- Let's say you're completely new to web development.
If you go on the web and look for tools, tutorials
and code examples for building a website or application,
there's a very good chance
the first thing you'll come across
is something built using a JavaScript framework
like React or Vue, Angular, Svelte, or something like that.
We're in a new era of web development
where JavaScript is becoming the primary language
for everything both in the browser, on the server
and even on your own computer.
Those good old days of building websites using HTML and CSS
and just a sprinkling of JavaScript are well behind us,
and the new technology stack is built around JavaScript
and JavaScript frameworks.
Today, learning JavaScript so you can go out
and use it right now means learning modern JavaScript
and modern JavaScript tooling
and learning how to decipher and understand things like JSX
and TypeScript so you're able to recognize
and work with frameworks like React.
With this in mind, I've structured this course
to give you the tools you need
to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape.
So rather than start with the simple stuff
and then slowly building things up,
we're going to start with relatively complex things
and pick them apart to understand what's happening,
how things work and how to work with modern JavaScript.
This approach, taking something complex, breaking it down
and then building your own versions of it
is the best approach to learning new things
and keeping yourself current.
And by following this course,
you'll habituate yourself to this learning process.
So let's start that process right now.
This is a typical React component.
This is what you'll likely encounter
when you go out on the web and try to build something today.
And looking at it, even I need a moment to figure out
what on earth is going on.
Now here's the thing.
This is not pure JavaScript, this is JSX,
a syntax extension of JavaScript
created for the React JavaScript framework.
Which begs the question, if I'm going to work with React,
should I just learn JSX then?
The answer is no.
You should definitely learn JavaScript first.
JSX is an extension, so you still need the basics,
and if you understand the basics,
you'll quickly pick up JSX
and other JavaScript flavors as well.
This React component has a ton of different parts
we'll discuss in depth in this course.
Objects and methods, functions, template literals, arrays,
we'll cover it all.
And at the end of the course,
we'll return to this component and you'll see
once you have the basics down,
you'll be able to make sense of this component
even without knowing React or JSX.