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title	eloquent.js book club - session
permalink	/00/index.html

eloquent.js book club - session #0

Chapter 0, Introduction

introduction

• what are we going to do? (read the first part of the book, learn about javascript (the language), gain confidence (and a bit of experience) for how to keep on learning.)
• what are we not going to do? (anything specifically web-something-something (apart from exercises specifically designed for that), learn any framework/library.)
• what do we get from that? (learn js, able to keep on learning, talk programming things.)

some tips

• ask questions!

  good for you, making sure you understand what happens, or you make yourself aware that you don't yet understand something. good for others, because maybe they didn't think of that question. good for the instructors, because they will know better which things to focus on, how to help you all.

• make sure you understand the examples and exercises!

  (if you don't understand it, make a note, come back later and try again, and if that doesn't help bring the question to the next meeting. or post it on the forum, what's important is that you don't just gloss over it! if you do that, there will likely be other things that assume you understood what happened, and they will trip you up later. yes, it will be a struggle at times, but each hurdle you take, each little problem you'll solve will make you better. (and a bit proud, too. which is important, because confidence is a very important thing that keeps you going, even if it is difficult at times.)

• use pen & paper.

  my favourite tool for understanding (and writing!) programs. if it's difficult, try it on paper. write the program down on paper (or print it out), and draw things that help you on it. you could note which variables have which values, and how they change, for example. "stepping through" a program, that is, playing computer in your head, also helps. doing it on paper gives you the opportunity to scribble notes in the margins, draw arrows between related parts, ...

• use your favourite search engine. (stackoverflow is generally very good for precise questions about programming things.)

  what to search for? error messages, general questions ("why can't i add strings and numbers in javascript"), ... it's often helpful to put the name of the programming language first in the query, e.g. "javascript adding strings to numbers".

• be curious. (and try out that thing you wondered about.)

  i will try to tell you a few things that you might try if you're out of ideas, but in general just go after anything that sounds interesting.

  if you found something interesting, i'd be delighted to hear of it! if something confused you, but you'd still like to know what it was about, that's a great question to bring to the next meeting.

a few things

• in a few weeks we will understand what [the wallpaper algorithm] does (with a little help regarding the <canvas> + setup)
• a few questions to ask:
  • how would i add different numbers than 1 to 10? try it!
  • what can programs do?
  • do androids dream of electric sheep?
  • what's the deal about 42? (and why a number? does that have anything to do with real answers from real programs? what could it have to do with them?)
• good things to ask yourself regularly: "what can i do with that?", "why can't i do X?", "how would i do X?"