How Long Does it Take to Learn JavaScript?

Q: How Long Does it Take to Learn JavaScript? 

Ans.  5 Months.

Yes, you read right. It takes around 5 months to learn Javascript if you learn it seriously. However, this means you learn it at the basic and intermediary level only. To be an expert in this, you will have to go through working on various live projects, and as you keep working with JS, you will be getting better day by day. Moreover, in this post, I am going to mention a lot of things that you would need to know if you are planning to learn Javascript.

Let’s begin then…

Why are Aspiring Web Developers so curious about Javascript?

Because Javascript makes wonders for designing the website. You can do a lot of different things using it. It is a very powerful scripting language, and every web developer must learn it, and in fact, become proficient in it to develop powerful websites.

HTML, CSS, and Javascript are the most important things for designing the frontend of any website. HTML gives the structure to a webpage, CSS styles that page and Javascript adds the interactivity to the page.

You must have seen alert boxes on various web pages when you enter something which is not allowed to be taken by that particular text box. Those Alert Boxes are there to tell you that you have made a mistake which you should correct. Those boxes are shown by using Javascript. For example, if there is a text box for username on which there is a condition that it doesn’t allow digits(condition is coded in JS of course). So, without knowing about it, when you enter something with any digits, then there will be an alert box shown that would say that digits are not allowed. So, this is implemented by Javascript generally. This is just an example, there can be any kind of alerts depending upon the requirement of the web pages.

So, now you know how important it is to learn Javascript if you are into front-end web designing. If you want to get started with JavaScript, you might have a question in mind “How long does it take to learn Javascript”?

Well, there is no exact answer to this query because it may depend on various factors such as:

• Your intelligence level.
• Your basic understanding of codes.
• What course material are you studying?
• How much time do you devote every day to learning Javascript?

And, there are many such factors that may affect the response to the question “how long does it take to learn Javascript”.

In this article, I am going to discuss basic things about Javascript so that you will have pretty much knowledge about what it is, how we can learn, and how useful it is. So, let’s begin.

What is Javascript?

Javascript is a scripting language that enables you to create dynamically updating content, show alert boxes to add interactivity on the webpages, animate images, and many more things. It is client-side programming that executes on the client’s computer when he accesses the webpage that has Javascript element(s). Since it is client-side programming, almost all the web browsers have their dedicated Javascript engine to execute the Javascript codes.

How to Learn Javascript?

When it comes to learning Javascript, you have two choices to start with Vanilla JS and Javascript Frameworks. 

When you learn Javascript within a Framework, things will be difficult in the beginning, and also when you have to work with a different Framework, then shifting from one Framework to another becomes difficult at times. But, if you learn Javascript outside the Framework, then when you have to start working with any JS framework, you can easily shift there, and start working. Starting to learn Javascript outside a framework is better in the beginning.

But, wait!! I don’t mean that you don’t have to learn JS frameworks. You have to learn various of them because they are actually very important. What I mean is, start with JS without Framework, i.e. Vanilla JS, and later learn the Frameworks. 

You can learn in steps:

Step1: Learn Vanilla JS.

Step 2: Learn about Various JS Frameworks, and start learning one at a time. You can start with React.js code library, then go for various JS Frameworks Angular, Vue,  and others. Below, I am mentioning 9 of the best JS Frameworks

9 Best JavaScript Frameworks:

1. Angular
2. Ember
3. Meteor
4. Vue
5. jQuery
6. Backbone
7. Polymer
8. Node
9. Aurelia

You can start learning each Framework one by one. I didn’t keep React in the framework list as it is not a complete framework but a JS code library.

You can also check out this video guide of JavaScript:

What is Vanilla JS?

Vanilla JS is the simple & plain form of Javascript which doesn’t include any JS libraries such as JQuery or others, and also, it is not a framework.  

When you are a beginner, it is the best thing to start learning with Vanilla JS, then later start working on various JS frameworks such as Angular, Node, Polymer, etc.

What is a JavaScript Framework?

A JavaScript framework is the collection of JavaScript code libraries that provide programmers with prewritten JavaScript codes that can be used for developing a website or an app.

So, the basic difference is Vanilla JS is plain JS that you code when you require, and on the other hand JavaScript Framework is a collection of prewritten codes (or code libraries) which are reusable when you develop a website or an app.

Do These To Learn JavaScript

1. Use Free Online Courses

You can find almost everything on the internet, and when it comes to learning JavaScript, there are many websites that teach you JS for free. However, there are paid ones as well which teach you in even more detail.
Here are few such sites/courses online:

You can find various different such online free sites, and JS courses on other online course websites such as Udacity, Coursera, and others.

2. Read Books and Practice

If you are someone who doesn’t like to study online, then the best option to go for is the books. Yes, there are so many good books you can find online which you can read to start learning JavaScript. But, when you read books to learn JS, you must have to practice on your laptop whatever you learn from the books because when you are learning a programming language, you must have to practice a lot. Just reading is not enough!

These are a few of the good books that you can buy, and start learning Javascript.

3. Coaching Classes

If the above two learning types don’t excite you or you are simply not interested in learning in those ways, then you must find a good coaching class for Javascript, and join there. This way, you will be able to learn faster as you will have group studies, and can discuss problems within your batch members. 

These three are the best methods to learn Javascript. Moreover, you can find other ways if you can. But, these are the best ones in my opinion.

What should be the learning Flow?

Learning flow can be different as everyone learns in different ways. If you ask me, this should be the flow:

1. 6-8 hours every day for reading books and practicing the same on your PC or any online tutorial site. 
2. Whatever you learn in a week, test yourself for that on the weekend to know how you are doing. This way, you will get to know where you are lacking, and you will also revise your that week’s learning if you would have some confusions. So, it will help you be better.
3. After the 1 month of learning, start working on a live website’s page to add some Javascript elements. This will help you know the coding technicalities in real-time, and you will learn in a much better way. Live practicing helps you learn more about syntax error, coding error, etc. and you learn debugging the codes. These all are very important as long as programming is concerned.
   

How Long Does it Take to Learn JavaScript?

Ok, so, this is our topic’s main thing “How long does it take to learn JavaScript”. As I mentioned earlier in this post the learning duration of Javascript may depend on different factors. Even we consider those factors, it is almost impossible to give an exact duration for learning JS. Moreover, if you work hard, and use all the online methods for learning JavaScript, and give 6-8 hours learning every day, I am sure, you will have good knowledge within 1 month but since JavaScript has different Frameworks as well such as Angular, Node, and others, it might take more time learning them as well. But, for basic Vanilla JS, I am sure you can learn a lot within 1 month, and within 2 months, you will be proficient considering you devote 6-8 productive hours of learning and practicing JS.

Further, if we talk about the Advanced Javascript including Frameworks, 4-5 months would be a great time to learn JS. 

So, I would say, in general, 4-5 months are well enough to learn JavaScript if you devote time productively every day. Within this duration, you can read books and practice on various sites which I have shared above such as Codecademy, and others.

Apart from learning, keep a self-assessment test weekly where you test yourself for the things you learn in the particular week. This way, you will be able to find out how good you are doing, and also, you would revise your each week’s learning as well.

Also, you must test your learnings on a live project as well to learn how things work when the site goes online. This would help you understand more about coding/syntax errors, and you learn to debug the code which is very important for successful learning of any programming language.

Believe me, it is fun to learn JavaScript. But, becoming a proficient Javascript programmer takes a lot of hard work consistently. 

As I said, if you give 6-8 hours on learning JS, 4-5 months are enough to not only learn but become quite a good JS programmer. Further, as you keep working on JS, you will be better and better over time.

At the end, I would say, there is no exact duration for learning JavaScript as it may vary by person to person and their approach of learning as well. 

Final Words

Learning JavaScript is fun, and you must learn it if you are into designing websites because, without JS, web pages don’t become interactive. Apart from that, there are many other things that can be added to web pages with JS as well.

So, I hope now you have the perfect response to the query “How long does it take to learn JavaScript”. Haven’t you?

Happy Learning!!