Javascript from a Noob's Perspective
21 Jan 2021
Why I am a Javascript Noob
If you don’t know what ‘noob’ means, allow me to explain. Noob is internet slang for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in a profession or activity. This perfectly describes the relationship between Javascript and I. I am currently taking the course Software Engineering I at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and this is the first time I’ve ever touched Javascript. With what I’ve learned so far, it has been a great experience. When I first started to learn how to code (with Java), I always needed to refer to examples because I kept making sytax errors. Now that I have more experience coding in different languages, I was able to pick up the Javascript syntax much faster. I’m still working on learning how to code concisely and elegantly while applying language-specific features but I’ll get there eventually.
Javascript’s Versatility
From a wannabe software engineer perspective, I think Javascript is a great programming language because it is versatile. It can be used for both front-end and back-end development which isn’t the case for some other languages. I really like how it is easy to pick up Javascript. I’ve learned C/C++ from school and tried to self-teach myself Python but it was harder for me to learn and get comfortable. One thing that I especially like about Javascript is that you don’t need to declare the variable type when creating a variable. This makes it much faster to code. Another thing I really enjoy about Javascript is from ES6 (ECMAScript 6: JavaScript standard meant to ensure the interoperability of web pages across different web browsers) where you can declare a variable with let and const. The declaration let is important because it allows you to make two variables with the same name in different scopes which will not declare an error like var would. The declaration const is also imporatant because it lets you declare a value but you’re not allowed to change it after. Like the name suggests, declaring a const means you want that value to remain constant.
Pros of Athletic SWE
I think athletic software engineering is really useful and effective in teaching students how to think on their feet while solving problems. It forces you to really think through everything you’ve learned and apply what you know is best. As someone who panics easily, I find timed activities to be very stressful but I know that they are incredibly helpful. With exercises like WODs, there’s no time to dwell on your mistakes. You need to figure out where you went wrong, remember, and move on to the next problem. As time goes on and you learn more, you only get better. I think this style of learning will work for me because it causes me to remember my mistakes and apply what I learned more efficiently.