- Oh right, you're still here.
As we wrap up, I wanted to tell you
a short story about my learning journey with JavaScript
for some inspiration as you embark
on your own learning journey.
All the way back when I started working on the web,
JavaScript was something we really didn't use
all that much, partially because it wasn't all that useful,
and partially because it was very tricky to use.
When years later I did start adding JavaScript to my sites,
it was usually through jQuery or some other helper library,
and it was still limited to minor interactions and features.
To be honest, I was actively resisting JavaScript
for a very long time because it seemed way too abstracted
from what I thought of as the real work of the web,
writing proper semantic HTML and CSS.
That all changed when I realized I could use JavaScript
to do things that were very hard
or even impossible to do using HTML
and server side frameworks like PHP.
That big epiphany for me came
when I realized JavaScript allowed me to pull content
from any data source as an object,
and then do whatever I wanted with that object.
And suddenly, the way I thought
about JavaScript was turned on its head.
No longer a tool to add minor interactivity,
JavaScript became my primary tool
for consuming and parsing data, managing HTML and CSS,
and building websites and applications.
The key to all of that was realizing,
in JavaScript, everything is an object.
Those objects have properties,
and those objects have methods that act on those properties.
And that's the lesson I've tried
to share with you in this course.
Now that you are at the end of this course,
you have a solid foundation
from which to start your own learning journey
in the wild and wonderful world of JavaScript.
We have a long list of more advanced courses
on Vanilla JavaScript,
on JavaScript frameworks like React and Vue,
on REST APIs and GraphQL,
and all the other things JavaScript brings to the table,
and they are all ready and waiting
for you to take the next steps.
I want to leave you with two insights.
JavaScript is always evolving,
and it's worth the effort to stay on top
of the latest and greatest the language has to offer.
If you're new to JavaScript right now,
invest your time in learning about modern features.
The stuff we use to do that the past is in the past.
The future is where it's at.
Number two, your success in learning and working
with JavaScript hinges on how you approach it.
If you think of JavaScript as a cryptic coding language,
it will remain a cryptic coding language to you.
If on the other hand, you think of it
as a way of talking to a computer about objects and methods,
that's how you'll understand it.
Everyone can learn to master JavaScript,
it's all about attitude.
And just between you and me,
the key is to have a healthy disrespect
for the sanctity of code.
Do what you want.
Break the code, poke around and mess with it
until it makes sense to you.
You're working in the browser.
It's a safe environment.
You can do whatever you want.
And remember, the MDN Web Docs have a ton
of documentation and examples on hand
and the web community is full of people like me
you can reach out to if you have questions.
So do not hesitate to ask when something is
confusing or doesn't make sense.
Now, all that's left for me to say is
(speaking foreign language).
Go build some amazing things with JavaScript,
and I'll see you in the next course.