Of course, I guess I should have fixed the examples…

I’m pretty weary. All this week working on what/how/where/when implementations, starting with logic “what will this object hold?”. Working on the prototype of OpenType Threads has made realize how important it is to detail a plan, it’s good but also a …

I don’t think I’d be quick to judge first time programmers, unless they attempt to sell their code (freelancing, which happens a lot, or offer their solution as “the best” which happens a lot in forums). But yes I do get what you mean

One thing I noticed, I don’t know if I’m right or wrong but everything is an object, I grab a node or node list and it returns the node with a list of methods like attaching events etc etc.

Quirksmode is great, checking a few things I came with a conclusion that I’m still missing out more things. Like “how do I know the methods available once I get an object?” or “how do I test in javascript?” (so far I’ve relied on Google Chrome’s JavaScript Console), “how does animation work in JavaScript?” and so on. Not to mention what other objects are available like for instance there is “window”, “document”, and what else.

To be honest, I hated JavaScript myself, mostly ignorance and immature thoughts back then when I was toying with HTML and CSS and didn’t know anything about PHP programming or programming at all. JavaScript for me was the devil, it had this weird complex syntax that didn’t made sense with so many brackets, numbers.

I agree with you on this one though, MDC is the most useful. It made new readers think of the DOM as a tree before introducing them to the syntax. I couldn’t have done all my exercises without any visualization in my mind.

As for reference resources, you’re right, they’re all spread out. I find that MDC is the most useful in general. I believe they mark which features belong to which versions of JavaScript, which is something that you’ll have to watch out for since FF now implements JavaScript 1.6 and IE is still at 1.5. It’s not a big deal, it just means that you can’t reliably use the new features yet until all the browsers are on the band wagon. In the meantime, we just have to use libraries to get around this.

The biggest problem that you’ll probably face is the DOM and it’s API. Most people run up with some crap here and for good reason: it’s a horrible API to begin with plus the fact that different browsers implement it differently. For this problem, you’ll want to check out quirksmode.org, specifically http://www.quirksmode.org/compatibility.html This lists off the major areas of JavaScript compared to their implementation/support in all the major browsers. The areas are further broken down in to property/component/method which is really helpful when working without a library or when you want to do something that your library doesn’t support.

It seems to me that the same people that say they don’t like PHP are the same people that don’t like JavaScript. I think JavaScript is a great language, it’s my favorite in fact, as do many respected, and notable professionals. PHP gets a bum wrap because 1) it had a lowly beginning meant to only be a simple personal tool, and 2) it’s so easy that a lot of first time programmers use it, leading to the proliferation of bad/ugly code, and frankly stupid and unintelligent questions (which is the same reason that JavaScript gets burned often…and still somehow).

In all seriousness though, the best advice that I’ve given other programmers, fledgling and seasoned, is to, “be zealous about nothing except about not being zealous.” Or, in other words, “get a grip and get some perspective.”