What is the best way to learn Vanilla JavaScript?

Learning Vanilla JavaScript can be a great way to gain a solid foundation in the language. Vanilla JavaScript is the pure form of JavaScript without the use of any frameworks or libraries. In this article, we will discuss the best way to learn Vanilla JavaScript. But before it, let’s discuss the difference between Vanilla JavaScript and JavaScript.

What is difference between Vanilla JavaScript and JavaScript?

Generally, there is no difference between them, but there are some differences based on the following parameters.

Vanilla JavaScript is a core of the JavaScript language. Which refers to ES5/6/7 and so on. Whereas non-vanilla would contain libraries and frameworks like Angular, ReactJS, Vue.js, TypeScript, etc.

JavaScript is an object-oriented, interpreted scripting language. It’s a client-side scripting language that is used to develop dynamic web pages.

It’s one of those three languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) which is used to develop the website. Where HTML, CSS provides the content and styling of the website and JavaScript adds functionality to the website and all modern web browsers support it without the use of plug-ins.

So, Vanilla JS is plain JavaScript without any library and framework.

To get a solid foundation in JavaScript learning Vanilla JavaScript can be a good way to start.

Here are some tips for learning Vanilla JavaScript −

Basics

For every language one should Start with the basic concepts such as variables, data types, functions, loops, and conditionals. These concepts form the building blocks of the language and will be used frequently in the code.

Practice

Practice, practice, practice: The best way to learn is by doing. Start building small projects such as some designs, simple games or calculators, and small-small projects. As remembering things will not help in the longer term so by doing real practice you will understand how things work and what is the way to apply the learned elements and functions.

Documentation

Read documentation: The official documentation on the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) is a great resource for learning Vanilla JavaScript. It provides clear explanations and examples of various concepts and functions.

Communities

Join online communities − Joining online communities such as Reddit, Stack Overflow, or Discord can help you learn from experienced developers and get answers to your questions. As many developers and learners like you are there in the community where they help each other to get things done.

Courses

Take online courses: There are many online courses available that teach Vanilla JavaScript. Choose a reputable course from a respected institution or instructor. The video course will show you a real-time demonstration of the working of JavaScript and they follow the procedure-wise practice. Some of the platforms can be like Tutorials Point, Udemy, Coursers, and YouTube.

Books

Reading books in related languages also helps you to learn things faster. One can also take the example of the book “Eloquent JavaScript” which is considered the best book for vanilla JavaScript. The book is written by Marijn Haverbeke that teaches the fundamentals of the JavaScript programming language. The book covers topics such as data types, functions, control flow, object-oriented programming, and more advanced topics such as regular expressions and debugging. The book is designed to be accessible to beginners while also providing depth and insight for more experienced programmers. The book also includes coding exercises and examples to help readers understand and practice the concepts covered.

Testing With Tools

Experiment with browser developer tools: Most browsers have developer tools that allow you to experiment with and test your JavaScript code in real-time.

Clean Code

Write clean and readable code − As you practice, strive to write clean and readable code that follows best practices. This will make your code easier to maintain and understand in the long run.

In the industry writing meaningful code plays a big role as you have to write code that should not be ambiguous and should be understandable.

Remember that learning Vanilla JavaScript takes time and patience. It's important to start with the basics and gradually build your skills through practice and experimentation.

So, these were some of the best ways to learn vanilla JavaScript or one can also apply these concepts in learning other languages.