If you’re reading this, it means I actually stopped procastinating managed to clear my schedule for the rest of the evening and enjoy a warm cup of tea in my enormous bean bag. It’s been a crazy month, but everything seems to be quiet these days, so I’ll take advantage of it and write another post for this blog. There’s almost one more month left till Christmas, yet everyone is making plans for the most wonderful time of the year. Personally, I have no idea what I’m doing these holidays - and it scares the shit out of me. I simply can’t think about it right now, ‘cause my mind is running a sincere(and brutal) retrospective of the last year.

I have to admit - 2019 has been an emotional rollercoaster. It alternatively took me through the lowest of lows and highest of highs, then it suddenly slowed down, making me feel like I finally found my peace of mind. I couldn’t even imagine that out of nowhere, my ride could took one more turn and then a near vertical drop at the very end of the track. But it happened. Lets rewind and see what I mean by that.

Lately, I’ve been playing around with React, Redux, Angular, GraphQL, Apollo and other popular tools that have been rising high this year - like Web Assembly, for instance. I even built some nice things along the way so I was really happy with my progress as a developer… till one day. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I accept certain job interview invitations, hoping that I’ll have some fun and actually learn something new during the recruitment process. So when a small company approached me last month, with a proposal to work on an interesting project, I immediately said yes. I was feeling pretty comfortable with the tools they were using so I wasn’t worried about the interview at all. In fact, I was thrilled - so we met the very next day.

At first, all went well. We sat down for a coffee and talked about all sorts of things - their vision, my experience, state-of-the-art technologies and so on. Afterwards, we cut the crap and dived right into the technical quiz. Since the very beggining, I was really pleased by the way they were conduncting the interview. The questions were smart, concise and tricky at times. I actually felt like they we’re pushing me to dig deeper and deeper in my mind palace, just to prove me that sometimes the basic things are the most difficult to deal with. However, my answers were satisfying, so I gained even more confidence. That was my biggest mistake - I got cocky, and from that moment onwards, I fell in almost every single trap they had prepared for me.

We don’t have to go through what happened next, ‘cause I feel like this post would get a whole lot longer. No, I’m not ashamed - if I were, I wouldn’t be talking about this event here, publicly. I just feel like more people could learn something from my experience - especially the young developers out there trying to make their way into the industry. So without further ado, this right here goes out to all the people asking me wheter they should learn React or Angular to get a job.

After we were done with the interview, I headed back home, feeling down and confused. I put my headphones on, but I couldn’t hear anything, ‘cause I kept on telling myself one thing:

You don’t know JS.

Can I build something from scratch using React? Of course, it’s almost a no brainer. Can I go to the office and do my job everyday? Hell yeah. But do I know JS? At this point, I don’t even know what I know anymore. I’ve been running around getting a good grip of all sorts of frameworks, libraries and tools, but I can barely explain you the basics. I mean… I know exactly what a closure is, but damn - whenever I’m supposed to talk about this subject I go blank and I stutter… like a lot, and it’s okay if you do too, ‘cause recently I’ve discovered that there are many other experienced developers who have the same problem. Anyway, that’s not really my point.

Javascript has lots of secrets and challenges that you may not encounter on a daily basis, but make sure you understand the key concepts and keep on practicing till you feel comfortable with them. Don’t do the same mistake that I did. I touched the surface, got a taste of JS, and then I moved on, feeling like I had understood everything. I know the temptation to explore the ecosystem and actually build something using cutting-edge techonogies is big, but please listen to me. After some time passed, I totally forgot a couple of basic things - mostly because I didn’t take more time to practice. So… instead of messing around with some framework that is going to be obsolete in the next couple of years, stick with the good old VanillaJS. Afterwards, adapting to Angular, React or any other library/framework will be a walk in the park. You’ll have a better understanding of what is happening under the hood, and instead of relying on ‘magic’, you’ll actually be able to dictate how things are moving.

In the end, I strongly recomend you to read You don’t know JS. The book. Not this post. As soon as I got home from that interview, I cracked it open and it kept me up at night like no Netflix series ever could. Seems like I always have to make a reference to this streaming service, huh? Nevermind. The book has 6 chapters and it’s meant to turn a total beginner into a Javascript connaisseur. I suggest you read them in this order:

• Up & Going

  • If you have any programming experience, this book may seem a no-no, but take some time to go through it ‘cause you may find out some interesting facts about Javascript.
• Types and Grammar
• this & Object Proprieties
• Async & Performance
• ES6 & Beyond

To start binge reading it right away, check the link I left above and buy the Kindle version. You can also find it on Github or buy the paper-back if you’re feeling hipsterish.

Lets JS & chill.