HACKER Q&A
📣 haspok

Recommend book(s) or course(s) on modern front end dev for back end guy


I'd never thought it would come to this, but after spending the last ~15 years on the backend (mostly the JVM and all kinds of languages, not just Java, actually, mostly not Java!). I'm now assigned on a project which has a React frontend, and I will be taking over it soon.

Now my Javascript knowledge dates back to the days when variables were hoisted (is that still a thing btw?), and URLs started with "http://". Oh, and any time I had to "compile" (???) frontend code I was always shocked about the immaturity of the ecosystem... We had JSP and even JSF, and NodeJS was in its infancy and looked down upon by the "serious" guys. So there is quite a bit of ground to cover.

What I would like to have: a few books or courses about modern Javascript, Typescript, browsers, development tools, libraries, that can quickly get me up to speed. For example, on the backend we have this thing called the IO monad - is Javascript still a land of callback hell? Also would appreciate info on React, Angular and Vue (I think these are the most common frameworks?).

I'm also primarily interested in learning the important things. I'm a quick learner and I don't really need stuff that I can easily search for on the net - BUT I do need to know WHAT to search for.

What I do NOT need: books on theory, algorithms, books for beginners, books for dummies, books on functional programming, books on , books on web design or color harmonies (no, I will not be designing stuff!)...

Why I am asking: I could just start reading books randomly, and it usually takes ages to find out of a 100 books the roughly 10 that are good, and about 1 or 2 that are spectacular. I am looking for those. Thank you. I'm also happy to pay for online courses, if they are worth it (I still remember Martin Odersky's FP/Scala course on Coursera from ~10 years ago, which I thought at the time was one of the best, and was worth every minute I spent on it).

PS. I heard about "Javascript - the good parts", which I'm definitely going to check out, but man, that book is 14 years old now! How much of it is still relevant I wonder.


  👤 jkaptur Accepted Answer ✓
Funny - I’m in almost the exact opposite predicament! I’ll spare you a copypasta-like reiteration of your post and just ask you for a few book recommendations on how to learn modern backend development. I also need no recommendations for data structures and such, and I’ve already read “Designing Data-Intensive Applications”. The last time I did much professional backend work, SOAP and WSDLs were all the rage, except for the cool tattooed devs who used Perl.

To your question, I strongly believe “JavaScript the Good Parts” is of historical interest only (say, if you want to take over an application written before ~2010). I recommend “Effective JavaScript” instead.


👤 matthewwolfe
Since you are already a seasoned developer you can cut through a lot of the blog posts and courses that are aimed at junior developers. The two main resources I find myself reaching for are the Mozilla JS docs, and the React docs. React team is currently working on a new version of the docs, googling “React docs beta” should get you what you want.

As for things to learn, async/await and promises are probably the most complicated, but Mozilla will no doubt have documentation covering all of that.

For React, prefer small contained functional components, avoid classes and inheritance, and learn what hooks are and how they work.

For Typescript, avoid using any or unknown everywhere, avoid the urge to make very complex types, and generally stick to interfaces with minimal inheritance and you’ll be fine.

As you are jumping to an existing codebase follow the conventions of that codebase. Avoid the classic blunder of jumping into a new codebase and making massive changes.

Good luck!


👤 layer8
I’d be interested in that too, though my impression is there aren’t any. At least I haven’t seen any recommended in recent years. In terms of https://documentation.divio.com/, there are enough resources covering the tutorial, how-to guide and reference quadrants, but there seem to be no comprehensive resources covering the explanation quadrant for otherwise experienced developers, covering the conceptual ground top-down regarding JS, the browser environment, and the typical frameworks and toolings.

👤 vasili111
I am also trying to figure out modern web development trends. I found helpful those 2 courses:

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-development-bo...

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-developer-zero...

You do not need to watch all courses materials but can pick the parts that you are interested in. You can also look at Udemy for other webdev courses too.

Keep in mind that at Udemy there are very often sales and courses prices are around 9~20$. If price is above it just wait some time for sale.