple advice like this on how to speak JS in your code.

But is there a solution to all this noise? My answer is: yes!

You just need a very defined plan of action. And today I’ve written that for you.

First, Start with Why

Why working toward a goal in the first place if you don’t even know why you’re doing it? How will you define your success if you don’t have a destination in all of this?

If you want to learn JavaScript, first ask yourself why. Write it down. Put your words on a sticky note and remind yourself of your goal every day.

Here’s an example of what you could write down.

• I want to learn JavaScript because I know HTML and CSS, and I want to get a coding job.
• I want to learn JavaScript because I want to build an e-commerce app.

Now that you know the reasons behind your actions, you can start gathering the resources to reach your goal.

Find Yourself One Cool Resource and Stick with It

I recently realized how much I’ve constantly been bombarded with new resources to learn to code. Every day a new author will publish something, a new course or book will pop up. It’s so terrible to not know where to put your money and trust into.

My advice is: find a single, excellent resource to learn the language and stick with it. That may be a Udemy course, an online platform like StackAdemic, or Treehouse. Still, it’s essential to reduce the amount of noise surrounding your learning experience.

Build a Ton of Projects.

Now that you have found a single source of information, you should complement your learning by building projects by yourself, a lot of them. If you learn how to use if-else statements, write a fizz-buzz. If you learned how to manipulate the DOM, write a little JavaScript game.

Learn, experiment, fail, try again, succeed. This is how coding is done, how you gain mastery, how you build your skills, and your portfolio.

Practice Every Day

I didn’t believe in this advice given by all top performers out there, from orchestra master to athletes. Probably it was because I knew I’m not a very constant person, and I didn’t want to face that reality.

I’ve come to accept that you have to put practice into something if you want to succeed in it. Daily exercise, not 45 minutes once in a while. Deliberate learning and testing your skills every day.

Don’t illude yourself that you can learn JavaScript in just 45 minutes, one day of study, and three of rest. This would be a significant lie from me and a considerable loss of time for you.

Find time for learning this skill every day. Your practice will compound over time, turning you into a language master quicker than you expect.

Conclusion

Learning JavaScript is not impossible. It can also be quite a straightforward process if you can cut out the unnecessary noise from your learning. If you follow my advice, I’m sure your efforts will be all worth it, and you will see yourself speaking JavaScript very, very soon.

— Piero