Hey I am going through the Front End Development certification. I noticed that learning jQuery comes before Javascript and i found that a bit odd.
Isn’t jQuery a library of Javascript and if so why do you have to learn the library first before the actual language?
Thank you.
jQuery is indeed a JS library. I don’t know why it’s been put before JavaScript, one of the reasons might have been that people don’t usually use vanilla JS in their projects and instead they use jQuery to help them out since jQuery is much more user-friendly than vanilla JS.
In my opinion, if you are new to programming and see vanilla JS, it may scare you off. However, if you don’t entirely understand how JavaScript works, you’ll struggle a lot.
You only need to use a few commands to actually see how your image starts moving using jQuery, which makes you happy. Imagine trying to figure out how to make your image move using pure JavaScript, you’ll end up being frustrated.
That’s my explanation. If you aren’t afraid of experimenting(You’ll have to sooner or later anyway), I recommend going through vanilla JS as first. It’s quite silly to not know how things actually work. Once you have understood, you’ll be able to see your mistakes when something doesn’t work in your code.
I think jquery + some basic javascript syntax is a great introduction to the power of JS and its immediate practical application in a web project. The student can see the possibilities ahead of him, its use, and hopefully pique their interest in learning more about JS.
You don’t plop a War & Peace novel or a Webster’s Dictionary in front of someone just starting to learn how to read.
So as far i understood although jquery is a library its a good introduction to and experimenting with some of JS elements and actions.
It does at the beginning of the course, but once you start the Basic Algorithm part of the course, all the challenges are in vanilla JS. …or should I say, I have leaned towards solving them in Vanilla JS, it didnt really occur to me until this second to even try solving them in JQuery…hrm! I also use mostly Vanilla JS in my projects with just a smattering of JQuery. But Ive seen other projects where its used a lot more, and indeed, at this point now that Im nearly done with Front End, Id like to change my habits to take advantage of JQuery and start using it more.
I guess the point im making is…it introduces the concepts to you, but this course is not one of those…do exactly, this, now do exactly that type courses…it gives you an idea of whats possible, and then gives you the freedom to research info on your own and solve the problems and projects on your own. What matters is that you come to the correct solution, not the method you chose to arrive there. So once you make it out of the introductory phase of the course, you can code with Vanilla JS to your hearts content…it really is up to you.
It’s a good way to get started and helps new developers have a little bit of fun before getting into serious stuff 
jQuery wouldn’t help with the algorithm challenges anyway. Its focus is on “document traversal and manipulation, event handling, animation, and Ajax”, none of which would be very helpful for the algorithms.
That also explains why jQuery is taught first — it simplifies doing cool, visual stuff in the browser. Excercises instructing learners to do stuff like console.log(('hello' + ' ' + 'world').toUpperCase()) have educational value, but they don’t capture the imagination like clicking to change an element’s color or showing/hiding an image.
Hey guys. Just wanted to say you all covered it pretty extensively and i got a pretty good idea of what is going on. I am new to developing and also quite new to this forum and your responses gave me a warm welcome.
Hope i learn enough to help as much as much as you do other people aswell.
Okay awesome thats good to know… and explains why JQuery wasnt something I even took into consideration while I was going through the challenges