What was the thing that made you finally 'get' JavaScript?

When using JS on the web, for me, the units of understanding are:

1. The Document Object Model (you may have already interacted with this using CSS). Being able to understand that all the elements on a page are arranged in a tree and how to move the branches around.

2. Callbacks. JS can be a little unintuitive because of its asynchronous nature. Understanding callbacks makes most of this clear.
   Eventually this understanding leads to all the shenanigans with promises, but I believe callbacks to be the unit of understanding.

3. Methods. From elements of the DOM tree, to inbuilt classes, to libraries, most things are interacted with using methods.
   I suggest going through things in the MDN documentation to see their methods. E.g. the JS Date class.

For javascript, I would say that there are several levels of javascript that have their "smallest unit of understanding" to reach.

1. The "I can do this in every practical language" level:

   • variable assignment and operator (the idea of moving data)
   • if-statements (and, derivative from that, for and while loops. basically the idea of conditional code execution).
   • defining and calling functions (the idea of reusing solutions, including recursion)
   • Array and object access and assignment (nothing fancy, just the concept of "this thing is actually many things").

   These things are the basics of programming. If you know this, your skill set is Turing complete and you can create (theoretically) anything. You also still don't know anything Javascript-specific (apart from syntax) and your code can probably do a lot more when you get to the next level.

2. The "This makes Javascript stand out from PHP" level:

   • the concepts of functions as first-class citizens (or: a function is a thing now)
   • event- and callback-driven program flow (or: it does what when now? Derivative ideas: promises and async / await)
   • variable scope (closures, let/const, or: what variable is defined in which blocks)

   Coming from a procedural background, these ideas are what made Javascript stand out for me. Sure, these concepts can be (and are) used in PHP right now, but it's not nearly as common as in Javascript.

   These concepts are used all throughout the Javascript landscape, and if you really grasp these concepts you are ready to work with the vast majority of frameworks. This is the level of most javascript developers, I think. If I had to choose only one crucial turning point, it would be this.

3. The "Javascript master" level:

   • Prototypes and object inheritance.
   • ...?

   I don't know enough about Javascript to know what else should be here, but this is the level where you know everything the language has to offer and you can use it to you heart's content. If you want to create a framework instead of use it, this is the level you need to be on.

If you are coming at this from a CSS/Design/Front-End point of view (and it sounds like you are), understand how JavaScript relates to the DOM (Document Object Model). What is the window? Go through the many methods of accessing elements in the document (you can do this directly with "raw" JS, you can use a framework, try all the methods you can).

Understand the DOM, and where JavaScript fits into it. Then you'll understand much more about how to use it.

I think there's a few 'eureka' moments that come when learning JS, after getting your head around the basics:

• Scopes and closures
• Objects are passed around as references
• Prototypes, .bind and .call

I ignored the details and tried hard to understand concepts from a high level--The concept of programming.For js, its the concept of "object" mostly. It was really confusing for me at first,but once I understand it, the rest is starting making sense. Like Functions, Arrays, Methods...I am still very new though :)

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