[solved] Will most of my webDev learning be JS from now on?

Ah my FCC peeps!
Good to see you all again lol.

Anyway, so now that I’ve finished my HTML and Bootstrap sections as well as the Tribute page and Portfolio I’m ankle deep in the JS stuff (gotta tell ya it looks allot like the Java I took in college, like allot).

  • is JS something I’ll be learning allot of? I mean is it the meat and potatoes of webDev?

It’s just that HTML was so much fun and I’m starting to feel like I’m gonna be learning allot of JS.

JS is definitely the bulk of what you do on the frontend. There may be some HTML templating languages and some CSS preprocessors, but most of what you will be focusing on in the frontend will be JS libraries and frameworks.

On the backend, JS is an option (Node), but there are other other languages.

JS gets fun too.

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Oh alright @kevinSmith.
Well that’s good to know but wadya mean by libraries? LIke diff code with diff functions and stuff all ready to go?
Yea JS is alright ok right now I’m just learning the basics in my challenges but it feels like a really powerfull PL.

A library is a collection of JS that is prewritten. jQuery is an example of a library - it is a bunch of prewritten functions that you load into your JS and you can use. You could do it yourself, but it would take a lot longer, maybe you wouldn’t do it as well, and maybe you’d make a mistake.

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I’ll give you some more definitions too, because it can be confusing with all the terminology going around.

Library - like Kevin said, is a collection of utilities (functions, methods, classes) that you copy into your code (usually by linking, an import statement, or a #include in other languages like C++). Your code then calls these utilities. Examples of libraries are jQuery, lodash, polymer, axios, and react (JavaScript); other languages have libraries too like iostream (C++), etc. If your code is a house, then a library would be a light switch or a sink. They each achieve a specific individual purpose and don’t care about how other things work (i.e. using a sink has nothing to do with using a lightswitch).

Framework - A large, opinionated skeleton that you start from and add your code too. Examples would be Bootstrap (HTML), Angular and Vue (JS), .NET (C#). If your code is a house, then a framework would be like the blueprint for a kitchen - it gives an idea of what this room should be and what it should have, but you have to implement the necessary items inside like sinks, lights, tables, etc.

Tool - helps you build a project. If we continue my analogy, then a tool would be like a screwdriver. An example would be Gulp or Webpack.

Engine - a program that calls the code that you write. An example would be Node.js which is a C++ program that calls your JavaScript code and runs it.

API - a way to access certain data or a certain service. For example, the OpenWeatherMap API is a simple way for you to get weather data.

SDK (Software Development Kit) - A collection of API’s and utilities (tools, compilers) to accomplish a certain thing.

Here’s a much better run down than I can do: Best JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries and Tools to Use in 2019 — SitePoint

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Those are great analogies!
Yea I def get it now! Oh Man thank you guys so much @kevinSmith @IsaacAbrahamson.
I wasn’t confused but I didn’t know about that piece to the puzzle but now I soooo get it And that was fundamental stuff too.
tx again. FCC should consider putting those analogies into the program.

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I believe that our new Guide will have information like this. You can check it out on GitHub if you’d like to contribute!

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GitHub is a bit outa my league right now but I’ll keep it in mind.
And thanks for inviting me to contribute! That’s really nice if you @IsaacAbrahamson!

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Thanks! I bet you would be surprised what is and isn’t in your league :blush:
Here is an article on it, it’s really not too difficult!

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Thanks for the support :grinning:
You guys are always so supportive.

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