When you're just starting to learn to code, it might feel like it's always a struggle. Your progress seems very slow and it's easy to be discouraged.

In this article, I'll show you some tips and tricks that will help you to learn JavaScript more efficiently.

Before we start, we have to set clear expectations about this article:

  • This is not a quick hack to learn JavaScript in 10 minutes. Most programming languages, including JavaScript, take a long time to learn.
  • While this article offers suggestions to speed up learning JavaScript, how soon you acquire deep JavaScript skills depends on how hard you're willing to work.
  • Different people learn JavaScript at a different pace, so it's okay if it takes you a long time to learn. The most important thing is to learn it well.

With that out of the way, let's learn some ways that you can learn JavaScript a little bit quicker.

Follow the 80/20 rule

The first way to learn JavaScript faster is to follow the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes in any given situation.

In other words, if you focus on 20% of things that will bring 80% of the results you want, you will be much more efficient.

Here's how to apply this rule in learning JavaScript quickly:

In JavaScript, there are hundreds of methods and features out there. But in reality, you only need to know a fraction of its methods to get started building meaningful projects. The most common JavaScript features that are worth learning are:

  1. Functions
  2. Variables
  3. Conditional statements (if/else statements)
  4. Objects
  5. Arrays
  6. DOM event listeners like getElementById, getElementByClass, and addEventListener

By focusing on these basic JavaScript methods, you will learn JavaScript faster.

Practice actively

Another way to learn JavaScript fast is to practice actively. Practicing actively means you spend more time writing code than just watching or reading tutorials.

Real learning happens when you move your hands and feet in activities like playing football or driving a car. Like these activities, you learn faster when you write JavaScript code on the computer.

Try to write code for at least 30 minutes or one hour a day. By writing code regularly and practicing what you've learned, you will improve your JavaScript knowledge more quickly.

Don't forget to take breaks on the weekends. Resting is also a crucial part of learning JavaScript. You can learn JavaScript efficiently when you are well-rested, and it helps to improve your sense of focus.

Build Lots of Projects with JavaScript

This one is related to active practice. Building projects is a great way to learn JavaScript faster. The main benefit is that creating these projects – even simple ones – will help you solidify the knowledge you gain from the tutorials.

You will test yourself to see if you understand JavaScript concepts well enough to actually use them.

If you don't, it's still a good thing since you will discover what you don't know yet and use this information to fill the missing gaps in your JavaScript knowledge. All of this will help you to improve your JavaScript skill in the long run.

Start by building simple projects that only take you few days to complete and slowly work your way up to advanced projects. Here are some fun ideas to help you get started building.

Learn how to debug JavaScript errors

The last thing that will help you learn JavaScript more quickly is to learn how to debug JavaScript errors.

Learning how to fix the problems you encounter yourself is handy since you will always find bugs when learning JavaScript. Besides, it will make you a resourceful person, which is a great trait to have as a programmer.

You'll need to know how to read the error messages and search for solutions on Google. This debugging approach is simple but good enough to solve most JavaScript problems.

The sooner you fix the bugs in your code, the sooner you finish your projects and learn JavaScript faster.

Conclusion

So, you can learn JavaScript faster if you:

  • Learn JavaScript methods and features that you will use most of the time.
  • Practice JavaScript by coding for at least 30 minutes to one hour a day and take weekend breaks.
  • Build projects, as it is the best way to solidify your JavaScript knowledge for the long term.
  • Learn how to debug errors so that you can solve your Javascript problems more quickly and keep progressing with your skills.

And there you have it. These are my tips and tricks that will help you learn JavaScript a little bit more quickly. I hope you find this article helpful, and thanks for reading it.

You can also get my free e-book to prepare for technical JavaScript interviews or start to Learn Full-Stack JavaScript.

Good luck in your journey of learning JavaScript and happy coding!