This document summarizes tips from 15 JavaScript experts on best practices for learning and developing with JavaScript. Some key tips included learning from other languages and principles, producing code that solves problems, embracing interests outside programming, thoroughly learning basic concepts like objects and functions, understanding design patterns, and learning to debug and be a good collaborator early on. Later tips emphasized embracing functional programming concepts, knowing when to compromise versus stand firm, and having empathy for users.

1. 15 Experts on the
Art of JavaScript Programming
JavaScript charting solutions for enterprise-grade applications
Compiled by
Shilpi Choudhury
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2. New to JavaScript?
We asked a few experts to share some tips on the art of JavaScript programming

3. Here’s what they had to say…

4. “
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Irene Ros,
Data Viz Practice Lead, Bocoup
Learn from other languages, learn from general software engineering principals, problem solve issues without a specific language in mind, learn to write pseudo code - computing is a general skill and we have so much to learn from each other across languages and solutions. I know this isn’t very JavaScript specific, but I find this was the most important skill I learned early on and it’s made me a better JavaScript developer.
Learn from each other across languages & solutions
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Produce code that solves problems
Alexandru R. Ghinea,
Senior JavaScript Developer, Vauban
JS development can be cumbersome at times, but never give up because of that. Take advantage of its flexibility and start looking at the work of other devs out there to see how they solve common problems. You can of course go to JS meetings in your town or watch some on YouTube. Seeing the sense of commitment and interest from the community will feed your appetite and inspire you to go further. The real purpose here is to produce code that solves problems and enables people to make more engaging apps.
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Embrace your interests outside of programming
Jeffrey Auriemma,
Front-End Developer, Discovery Communications
People who can write decent code according to instructions are relatively plentiful. What sets a developer apart is his or her ability to innovate and draw context from the world around. Embrace your interests outside of programming and apply those experiences to the projects you work on. You never know how your unique past might connect you to people and opportunities in the future.
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Practice makes perfect
Arnaud Buchholz,
Senior Developer, Helix Enterprise Collaboration Systems Inc.
Passion and curiosity are important for learning
JavaScript. The more you do something the better
you get at it.
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8. “
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Read Crockford’s Good Parts to avoid common traps
Martin Rinehart,
Author: Pro HTML, Pro CSS, JavaScript Inheritance and Object Programming
There really isn't any doubt that some bits of JS original design were brilliant (the object model!) and some were kludges (the '==' operator). A quick summary of Crockford's Good Parts is all you need to avoid most of the traps. (Use '===', not '=='.) The ability to do both object and functional programming is unique with JavaScript. It's a powerful, expressive language that still amazes me every time I try a new combination.
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Test-drive your learning
Eric Mignot,
Épicurien du logiciel, TDD addict
For people new to JavaScript, I give the same advice as for any new language: test-drive your learning and then continue with test-driving any code you write.
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Nurture your abstract thinking skills
Ron Grimes,
Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Blue Coat Systems
I would say the key requirement for
JavaScript, as well as any OO language,
is a high ability for abstract thinking. It is THE
make or break quality needed.
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Learn to be a good citizen first
Benjamin Tremblay,
Director Technology, Virtusa
Some programming languages ( c# for example) mold you into a programmer who can collaborate on an industrial scale with other programmers of that language: just using the language is about conventions. JavaScript is not like that. If you teach yourself JavaScript you may learn how to do lots of useful things, but other JavaScript programmers may have a hard time understanding you. So it's very important to learn how to be a good citizen as a JavaScript developer, and learning the language will not teach you that.
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Be thorough with your basic concepts
Joseph Khan,
Mobile Lead (Hybrid), Yodlee
JavaScript has OOP support if not the classical way but the prototypal way. So many beginners to JavaScript find it difficult to grasp initially. That's what happened to me as well when I started digging more into advanced JavaScript. But once you grasp the concepts well, it becomes easy to write scalable apps.
The most important concepts in JavaScript as per me are Objects, Scope, Functions and OOP programming.
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Understand design patterns to develop scalable apps
Ramón García,
Co-founder, Culturaweb
In my opinion, important things to learn in JavaScript include hoisting, scopes, closures... but the most important is to know design patterns! It will allow you to develop high quality and scalable apps.
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Learn to debug early on
Claude Gauthier,
Consultant, Morgan Stanley
As you learn the language, learn the tools available to help you code, be it the debuggers, the net traffic sniffers, the lint tools, unit testing tools, build tools, etc. also, understand the nuances between server-side coding and browser coding. If possible don't fall into the trap of learning JavaScript via a framework or toolkit. Instead, try to understand why these tools/frameworks are designed the way they are and how they are coded. In the end, your debugger is always your friend.
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Learn Scheme
Colin Carr,
UX, Fidelity Investments
As a new programmer, you need to read about JS so that you can comprehend the object model (and stop trying to make JS Java) but coding is just as or more important. The life lesson would be to learn Scheme.
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16. Every solution is really often a balance of compromises – not just in terms of actual code, but in terms of figuring out a way to work with our colleagues and meeting our deadlines and navigating company politics – a lot goes into the job beyond just the code being written. It’s important to know when to compromise and when to stand your ground.
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Know when to compromise and when to stand your ground
Brian Rinaldi,
Developer Content Manager, Telerik
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Empathy for users is really important
Cathy Lill,
Developer, rtc.io, NICTA
Development for the web is always changing. You need to be impatient enough to want to always be learning and updating your skills, but at the same time patient enough to sweat the small details to create a seamless user experience. Empathy for your users is really important.
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18. The true essence of JavaScript is more in its concepts than its capabilities. One must spend time unlearning the classical concepts of imperative languages and embrace the beauty of functional programming. Wrap your head around prototypal inheritance, closures and expression evaluation and you would come to realize that this is one of the few languages where creativity is not limited to the mnemonics defined by the books. Love it for what it can do and understand the reasons for what it cannot.
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Embrace the beauty of functional programming
Shamasis Bhattacharya,
JavaScript Architect, FusionCharts
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19. Got some JavaScript development tips?
Add them in the comment section below
For more such stories, check out the FusionCharts blog
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