How well should I know Javascript?

Question

I am a mature student learning web design and programming I am gaining a basic knowledge in Javascript i.e variables, functions, arrays etc dreamweaver, photoshop and flash. which one of these should I spend most time on, as it seems that when I start to practice Javascript I cannot seem to stop, much to the detriment of the other programmes. I havent started on Flash yet. Any studying advice out there

Answer 1

JavaScript is much more than variables, functions and arrays.

It's about objects, regular expressions, xml, dom navigation and manipulation, remote calling (ajax and more).

It's about well structured applications that can be re-used over and over again.

Photoshop is one way to make pictures web-ready, there are others. It's the main tool for graphic artists!

Flash is cute, actionscript is an ECMA language , very similar to JavaScript. It's a niche inside the graphic artist category of jobs. A great flash programmer is a great artist and a very good javascript programmer.

dreamweaver and other 'do it all' programs are a bad choice for learners... they make pages quick, but dirty! Stick with HTML and XHTML, you'll be much more valuable.

Writing good JavaScript is an art form. Just when you have mastered one aspect, you learn another. Perhaps it's more like a drug????

Answer 2

Sounds like you're doing just fine, but I'd not try to learn too many disciplines at once.

HTML, CSS and JavaScript are very interdependent, whereas Flash is somewhat of a departure, so I'd give that a miss for the time being.

I would also say that good HTML knowledge should come first, then CSS will make a hell of a lot more sense, as will DOM scripting with JavaScript.

Good reference:
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Gecko_DOM_Reference

Answer 3

You are taking a category and also you have got to be trained Javascript? Then do not ask for a whole reply. Your trainer will most likely be capable to inform newbie code from informed code. All you have got to do is be trained the best way to write a loop and use an "if" declaration with a modulus operator.

Answer 4

there are some core elements to web design:

html
CSS
javascript

then you have things like flash (which use actionscript, which is similar to javascript). html rocks, but can rock more with javascript. css makes html rock, but combined with javascript results in DHTML.

javascript can be used with XML, to make your site amazing! see "ajax".

ultimately, javascript is very usefull (despite the fact that any user can disable it, or parts of it). but most sites use javascript, and a user gets less usage out of web sites if they dont allow it.

learn HTML first (not dreamweaver, or frontpage), then either CSS or javascript (your choice).

in the end, javascript will help you understand programming to some degree, and will help make HTML better, and help CSS become more dynamic!