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JavaScript Interactive Web Pages with JavaScript Traversing and Manipulating the DOM with JavaScript Perform: Appending and Removing Elements

Dustin Morris
Dustin Morris
8,715 Points

So up to this point, I am not really getting it. Any other resources?

I think the problem is technical lingo. He is talking about everything he is doing in the videos, but I am having trouble following it. I feel that this is critical and I want to learn it. So I read up at MDN, but that is even more technical jargon. I get aspects of it, but I have just been getting more and more lost each lesson. Anyone have any other resources I can checkout to get some clarity?

14 Answers

Sulaiman Noh
Sulaiman Noh
14,538 Points

it's because the teacher explain things out of order and so fast until my head goes dizzy. for example he just need to say he want to make the incomplete task switch to completed task after he tick the checkbox but instead he say he want to grab its parent, the list item and append it to unordered list. it's okay to go with the technical explaination. but before technical you must explain it in simple words first. it just my opinion. i hope i am not alone feeling like this.

I think JavaScript is a really tricky language to learn at first, but probably the most satisfying when those light bulb moments begin to happen. Like you, i did not follow along to well with this course, but it pushed me to search even harder for a way to fully understand what is going on in the videos.

A good site you can check out is called codecademy.com. go through there JavaScript. this should help a little bit with the structure and terminology

Brandon Barrette
Brandon Barrette
20,485 Points

I agree! Code Academy is a great resource!

Thanks Brandon.

Yea, I am in the same boat. I wasn't just struggling with JavaScript but whole programming logic. Here is another resource that definitely helped me and it's free to.

http://eloquentjavascript.net

Other than reading, I am still mashing away on my keyboard and yeah a lot of debugging while learning from my mistake. I think getting a lot better at it and understanding some of the logic in programming. Definitely not in a vacuum and still on a bumpy path of learning.

Keep at it and best of luck on your journey.

Thanks Dustin!

I'm having the exact same issue. I understand all of what I've learned so far up to this point, but this lesson just kinda went over my head.

Dustin Morris
Dustin Morris
8,715 Points

Actually, no. JavaScript is the newest to me, but I have experience in Python and Java. It isn't with the basic aspects of programming that I am having a problem. I get the basics. It is the DOM and using functions within Javascript adn the DOM together. He is basically building a program, but when he is describing what he is doing, I am unable to determine what it is or why he is doing it. Then I try to follow along anyway and get lost.

I have been through the codeacademy HTML and CSS, but somehow missed the Javascript and JQuery bits. I am doing those now, but those seem elemental based on what I am having a problem with. I appreciate you all trying to help me.

Stephen O'Connor
Stephen O'Connor
22,291 Points

Dustin, I was having the same issues as you with regards learning JavaScript and jQuery, I just could not get my head around it at all, Objects, Methods, Functions, Constructors, the list goes on. What I done to get my head around the terminology was do the Codecademy (sorry Treehouse) tutorials on both, this helped me a lot as it just felt a little more hands on than the videos at Treehouse.

I also bought the O'Reilly book on JavaScript and jQuery by David McFarland which explains everything very well and also gives real life examples on how you would use JavaScript, jQuery and AJAX.

Now I have a much better understanding of how it all works and more importantly what each bit of terminology means and when I see JavaScript code I can pretty much decipher what is going on. I am still learning though but now I understand it all it is getting easier.

A user in a previous video Question suggested this book to help: "JavaScript and jQuery" by Jon Duckett. I've just ordered it and hope it helps shed some better understanding.

John Simoneau
PLUS
John Simoneau
Courses Plus Student 8,105 Points

I have done the JavaScript basics and the other beginner JavaScript course here (Loops, Arrays, etc). The second JavaScript course in the Front End track (Loops, Arrays, etc) went over my head a bit but rather then stay on it too long I continued with the track. Each day I go back and rewatch those videos a little at a time to get a little bit more of an understanding which I find really helps. That is a different instructor though and he explains things in ways I can grasp easier.

I think Andrew does a great job but his courses so far (jQuery and This) are very hard for me to grasp. I honestly think there is too much notes and planning. I find myself paying too close attention to copying all the notes down exactly as he has it (deleting, adding, moving, etc) rather then understanding code. He bounces around a lot and references the documentation pages more then showing little video animations or explaining things in simpler terms. I understand that we will live inside the documentation and need to know how to do it but it feels like it's coming at the cost of understanding what I am doing.

Andrew certainly has more goods then bad so I really am not meaning this in a negative way towards him. But just commenting on the part that I believe might be making it harder for me to grasp. If he ever revises this course maybe just a tad more visuals and a little less notes/docs to push it to a 5/5 star rather then 4/5 :)

I'm going to explore some of those other links above. JavaScript seems to be such a center piece that I've always avoided so I'd really like to finally have a solid understanding of it.

Dekin O'Sullivan
Dekin O'Sullivan
10,749 Points

Completely agree with a lot of the comments here: Andrew is... well not very good at teaching. This is the second course I take from him and both times he is utterly confusing, does not explain well, the course is frustrating, etc. to the point many want to go to some other school to learn... I am really happy to see I am not the only one to think and feel this way. And this is not the first forum post I see talking about how bad his videos are either... he should really be replaced and these videos on these important topics should be done by someone else who can teach (Nick Pettit comes to mind...).

Jose Agrelot
Jose Agrelot
13,416 Points

I'm also having trouble following the project itself even though he comments everything in the code. The exercises that follow the videos are great, but I think it might be easier to comprehend if the pseudo code is more presentable. For me, this is really the first full javascript application in my current track. This is great content, but perhaps more focus on presenting the "Plan" phase of the application.

Totally lost with this course...

Glad to know I'm not the only one failing to follow Andrew. Andrew knows his JavaScript & JQuery...he's just not able to teach others. All he does is build applications and literally just narrates (not explain) what he is doing. I almost quit jS and jQuery but when I came across Aisha Blake and Guil Hernandez's videos on jQuery and jS I totally understood the concepts clearly and only then was I able to follow(ish) Andrew's videos.

Brandon Barrette
Brandon Barrette
20,485 Points

Have you done the JavaScript Basics course? Introduction to Programming? And JavaScript Foundations?

Dustin Morris
Dustin Morris
8,715 Points

Yes, I feel very well briefed. Just since I started teh DOM course and we start doing this I jsut get totally lost. I am still trying to follow what he is doing, but he might as well be speakign another language at this point. I get to the challenge and just keep trying until I figure it out or give up and google the answer.

Brandon Barrette
Brandon Barrette
20,485 Points

Well I can tell you that being a beginner programmer can be challenging. Is JavaScript the first language you learned?

If you have specific questions about what Andrew is doing in the videos don't hesitate to ask in the forums. Lots of people are here to help clarify and help you understand as much as can be done virtually.