Learning Javascript is an interesting experience, there are a lot of new features that JavaScript has which make it easy to learn and program. I can also see that some of the features in JavaScript can be hard to debug and it is different to trace through code and understand what it is doing. On the other hand, some features in JavaScript are nice to have and I would like to have them in other languages.
Some features that I like in JavaScript are, no pointers, more array functions, the map data structure object, and the built in functions. The array functions make it easier to add data to an array and manipulate it. Printing out arrays is way easier in JavaScript than in other languages because it’s just one line of code, you do not need to use a loop and print out one index at a time. I also like that in JavaScript you do not have to declare what the data type of the variable is, you can use a loosely typed variable and put whatever you want in it. I think that this might make it hard for some people to debug code or pass parameters to a function because you might change the variable type and not realize it. Also if a parameter does not have a data type, then the coder does not know what data type is being passed to the function or the type it is returning. I like how easy it is to make an object that maps a keyword to another data type without using a class. I really like that there are no pointers in JavaScript because pointers can be confusing, it is sometimes hard to figure out what is being changed and what is not with pointers in other languages.
I think using weekly coding problems of the day is a good style of learning because it tests your knowledge in a technical and fun way that is very similar to a job interview assessment. I think the WODs are a good way to put some pressure on you to actually know the materials and be able to produce an answer to a question in a timely manner. The first two practice WODs were good, they were not too difficult where it is not impossible to complete in the allocated time. I found the first two practice WODs to be pretty easy and got in the RX time for both of them. I can see how the WODs can get pretty hard and stressful in the future.