Mark Myers - A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript: The new approach that uses technology to cut your effort in half

"Damn, this program is ridiculously good. The author needs to sign up to run this country's education program." Matthew Highland"This is the most incredible learning experience I have ever had. Amazing!!" Jon W. Christophersen"Mark's exercises are worth more than the $300 class I took. Love this program." Michelle Schackel"A truly innovative way to learn JavaScript" William Burbank"A powerful new, interactive teaching machine." W. Green"...lays things out in a way that anyone can understand." Dr. Robert Valli"The perfect book for anyone wanting to learn Javascript." Coder0585"...the companion website gives you a chance to practice it so that it sticks in your head for good." Alan Forbes, developer and coding guru"Not only am I learning JavaScript incredibly fast, I am enjoying it." Justin A. Roether"Finally! exactly what I need to learn effectively." Samantha Lim"I wanted to learn JavaScript, but other sources were too difficult. This is the best." Chaz Hirales"I've used it to complement what I learnt at Codeacademy." Alexandre Bobeda"We have now implemented this as one of the prerequisites before being accepted to the coding camp." Douglas Paul Burns"Great book for anyone wanting to start out programming." Dane Cameron, software engineer"Does a fantastic job of breaking down the process of learning a complicated subject." Mitesh Dabhi, web designer and developer"This is a fun book. It actually does makes learning JavaScript quite painless." Amazon Customer"If You're Too Dumb for a "For Dummies" book..." C. Christopher Akin, IT professional
"A pretty cool way to learn a new language." J. Oborn, web developer"Best tool I've found." Laine Gebhardt"Clear, lively, and never dry." Chandra K. Clarke"My hand to God, this book never induced an afternoon nap, or even made me sleepy." Jeremy Costa"Simplifies the complicated." Olu Odebunmi"Strikes a perfect balance between learning, practicing and feedback." Jeff Santos"JavaScript made easy." Clark Anderson"Better than Codeacademy." Callum Makkai

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All rights reserved, including the right
to reproduce this book, or any
portions of it, in any form.

1.1

For Jack Myers, DDS, my late father, whose example I follow in trying to get the job done with a minimum of pain.

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If theres something in this book or in the online exercises thats giving you trouble or that you dont understand, be a love and tell me about it. The book and exercises have improved steadily, thanks to scores of beta testers and readers who generously took the time to ask questions or cry foul. Youll find a list that includes many of these people at the back of the book.

Theres a feedback form at the bottom of the main page at http://ASmarterWayToLearn.com. Theres also one at the conclusion of each set of exercises. Or you can email me at mark@ASmarterWayToLearn.com. Dont be shy. Talk to me!

When you set out to learn anything as complicated as JavaScript, you sign up for some heavy cognitive lifting. If I had to guess, I'd say the whole project of learning a computer language burns at least a large garden-cart load of brain glucose. But here's what may not have occurred to you: When you combine the roles of student and teacher by teaching yourself, your cognitive load doubles.

Yes, all the information is right there in the book if the author has done a good job. But learning a language entails far more than reading some information, doesn't it? You need to bootstrap your way to fluency, which takes plenty of work and requires some kind of plan. You need to practice the book's lessons. How are you going to structure that? And you need some way to correct yourself when you go off-course. Since a book isn't the best way to help you with these tasks, most authors don't even try. Which means all the work of designing a learning path for yourself is left to you. And this do-it-yourself meta-learning, this struggle with the question of how to master what the book is telling you, typically takes more effort than the learning itself.

Traditionally, a live instructor bridges the gap between reading and learning. Taking a comprehensive course, attending a boot camp, or working one-on-one with a mentor is still the best way to learn JavaScript if you have the time and can afford it. But, as long as many people prefer to learn on their own, why not use the latest technology as a substitute teacher? Let the book lay out the principles. Then use an interactive program for memorization, practice, and correction. When the computer gets into the act, you'll learn twice as fast, with half the effort. It's a smarter way to learn JavaScript. It's a smarter way to learn anything.

Here, then, is how I propose to use current technology to help you learn JavaScript in half the time, with half the effort.

• Cognitive portion control. Testing showed me that when they're doing hard-core learning, even strong-minded people get tired faster than I would have expected. You may be able to read a novel for two hours at a stretch, but when you're studying something new and complicated, it's a whole different ballgame. My testing revealed that studying new material for about ten minutes is the limit, before most learners start to fade. But here's the good news: Even when you've entered the fatigue zone after ten minutes of studying, you've still got the mental wherewithal to practice for up to thirty minutes. Practice that's designed correctly takes less effort than studying, yet teaches you more. Reading a little and practicing a lot is the fastest way to learn.
• 500 coding examples that cover every aspect of what you're learning. Examples make concepts easy to grasp and focus your attention on the key material covered in each chapter. Special formatting cues embedded in the code help you commit rules to memory. Did I go overboard and put in more examples that you need? Well, if things get too easy for you, just skip some of them.
• Tested on naive users. The book includes many rounds of revisions based on feedback from programming beginners. It includes extra-help discussions to clarify concepts that proved to be stumbling blocks during testing. Among the testers: my technophobe wife, who discovered that, with good instruction, she could codeand was surprised to find that she enjoyed it. I got a few surprises myself. Some things that are simple to me turned out not to be not so simple to some readers. Rewriting ensued.
• Free interactive coding exercises paired with each chapter1,750 of them in all. They're the feature that readers say helps them the most. No surprise there. According to the New York Times, psychologists "have shown that taking a testsay, writing down all you can remember from a studied prose passagecan deepen the memory of that passage better than further study." I would venture that this goes double when you're learning to code. After reading each chapter, go online and practice everything you learned. Each chapter ends with a link to its accompanying online exercises.