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Javascript: 101

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Javascript: 101 course photo

Javascript: 101

Parag Shah's picture
Course organiser: Parag Shah
About the Course Organiser: 

I have an MS in Computer Science, and work as an independant programmer and mentor. I have been working for more than a decade mainly in the Java ecosystem.

More recently I am researching how we can utilize the potential of the web and new media technologies to facilitate open, collaborative learning.

No of Seats: 
-1
Course Status: 
Completed

Members

Parag Shah's picture
admin
Parag
ozzie sutcliffe's picture
admin
ozzie
Thomas Armstrong's picture
Thoma
Abdul-Hafiz Salam's picture
Abdul
acdanger's picture
acdan
Adam Collado's picture
Adam
Adil Muhammad's picture
Adil
Andrew Turner's picture
Andre
Ajit Ambekar's picture
Ajit
Alex Mrvaljevich's picture
Alex
Eric Anderson's picture
Eric
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Caz M
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Anna
Alberto Rascon's picture
Alber
Javier Díez's picture
Javie
Aravind Kumar's picture
Aravi
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JD
Pedro deCastro Davila's picture
Pedro
Brian Hamilton's picture
Brian
Ikem Nzeribe's picture
Ikem
Blain Armstrong's picture
Blain
Dave Keith's picture
Dave
daniel bougourd's picture
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Jason Lydon's picture
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Cam Sone's picture
Cam S
This course will cover basic concepts of Javascript programming and the DOM (document object model)

Summary

Update: We have created a course website to organize this course over the next 6 weeks.

Javascript began as a language to program web pages, but now it has become much more than that. There are server side frameworks for creating entire applications in Javascript, and testing frameworks which allow us to write scripts in Javascripts, and the original intent of creating dynamic web pages with Javascript as well.

The course content will consist of a series of video talks delivered by Douglas Crockford on Javascript programming. I have orgamized these videos in the form of a course on this website.

The basic process of learning and participation will be as follows:
1. Watch a video which explains certain Javascript concepts
2. Reflect on what you learned and blog your notes/reflections. If you have the time read the blog post of one or more other participants and engage them in a technical conversation.
3. Do the homework which may be a quiz and/or a small programming assignment
4. Upload the programming assignment to any open source repository
5. Write a blog post to describe how you approached the assignment, what doubts you had while doing the assignment, and anything related to the assignment.
6. In this entire process of you have any questions, technical, or otherwise, please post them on th forum
7. Along with asking questions, please also try and answer other participant's question whenever you can. Remember teaching is a great way to learn.

The blog posts and assignments uploaded on open source repositories will become your "proof of learning".

Course Schedule:

Week 1:

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

  • Backlog and recap

Learning objectives

This course covers basic concepts of Javascript programming, along with the DOM (document object model). The purpose of the course is to understand the syntax, capabilities, and limitations of Javascript, and to lay the foundations of becoming a good Javascript programmer.

Schedule/Syllabus

Comments

Looking forward to do some

Tiang Lim Foo's picture
Tiang Lim Foo
Sat, 2011-01-08 10:24

Looking forward to do some great work with all of you here. =)

same here! let's learn some

patrick collins's picture
patrick collins
Sun, 2011-01-23 21:33

same here! let's learn some javascript!!

I am very interested i this

Dameon Jamie's picture
Dameon Jamie
Sat, 2011-01-08 16:37

I am very interested i this course. Please sign me up!

Could you Sign Me Up For the

Stefan Alvarez's picture
Stefan Alvarez
Sat, 2011-01-08 17:52

Could you Sign Me Up For the Course, Thanks.

If signing up for the courses

Patrick Chuprina's picture
Patrick Chuprina
Sat, 2011-01-08 18:15

If signing up for the courses is not open yet and this course is in draft status, how come there is a -1 for seats available? Is it too late to do sign up tasks?

I am interested in this

Brad Moring's picture
Brad Moring
Sat, 2011-01-08 18:20

I am interested in this course.

Definitely looking forward to

Abdul-Hafiz Salam's picture
Abdul-Hafiz Salam
Sat, 2011-01-08 18:23

Definitely looking forward to this course. Please sign me up :)

I'm very interested. Can you

Jakub Pocentek's picture
Jakub Pocentek
Sat, 2011-01-08 18:44

I'm very interested. Can you sign me up?

I've been counting down to

Jason Nyquist's picture
Jason Nyquist
Sat, 2011-01-08 19:27

I've been counting down to today's registration. ah, excitement...

I'd like to sign up!

dj zero's picture
dj zero
Sat, 2011-01-08 22:14

I'd like to sign up!

I'd like to sign up too!

Valentino McComb's picture
Valentino McComb
Sat, 2011-01-08 23:40

I'd like to sign up too!

Good overview of Javascript

Brad Moring's picture
Brad Moring
Sun, 2011-01-09 17:00

Good overview of Javascript by Douglas Crockford - look forward to the course!

I would like to be in the

John Clifford Taylor's picture
John Clifford Taylor
Sun, 2011-01-09 18:51

I would like to be in the class but I can't figure out how to register someone please help! email me at: john.clifford.taylor@gmail.com

Here are my into assignment:

Blog post on what I learned www.javascript.johncliffordtaylor.com

2+2 Js Page
http://www.johncliffordtaylor.com/javaScript/assignment_0000/

Those who wish to apply for

Parag Shah's picture
Parag Shah
Mon, 2011-01-10 12:40

Those who wish to apply for this course, please click on the 'Apply' button on the course page. The application form will contain a place where you can paste a link to the blog post containing your sign-up task.

I get the 'approve' option only when a participant clicks on the 'Apply' button to apply for the course.

-
Thanks

Hi Pareg I am subscribed to

Maya Incaand's picture
Maya Incaand
Mon, 2011-01-10 14:20

Hi Pareg

I am subscribed to the course (selfstudier) and I have completed the signup task but cannot see an "apply" button anywhere on this page.

Please advise.

Hi Parag, I do not get the

Patrick Chuprina's picture
Patrick Chuprina
Mon, 2011-01-10 15:10

Hi Parag,

I do not get the "APPLY" button. Any ideas when this will become available? Please advise also.

Seems to be a bit of

Maya Incaand's picture
Maya Incaand
Mon, 2011-01-10 21:18

Seems to be a bit of confusion, seen a couple of posts from "Pippa" saying sign up isn't till 12th, so maybe it will appear then.

Hi Parag, My account states

Patrick Chuprina's picture
Patrick Chuprina
Mon, 2011-01-10 23:20

Hi Parag,

My account states my current courses is Javascript 101. THis is a good thing, but I do not remember enrolling and supplying my sign-up tasks. I very much want to be enrolled in this but am confused.

Patrick What I did was to

Maya Incaand's picture
Maya Incaand
Tue, 2011-01-11 03:25

Patrick

What I did was to unsubscribe from the course and then signed up again.I don't know if that was the right thing to do or not. I got a response saying my application was pending.

Maya, You are enrolled for

Parag Shah's picture
Parag Shah
Wed, 2011-01-12 18:39

Maya, You are enrolled for the course.

Pat, I am not quite sure how

Parag Shah's picture
Parag Shah
Wed, 2011-01-12 18:37

Pat, I am not quite sure how this happened. I received a request from you to enroll for the Javascript 101 course. I left a comment below asking you to complete the sign-up task.

However, now I see that you are registered for the course.

Did you want to be in this course? If so please do complete the sign-up task now ...

In case I received your application by mistake, then please do let me know.

While I was very interested

Marcus Faulstone's picture
Marcus Faulstone
Wed, 2011-01-12 17:58

While I was very interested in doing this course, the video + blog entry sign up task convinced me otherwise. The course title is misleading. It should be renamed Javascript 101 for Programmers.

While I am aware of the basic programming principles stipulated in the prerequisites, the video itself presumes a programming-oriented knowledge and vocabulary that goes far beyond that.

I have already previously done some self driven learning of Javascript, and can put together programs a few small degrees more complicated than the one asked of as a sign up task. And yet by half way through the video, I was already feeling like an ignorant imbecile. That didn't bode well for me, which is why I've decided upon finding another avenue to learn this language... one that does genuinely warrant a description of "Javascript 101".

Thank you for the time and effort in putting this together though. This wasn't meant to be a put down, but rather genuine feedback from a disappointed individual who was hoping to learn here. Cheers.

Marcus, While I do understand

Parag Shah's picture
Parag Shah
Wed, 2011-01-12 18:28

Marcus,

While I do understand your concerns, the videos will be used as a base for the learning and interactions.

The videos do discuss concepts which go beyond what someone who is not exposed to programming would know. But let me explain to you how I plan to facilitate the course.

Every week will begin with an email containing the video to be watched, a list of (usually small byte sized) articles which can be read to further understand the concepts mentioned in the video, a few programming tasks to practice the concepts, and some open ended questions to explore the concepts (within the timeframe of a week). This will be followed by forum discussions which will (hopefully) lead to better understanding.

Feeling like an 'ignorant imbecile' is a good thing, because it prompts us to learn more. I have often felt that way. If within a good and supportive community the feeling of ignorance can soon give way to becoming proficient.

I do agree with you. This course does pre-suppose some knowledge of programming concepts. However if you feel that many of the concepts are very new and complex, do not let that discourage you.

The final decision of whether the course will benefit you is yours, and you may have already have made the decision. Thanks for the feedback, you do make a very good point. I will keep this in mind as I facilitate the course.

Marcus.I know how you feel,

ozzie sutcliffe's picture
ozzie sutcliffe
Wed, 2011-01-12 22:07

Marcus.
I know how you feel, but the video is just a reference. Like all reference books, no person knows everything to infinity. This is why references books are always a collaboration.

Also I believe the video is really the index for and separate course and the JavaScript 101 and 201 is part of the video but not all of the video, so its more a generalization of the both courses.

http://richardbowles.tripod.com/javascript/section1/lesson1.htm
I have been doing stuff from this site also which helps me fill in the blanks.
What you will find here which will not be in any reference books is different approaches to learning.
Below is a snip from the link above,see how easy it makes OOL now ??
snip
JavaScript is an Object Oriented Language

Everything in JavaScript takes the form of an object. This means that it is a "package", which contains various properties (pieces of information) and methods (lists of instructions that it can carry out). An example of an object in real life might be a bird. The 'properties' of the bird - the information associated with it - are its breed, its plumage colour, details of its diet etc. The 'methods' of the bird would comprise things that it knew how to do, such as sing, fly, peck, breed etc. In Object Oriented computer languages such as JavaScript, the sort of objects would be things like documents (screens), windows, variable types etc. but they still have properties and methods.
snip

hth

oz

Hi All, I just submitted my

Nick's picture
Nick
Wed, 2011-01-12 22:12

Hi All,
I just submitted my application, along with the two tasks. I then saw that "No of seats" is at "-1".

I hope that's a bug and there are still seats open. Really looking forward to rolling my sleeves up with this course.

n

I found this course and was

Andrew Dillon's picture
Andrew Dillon
Wed, 2011-01-12 23:02

I found this course and was able to sign up a few weeks back without sign-up tasks. I'm happy to do the tasks, but don't want to unsubscribe and lose my spot with this -1 seats thing. Let me know what you suggest.

Thanks,
Drew

I found this course and was

Andrew Dillon's picture
Andrew Dillon
Wed, 2011-01-12 23:02

I found this course and was able to sign up a few weeks back without sign-up tasks. I'm happy to do the tasks, but don't want to unsubscribe and lose my spot with this -1 seats thing. Let me know what you suggest.

Thanks,
Drew

Parag Shah & ozzie

Marcus Faulstone's picture
Marcus Faulstone
Thu, 2011-01-13 02:57

Parag Shah & ozzie sutcliffe:

Thanks for the response and the words of encouragement. OK, challenge accepted! Application submitted!!!

Hello Parag, I'm not sure I

Rob S's picture
Rob S
Thu, 2011-01-13 05:25

Hello Parag,

I'm not sure I submitted my sign-up tasks in the correct location so I would like to provide you with this link http://phase2-rob.blogspot.com/ to my blog that has both tasks completed.

I'm looking forward to being accepted into the course and am excited to get it going!

Thanks,
Rob

I've added my blog post and

Melipone Moody's picture
Melipone Moody
Thu, 2011-01-13 06:11

I've added my blog post and javascript assignment to the sign-up form. When do I know if I have been accepted in the course?