JavaScript: In the words of a newbie

18 Jan 2023

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A rookie’s opinion

It has been a week since I was first introduced to JavaScript, and I have been genuinely enjoying my experiences so far. I am always eager to expand my programming toolkit, so I approached this new language with open arms. Going through 142 exercises over the course of a couple days was not my favorite thing, but once I finished, I was able to realize how rewarding the courses were. Of course, working with a programming language for only a week deprecates the value of my opinion greatly, but from the eyes of a newbie, JavaScript is an intuitive and enjoyable language to code in.

Comparing languages

Prior to JavaScript, I learned C, C++, Python, and Java in various classes and projects. My favorite programming language has been C++ for a couple of years now, but JavaScript has the potential to replace that. As the semester progresses, we will hopefully discover if that assumption is correct.

One of the aspects of JavaScript that stood out to me when comparing it to the different programming languages was the fact that it uses first-class functions. Being able to utilize functions as if they were objects is something that I am extremely interested in exploring. From my beginner’s perspective, the capabilities that could be unlocked with that feature seem very impressive.

Practice makes perfect

Although I am anticipating that athletic software engineering will be causing me a lot of stress this semester, I know that it will benefit me in the long run. The concept of being timed while attempting to solve a problem does not sound pleasant to me, but it will teach me to be a more efficient and thoughtful programmer. I do appreciate that we are given numerous opportunities to practice the WODs, so that slightly eases my worries. One of my SMART goals was to pass the majority of the WODs this semester, and I will be trying my best to do so.