An Interview with product management veteran John Bartlett
Read: 3 Minutes
Working as a product manager in tech can be an exciting career. But if doing the same thing day after day is your idea of job fulfillment, look elsewhere. Being a product manager requires flexibility, agility, and thinking on your feet because reacting and responding to the shifting needs of the business is exactly what you’ll do. Taking products over the finish line, often in a leadership capacity and as part of a team of designers and developers, has huge rewards. It’s a sense of accomplishment like no other, and it’s why many product managers report high job satisfaction. To get a sense of what working as a product manager is like, we called on John Bartlett, a product management expert who has been bringing products to market for over 20 years. He weighs in on how to pursue a career in product development, the job outlook for product managers, the average salary, and the industry tips he has shared with hundreds of aspiring mentees.
Let’s go back to basics. What initially inspired you to get into product management?
JB: I got into product management the way many people do — by accident. I was at a startup and there wasn’t anyone doing “PM stuff” so I just jumped in and started doing it. After a while, I realized I needed more formal training so I went to work for a larger company that trained their product managers to be focused on the customer. From then on I was hooked, and grew my career working for some very successful companies.
For someone not familiar with the product manager role, can you explain what they do?
JB: The primary role of the product manager is to understand customer problems and to work with a team of designers and developers to help create solutions to those problems. The role involves wearing many hats, along with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and stakeholders, make good decisions for your company and customers, and work hard to solve customer problems. Wherever possible, you should be using data to make those decisions. And, oh yeah, make sure your products are making money for your company!
Where are some of the places a product manager works?
JB: In the tech sector, at companies that build software and hardware products. Or in other sectors like retail — anywhere products and services are being sold online (eCommerce, FinTech, review sites). The PM role is also becoming more popular in IT organizations as they are thinking more about products, rather than projects, for their internal customers. Project managers also exist in other industries outside of tech in everything from insurance products to tractors.
What are some of the programs or software tools that product managers use?
JB: Most use standard office products — MS or Google spreadsheets, presentations, etc. Depending on the role, they may use some prototyping tools like Sketch or Balsamiq. Jira is very popular as a tool for tracking development tasks. Though not designed for PMs, they use it to work with their development teams. Aha and Productboard are two products that are designed for PMs to use for product planning, though usage is not widespread. There are also analytical tools like Google Analytics, Tableau, or Pendo that help to understand how products are being used. SQL can be helpful, as well.
What kind of educational background does someone looking to get into product management need?
JB: You don’t need a tech background to be a product manager unless you’re working on very technical products. A bachelor’s degree is usually required. If your degree is in business, liberal arts, or one where you’ve had to do a lot of writing, even better. A graduate degree like an MBA, while not required, is a plus. What’s important for product managers is the willingness to learn about the technology that’s used in building their products so they can better communicate with their development teams.
What is the typical product manager starting salary?
JB: According to Glassdoor, the average base pay for a product manager is $110,500. Associate product managers can start at around $60K–$70K, with a senior product manager salary in the $100K–$150K range. You’ll find that a product manager’s salary can range widely, depending on the company. Product managers at tech companies are highly valued and can skew higher, with a salary range up to $175K.
Where should I start if I want to make a career switch to becoming a product manager?
JB: If you’re working in a company with product managers, make sure to connect with them and ask them lots of questions about the role. If it’s a career that you think you’d like to pursue, sign up for my product management course at GA, where you can learn the most important skills and best practices. I wish there was a program like this available when I was starting out! The classes are made up of students either thinking about a career change, recently in a PM role, or more experienced PMs looking to uplevel their skills. What’s great is that the class is structured to accommodate all of those levels, so I can work with less-experienced students on fundamentals and experienced students on more advanced topics. I also learn so much from the students since they come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Featuring Tips From John Bartlett, Rachel Denton, Jason Early, Pedro Martin, & Matt Studdert
Read: 3 Minutes
Looking for ways to make your LinkedIn profile stand out? Trying to figure out how to showcase your personal brand on LinkedIn in a way that makes you unique? Read on for tips and advice from the experts on how to improve your profile (and get the job of your dreams).
Pedro Martin, GA Distinguished Faculty Member & Software Engineer at Red Badger
1. Don’t recreate your resume. Most profiles just list skills and previous jobs. If you can tell a story, you’ll stand out to employers.
2. Be sure to demonstrate your work as part of a team.
3. If your portfolio showcases a common theme, recruiters are more likely to take notice.
Matt Studdert,Professional Developer & Founder of Frontend Mentor
4. Be concise and to the point with your skills. A shorter list of technologies you know well is much better than a long list of technologies you hardly understand.
5. Rewrite your responsibilities to focus on transferable skills. For example, if you presented in front of clients as a developer but want to make a career change to a UX designer, highlight that you’re comfortable talking to and in front of key stakeholders.
6. Get references from past colleagues and bosses. These will highlight your personality and work ethic from a different perspective.
7. Be sure to have multiple people proofread your profile. As people will be reading your profile, demonstrating proficient written communication is key.
8. Coming across as driven, interested, and interesting are great ways to grab attention and show your individuality. Mention interests outside of work or write articles on LinkedIn.
9. The best way to show a portfolio is by building your own website. Short of that, I recommend finding a template or designing and recreating one yourself.
10. Include a profile picture, a brief description of your interests (both relevant to your field and not), your skills and preferred tools, and a showcase of projects you’ve built or contributed to.
11. Start with a strong profile picture coupled with a strong summary at the top that captures your skill sets, your experience, and the essence of who you are.
12. Having a few recommendations from colleagues over the course of your career is a great bonus.
13. Use LinkedIn as a resource to help build a client base and find new projects. Reach out directly to learn more about their needs.
14. Comment on posts, and contribute your own commentary to the posts you share. Your profile stands out by you being recognized and involved.
15. As an employer, I look for involvement. Does the applicant have a perspective on the industry? Are they sharing it well? Are they involved in groups? It’s a great way to evaluate how they communicate.
16. Your profile should show that you are moving forward professionally. How you do that can vary but show that you’re doing something.
17. If I’m looking at a designer’s profile, can I get a sense of personality from it? Are they making it reflect themselves? How are they using it as a tool?
18. If you are focusing on visual design, then your portfolio should be mostly visual with explanations as to why the entries look the way they do. If you are focusing on user experience design, then your entries should be written out, with images to support the strategy.
19. Have a system for easily updating your portfolio so it can be customized to your audience.
John Bartlett, 20-year Product Manager, GA Instructor since 2015, & Mentor to Hundreds of Aspiring Entrepreneurs
20. What stands out the most on someone’s LinkedIn profile is seeing the products they’ve worked on and their role in that success.
21. If you’ve built a product that you can show in a portfolio, that is ideal. If not, show your final project presentation.
22. Remember to save something for the interview. Most hiring managers are interested in your thinking so showing your best work in person lets you walk them through it.
Featuring Insights From Rachel Denton, Pedro Martin, & Matt Studdert
IT jobs have a secret: They’re some of the most collaborative and social jobs you can have. Developers work with designers. Product managers team up with data scientists. Data scientists advise marketers and vice versa. In the fast-moving tech industry, no one can afford to be in a silo or work strictly solo.
But which IT role is best suited to your strengths? Which jobs are poised for the most growth? Should you go for a high-paying and demanding position? Or one in which you set your own hours and can take time to explore your creativity? The tech world is expansive enough to include all of these things and more. According to employers, communication and problem-solving skills are the most important qualities to make you successful in an IT career.
More good news: Employers aren’t looking for candidates with a templated background. Computer science degrees are actually becoming very rare in the industry. Successful job seekers come from a broad range of backgrounds, including medicine, education, archaeology, construction, and more. The tech industry needs people at all levels, and in some cases, may not require a bachelor’s degree. It’s all about the skill set, and plenty of companies hire people directly from a bootcamp.
At present, the demand to fill jobs in these fields outpaces the supply of candidates worldwide. It’s a very good time to be looking.
1. Developer
The role of a front-end web developer is to build accessible, responsive, and performing interfaces based on a design and a specification, using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. But the image of the coder working alone all day couldn’t be further from the truth. Delivering software based on the web is a team effort. The developer’s role is integral to building the product, but they work alongside colleagues in other disciplines and will do well to embrace their input.
“Good companies understand that the software delivery process is a team effort,” says Pedro Martin, software engineer and GA instructor. “Developers work with user experience designers, user interface designers, content designers, data analysts, quality assurance developers, delivery leads, and product owners. Each one influences the other’s work, thereby expanding the experience of delivering features.”
Communication is key. “Being able to communicate your ideas and your work to other team members is a key skill that often flies under the radar,” says Matt Studdert, founder of Frontend Mentor.
Front-end web developers can choose from a broad range of places to work, pretty much at any company with a presence on the internet. This is just one of the perks of the job. “If you like music, you could work at Spotify or another music service,” says Studdert. “If you’re passionate about plants, you could work at Patch Plants. Your skills will follow you from industry to industry.”
Unsure where to start? Taking our coding course can get you fluent enough in HTML or CSS so that you can begin using them to create your own projects and see where that leads. You can quickly find a passion to develop into a career. In our 2-hour Understanding the Stack workshop, “people come in with absolutely no understanding and learn so much within such a short timeframe.” Another option is to go all-in with a full-time bootcamp. Coding Immersive graduates leave prepared to jump right into their new developer job.
2. Data Scientist
Data science is having an increasing influence on every company’s marketing plan. There has been a hiring boom in recent years as corporate leaders are eager to harness the power of data for their bottom line. They are fast becoming key partners on every digital marketing team. For that reason, data science is one of the fastest-growing fields.
A data scientist utilizes processes and algorithms to yield insights from large data sets. In Rachel Denton’s Data Analytics course here at GA, the goal is for students to learn how to use data to solve complex business problems. “Data is so important in the world of digital marketing,“ she says. “I am seeing more and more data used alongside digital marketing as technology gets increasingly sophisticated.”
3. Digital Marketer
Digital marketing is a fast-growing field where you can use your skills to excel, whether they are focused on design, data, or strategy. More diverse roles get pulled into digital marketing by the day as the potential value of their contributions is recognized. Practically every tech professional has a place in this burgeoning field.
4. Product Manager
A product manager is integral to helping teams prioritize. They will typically be in charge of what’s getting done next and why. Organization is key in this role. Product managers must be a manager of people. They communicate with developers, designers, and marketers to determine how much time and effort goes into every project. Digital product teams are often quite small, encompassing 8 to 12 people of different disciplines.
All of these jobs have the advantage of being able to work from practically anywhere. Tech workers are essential and can transition seamlessly to an all-remote world. Their work is making our global economy thrive, now more than ever.
“Closure is the combination of a function bundled together (enclosed) with references to its surrounding state (the lexical environment).”
In simple terms, Closure is under functional programming, and it allows an inner function to access an outer function’s scope, even when the outer function has already returned.
Example:
const cartMode = function() {
let items=[] // acts like a private variable
function addItem(item) {
items.push(item)
return "Item added to Cart"
}
function totalItems() {
return items.length
}
return {
addItem,
totalItems
}
}
const cart=cartMode()
cart.addItem("Bag") // returns Item added to Cart
console.log(cart.items) // returns undefined
cart.totatItems() // returns 1
In the above example, the items variable is accessible to all the inner functions, but it’s not directly accessible from outside. This happens because of closures.
3. What is the difference between let, const, and var?
Before ES6, JS had no way to support block-level scope variables. Now, we have:
var for creating function-level scope variables.
let for creating dynamic block-level scope variables.
const for creating constant block-level scope variables.
Example:
var a = 20
if(a > 10) {
let b = 1
const a = 2
console.log(b,a, 'Inner Scope') // 1 2 Inner Scope
}
console.log(a, 'Outer Scope') // 20 Outer Scope
Even though we specified the delay as 0ms, it still prints “2” after “3.” This is because of the Event Loop in JavaScript.
In this case, first, console.log(“1”) is executed, then setTimeout() is executed; after the specified delay (in this case, 0ms), the callback function is added to Message Queue. Now the main thread only picks up items from the message queue once the current execution is done. So, the main thread first evaluates the console.log(“3”) statement post. Then, it picks up the callback() from the Queue and executes the console.log(“2”) statement. Hence, the above output.
5. The Difference between arrow functions and regular functions?
Arrow functions are new ES6 syntax for defining functions. It looks like this:
const add = (a,b) => a+b
add(2,3) // 5
The main difference between the arrow function and the regular function is the value of this keyword.
In the case of arrow functions, the keyword assigns a value lexically. What this means is unlike regular functions, arrow functions never create their own execution context. They, by default, take the execution context of the enclosing function, aka, parent.
Here is another great article explaining this in-depth.
Conclusion
Preparing for JavaScript Interviews can feel overwhelming, but you now know the JavaScript code, the programming language, and the scripting language; the only way to really answer an advanced JavaScript interview question is to examine things one concept at a time.
For years, the importance of data has been echoed in boardroom discussions and listed on company roadmaps. Now, with 99% of businesses reporting active investment in big data and AI, it’s clear that all businesses are beginning to recognize the power of data to transform our world of work.
While all leaders recognize the needs and benefits of becoming data-driven, only 24% have successfully created a data-driven organization. That is because transformation is not considered holistically and instead leaders focus on business, tools and technology and talent in silos. Usually leaving skill acquisition amongst leaders and the broader organization for last. It’s no wonder that 67% of leaders say they are not comfortable accessing or using data.
We’ve worked with businesses, such as Bloomberg, to help them gain the skills they need to successfully leverage data within their organizations & we haven’t left leaders out of the conversation. In fact, we know that leaders are crucial to the success of data transformation efforts & just like their teams, they need to be equipped with the skills to understand and communicate with data.
Why Should I Train My Leaders on Data?
When embarking on a data transformation, we always recommend that leaders be trained as the first step in company-wide skill acquisition. We recommend this approach for a few reasons:
Leaders Need to Understand Their Role in Data Transformation: Analytics can’t be something data team members do in a silo. They need to be fully incorporated into the business, rather than an afterthought. However, businesses will struggle to make that change if every leader does not understand his or her responsibility in data transformation.
Leadership Training Shows a Commitment to Change: According to New Vantage Partners, 92% of data transformation failures are attributed to the inability of leaders to form a data-driven culture. In order for your employees to truly become data-driven, they have to be able to see a real commitment from leaders to organizational goals and operational change. Training your leaders first sends that message that data is here to stay.
Leaders Need to Be Prepared to Work With Data-Driven Teams: Increasingly, leaders are expected to make data-driven decisions that impact the success of the organization. Without literacy, leaders will continue to feel uncomfortable communicating with and using data to make decisions. This discomfort will trickle down to employees and real change will never be felt.
Just like your broader organization, leaders cannot be expected to understand the role they play or the importance of data transformation without proper training.
What Does Data Literacy For Leaders Look Like?
Leaders need to be able to readily identify opportunities to use data effectively. In order to get there leaders need to:
Build a Data-Driven Mindset:
While every leader brings a wealth of experience to your org, many leaders are not data natives, and it can be a big leap to make this shift in thinking. Training leaders all at once gives you the opportunity to get your leaders on the same page and build a shared understanding and vocabulary.
So what does building a data-driven mindset look like in practice? To truly have a data-driven mindset leaders must be aware of the data landscape, as well as the opportunity of data, be mindful of biases inherent in data with an eye towards overcoming that bias, as well as being curious about how data can influence our decisions.
Leaders should walk away from training with a baseline understanding of key data concepts, a shared vocabulary, knowing how data flows through an organization and be able to pinpoint where data can have an impact in the org.
Understand the Data Life Cycle
Leaders are responsible for having oversight of every phase of the data life cycle and must be able to help teams weed out bias at any point. Without this foundation, leaders will have a hard time knowing where to invest in a data transformation and how to lead projects and teams.
All leaders should be equipped to think about and ask questions about each phase of the life cycle. For example:
Data Identification: What data do we have, and what form is it in?
Data Generation: Where will the data come from and how reliable is the source?
Data Acquisition: How will the data get from the source to us?
It is not the role of the leader to know where all the data comes from or what gaps exist, but being able to understand what questions to ask, is important to acquire the necessary insights to inform a sound business strategy.
Get to Know the Role of Data Within the Org
In an organization that’s undergoing a data transformation, there’s no shortage of projects that could command a leader’s attention and investment. Leaders must be equipped to understand where to invest to put their plans into action.
Based on existing structure, leaders need to understand the key data roles, such as data analysts or machine learning engineers, why they are important and how they differ. Once a leader has the knowledge of the data teams, they will be able to identify the opportunity of data within their team and role.
Make Better Data-Driven Decisions
Leaders who rely on intuition alone run the huge risk of being left behind by competitors that use data-driven insights. With more and more companies adjusting to this new world order, it’s imperative that leaders become more data literate in order to make important business-sustaining decisions moving forward.
Leaders should walk away from training with a baseline understanding of key data concepts, a shared vocabulary, knowing how data flows through an organization and be able to pinpoint where data can have an impact in the org.
Getting Started With Leadership Training
Including data training specifically for your leaders in your data transformation efforts is crucial. While leaders are busy tackling other important business initiatives, they, just like the rest of your organization must be set up with the right skills to successfully meet the future of work. Investment in data skills for leaders will help you to forge a truly data-driven culture and business.
To learn more about how GA equips leaders and organizations to take on data transformation get in touch with us here.
You can run JavaScript console in terminal or any command-line interface using Node.js, an open-source, platform-agnostic runtime that executes JavaScript outside a web browser.
Before we take a deep dive into how to run JavaScript in browser, we need to understand few basic terminologies like:
Client-Side JavaScript
Server-Side JavaScript
Command Line Interface
Client-Side JavaScript
JavaScript code executed in the web browser is known as client-side JavaScript.
Client-side JS was originally used to add some interactivity on websites; for example, the Click on Submit button in a form sends form details to the server.
The <script>tag within your HTML page is used to write client-side JavScript, which is later executed by the browser.
When you run JS code outside the browser-like on a web server, it becomes server-side JavaScript.
Server-side JS is generally used to write the back-end logic of your web application; for instance, you can check to see if a user password matches the stored DB password.
You can run Server-side JavaScript using any command-line interface.
But, what is Command Line Interface, a.k.a.,Terminal?
CLI is a text-based interface that allows users to perform some operation in a computer by typing commands.
The most common CLI for popular OS’s are:
Windows: Command Prompt, PowerShell
Mac: Terminal, iTerm
Let’s see how to run JavaScript in these popular CLI’s:
JavaScript (often shortened to JS) is a lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions — it is best known as the scripting language for webpages. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic, and it supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
Now, what does all that mean?
Well, it could be a bit overkill to try to explain those topics if you are just starting out in coding or learning JavaScript. In short, JavaScript most often correlates with client-side scripting on webpages. When you use a website, anything you interact with usually involves JavaScript — a search bar on Google or a dropdown menu on Facebook is all JavaScript.
While JavaScript was originally intended for websites, its uses have far surpassed front-end interactive website usage. JavaScript can be used as a server side-language with NodeJS to create desktop and mobile apps or program different electronics (popular YouTuber, Michael Reeves, uses JavaScript on a lot of his quirky inventions). JavaScript has expanded immensely since its inception with tons of different use cases and massive community support.
The Best Places to Learn JavaScript
There are many ways to learn JavaScript — here are some of the best and the most cost-effective ways.
1. freeCodeCamp
With freeCodeCamp, everything runs in your browser. It has a code editor, console, and example browser window all within site. freeCodeCamp can seem daunting at first due to the sheer amount of content it has, but do not worry. If you are looking to learn JavaScript fast, it has a section called “JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures Certification” specifically for JavaScript. It will take you through learning the basics of JavaScript and even some in-depth topics such as Data Structures and Algorithms.
Everything else freeCodeCamp has to offer is related to website programming. It even has sections on job hunting. If that is something you are interested in, I would recommend the entire site as it has a lot of great content. FCC also has a Youtube channel: youtube.com/c/freeCodeCamp, where it explains a lot of site topics in a video format.
2. Udemy/Youtube
I put these two in the same category since there is a lot of overlap, and you will see that a lot of people on Udemy use Youtube almost like a marketing tool for their full course. Nonetheless, a lot of Udemy courses range from $10–15 with a lot of good material. Really, one or two courses should be enough to learn JavaScript, so there is no need to spend a fortune. A few instructors I liked were Colt Steele and Brad Traversy.
Alternatively, both Colt Steele and Brad Traversy have Youtube channels that are free and have great content for learning JavaScript. Once you get the hang of the basics, I also recommend The Coding Train, which is run by Daniel Shiffman. I enjoyed all of these instructors’ teaching styles — they have great explanations for different concepts. That said, choose someone who best fits your needs and makes things clearest for you.
How to Learn JavaScript Fast
As with any language, learning JavaScript requires time, studying, and practice. I recommend you learn the basics, which include:
Variables
Types of Data: Strings, Integers, Objects, Arrays, Boolean, null, and undefined
Object Prototypes
Loops
If Statements/Conditionals
Functions
After you have those basics down, hop into some code challenges to get some practice. One site I would recommend is codewars.com. It has tons of challenges with varying levels of difficulty. Start at a basic level. Practice until you are comfortable with the above topics.
Another good practice exercise is making a game like tic-tac-toe or a basic calculator. With these exercises, you will be able to tackle different obstacles and exercise the syntax of JavaScript.
JavaScript Quick Tutorial
Variable Declaration
If the above materials are not enough, here is my quick JavaScript tutorial:
First, we have variables. In JavaScript, there are three ways you can declare a variable:
var: function-scoped.
let: block-scoped.
const: block-scoped, but cannot be reassigned; it also is initialized with an “a” value, unlike “var” and “let.”
Data Types
There are different data types, as mentioned above, but the most important is Objects. Objects are used for various data structures in JavaScript such as Array, Map, Set, WeakMap, WeakSet, Date, and almost everything made with a new keyword.
A small note about null: If you were to check the data type of null through JavaScript, it would evaluate to an Object. This is a loophole that has been utilized by programmers for years. This might not be very common for you early on…
Comments
Comments in JavaScript are signified with “//” for single-line comments or “/* ….. */” for longer blocks of comments. I bring this up now since the examples below have comments.
Loops
If you are not new to programming, I am sure you know what loops are. For those of you who are new to coding, loops are used to iterate or repeat a block of code a certain amount of times or until a condition is met. Loops are often used to go through items in an Array.
The most common loops are the traditional for loops and while loops. A lot of the following is from the developer.mozilla.org and MDN, which is similar to the documentation for JavaScript — here are some of the different loops JavaScript has to offer:
for loop:
for ([initialExpression]; [conditionExpression]; [incrementExpression]) {
// statement
}
Provided by MDN:
When a for loop executes, the following occurs:
The initializing expression, initialExpression, if any, is executed. This expression usually initializes one or more loop counters, but the syntax allows an expression of any degree of complexity. This expression can also declare variables.
The conditionExpression expression is evaluated. If the value of conditionExpression is true, the loop statement executes. If the value of the condition is false, the for loop terminates. (If the condition expression is omitted entirely, the condition is assumed to be true.)
The statement executes. To execute multiple statements, use a block statement ({ … }) to group those statements.
If present, the update expression incrementExpression is executed.
Control returns to Step 2.
An actual code example of a for loop:
for (let i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
// code here
}
For loops are extremely useful and used often. It is very important to understand and master how for loops work.
do…while loop:
A do…while loop will run code until a condition is false
do {
// statement
}
while (condition);
while loop:
A while loop is very similar to the do while loop, but the key difference lies when the conditional is checked. In a do…while loop, the code block runs, and the condition is checked after the while loop checks the condition and runs the block of code.
while (condition) {
// statement
}
for…in loop:
For…in loop is used to loop over objects
for (variable in object) {
// statement
}
for…of loop:
For…of loop is used typically for arrays or iterable objects. I must stress using the correct loops for arrays and objects to avoid confusion.
for (variable of array) {
// statement
}
If Statements
If statements depend on whether a given condition is true and perform what is in the first set of the code block. Do not continue to evaluate the subsequent “else” portions. If there are subsequent conditions that need to be checked, the use of “if else” will be needed. If all conditions do not evaluate as true and there is an “else” provided, the “else” portion of the statement will be used.
if (condition) {
// statement1
} else if (condition2) {
// statement2
} else {
// statement3
}
Functions
There are two ways to write a function: a function declaration and a function expression. The “return” keyword is used in JavaScript to define what a function will return. All subsequent code below a return statement will not run inside a function.
Function Declaration:
function square(number) {
return number * number;
}
Function Expression:
var square = function(number) {
return number * number;
}
The key difference between the two is the function declarations load before any code is executed, while function expressions load only when the interpreter reaches that line of code.
Object Prototype/Classes
In order to provide inheritance, JavaScript utilizes things called prototypes.
Here is an example of what the syntax would look like:
function Person(first, last, age, gender, interests) {
// property and method definitions
this.name = {
'first': first,
'last' : last
};
this.age = age;
this.gender = gender;
//...see link in summary above for full definition
}
Creating a new instance of that prototype would look like this:
let person1 = new Person('Bob', 'Smith', 32, 'male', ['music', 'skiing']);
If you come from a different coding language, you may be more familiar with the term “classes.”
JavaScript also has something called classes — classes are built on prototypes:
class Person {
constructor(first, last, age, gender, interests) {
this.name = {
first,
last
};
this.age = age;
this.gender = gender;
this.interests = interests;
}
}
How To Run JavaScript
Since JavaScript is one of the core technologies of the Internet, every modern web browser will have built-in JavaScript consoles. There are also many web-based JavaScript compilers and interpreters.
Browsers
All the big-name browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Opera will have JavaScript consoles. I will explain the process on Google Chrome, but all the other browsers can be found in a similar fashion.
In Chrome, right-click anywhere in your browser window and select “Inspect.” Then click on the console tab. From there, you can write “JavaScript” right into the console. Another keyboard shortcut can be found by pressing Command + Shift + J on Mac and Control + Shift + J on Windows.
Web-Based
There are a lot of different web-based JavaScript consoles. My personal favorite is Repl.it, but other options include JS Bin, JSFiddle, and CodePen. Of course, if you find one that you are more comfortable with, you are welcome to use it.
Can I teach myself JavaScript?
The short answer is yes. I do truly believe you can learn JavaScript on your own, but as with anything, it will take time and discipline. There may be times when you want to quit, think you’ve had enough, or question if you are doing it correctly. My answer to those questions would be to follow the free options of Codecademy and freeCodeCamp (above) as they are very structured and give a good foundation for learning. Never get discouraged; you will be surprised at how much you actually know!
So… should I learn JavaScript or Python?
This is a loaded question and could be a whole article in itself, but it really comes down to use cases. Almost everything outside of the coding languages of JavaScript and Python is alike. This includes popularity, support, community, free and paid courses, and versatile uses.
If you are more interested in data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, Python may be the route to go. This is not to say you can only learn one language. If you are up for it, learn both! Python and JavaScript have evolved a lot since they were created, and both can be used for websites, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Our lives today are dependent on the interactivity that JavaScript provides. If you want to really see how much you depend on it, you can disable JavaScript in your browser for a day. Some pages will load quicker, they’ll be cleaner, you’ll have less ads, no pop-ups, and the battery life of your computer may last longer. But also parts of the webpages simply will not work. Neither will Netflix, YouTube, Google Docs, Google Maps, and much more. We are, to a good degree, dependent on JavaScript to function. Today, virtually every computing device including iPhones, Android phones, MacOS, Windows, Linux, smart TVs, etc.. in the world have JavaScript interpreters installed on them and in active use.
It begins in the year 1995 at the Netscape headquarters, where young Brendan Eich goes into a ten day sprint of coding and comes out on the other side with a new language. Wow!
As more people used browsers to use and experience the internet, there was a need for a programming language that would give life to the browser. Something that went beyond HTML and CSS. That’s where JavaScript came in to give life to the browser. It’s a language that is capable of doing what all other programming languages do but also has a special relationship with the browser. It changed the way we thought about the internet and ushered a new era of browser based applications.
Easy setup
Unlike many other languages, where you need to go download the language in your machine in order to access all of its features and create a development environment, with JavaScript anyone with a web browser suddenly has a development environment right in front of them. Every browser supports JavaScript!
You can simply open your browser, like Chrome, and navigate to Developer Tools, and start coding away! To write a “Hello World” program is as simple as:
Event-based programming One of the most impressive features of JavaScript is that it includes event-based programming. It has built-in events like ‘onClick’ and ‘onHover’ that wait for user interaction on a website before executing a specific segment of code. For instance, when you click the night-mode toggle, that is an event which triggers a JavaScript code segment that changes the CSS across the whole website from light colors to dark colors.
JavaScript can be used to generate dynamic contents on a website as well. Different HTML tags can be generated based on user input. For instance, if you are on Facebook and you click into a comment box to type your comment on someone’s post, in that moment your click was an event that executed a code block in JavaScript that led to the generation of an HTML tag to display your comment.
End-to-end programming with Node.JS
While JavaScript has been given the title of The Language of the Browser, in 2009 with the release of Node.JS, a runtime environment that runs JavaScript code outside a web browser changed the fate of the language. Node.JS lets developers use JavaScript to write server-side scripting. Consequently, JavaScript’s popularity was dramatically increased because Node.JS represents the idea of “JavaScript everywhere” paradigm, unifying all of web application development around a single programming language, rather having a different language for server-side and client-side scripts.
In other words, now developers can use one single programming language to talk to databases, make HTTP requests, generate dynamic content, and create interactive user experiences/interfaces. This led to the Rise of Web Applications that we are experiencing today. In addition to having a unified web-application development, JavaScript also became the go-to language for many companies because now the engineering teams only had to worry about a single programming language which made it easier to debug and save costs in the overall development process.
In 2013 AirBnb launched their site and became the first to utilize the full-stack JavaScript solution. This approach allowed for code to be executed on the server-side and rendered in the browser with subsequent actions being handled by the exact same code on the client side. This inspired several other companies to do the same and today we have products and services like LinkedIn, Netflix, Uber, PayPal, eBay, Groupon, GoDaddy, CitiBank and many more using Node.JS.
JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks
The popularity of JavaScript led to the creation of several libraries and frameworks that have made application development efficient and performant. Today, libraries like React JS, jQuery, D3.js, etc.. are used in most applications across the world. Frameworks such as Angular, Ember JS, and Vue JS provide optimal performance and organization to build large applications.
Active Community
Amongst the programming languages, JavaScript has one of the largest communities according to Stackoverflow. In addition to that community, Node.JS has over a billion downloads across the world and is one the most widely used technologies.
These are just a few of the reasons why JavaScript is so popular. With the change in paradigm that led to the rise of web applications, unifying the web application development, cross browser support, and the plethora of libraries/frameworks available, the world of the internet has been fully invested in the growth of JavaScript. Furthermore, since JavaScript is a high-level interpreted language that is easy to understand, it is the one of the best languages to learn if you want to enter the world of programming and explore the amazing possibilities of web-application development.
JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It’s a scripting language used by developers to create interactive user interfaces that display dynamic content. It is s referred to as The Language of the Web Browser because it is the most commonly used language to build web applications and works well across all web browsers.
As the popularity of JavaScript increased and more people were using it to build websites and applications, the JavaScript community recognized that certain patterns in the code were being used repeatedly to accomplish the same tasks.
This re-writing of code and recognizing that certain JS functions need to be implemented multiple times led to the development of JavaScript libraries and frameworks. For instance, reoccurring animations and interactive forms that appear in different places on a website or app were repetitive tasks that could be automated by using a code snippet as needed without writing code every time.
Generally speaking, JavaScript libraries are collections of prewritten code snippets that can be used and reused to perform common JavaScript functions. A particular JavaScript library code can be plugged into the rest of your project’s code on an as-needed basis. This led to faster development and fewer vulnerabilities to have errors.
What is jQuery?
There are many libraries and frameworks available to JavaScript developers today, but the concept of a JavaScript library was initiated with the creation of jQuery. jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML, DOM (Document Object Model) manipulation, and event handling, CSS animations, and Ajax. At the time, the jQuery library shortened the syntax and simplified the code, making it easy to understand and increased web developer productivity.
All a web developer had to do was install jQuery and use prewritten code snippets to manipulate the virtual DOM. For example, if a developer wants to add an autocomplete feature in a search bar on their site, they would insert the appropriate jQuery code snippet into the project’s code. When a user enters text into the search bar, the jQuery code snippet retrieves the feature from the jQuery library and displays it in the user’s modern browser.
What is React JS?
In 2011, Facebook created a JavaScript library called React, which specializes in helping developers build user interfaces or UI’s. React
JS is a web component-based library and an open source JavaSscript framework that helps developers design simple views for each state of the JavaScript application. React is also extremely smart in that it does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of efficiently updating and rendering the right components when there is a change in data or the state of the JavaScript application.
Today, React is the most popular JavaScript library, and companies use it all over the world like Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, Netflix, Instagram, Amazon, Twitter, and much more.
The web component-based library allows developers to avoid the pitfalls of rewriting code and dealing with complicated debugging. With React, you can reuse and recycle different components across the web application or other products.
Components such as navigation bars, buttons, cards, forms, sections, and the like can all be reused like little building blocks that make the web application. A library like React dramatically increases the development speed with fewer bugs and makes extremely performant applications.
Library vs. Framework
Perhaps one of the most common topics of discussion in the software community is the difference between a library and a framework. As we see above, jQuery and React are libraries with prewritten code snippets that we can use and reuse to build applications.
So while JavaScript libraries are a specialized tool for on-demand use, JavaScript frameworks are a full toolset that helps shape and organize your website or application. In other words, libraries are about using what is needed for the task, while frameworks provide you with all the tools you could need even if you don’t particularly need all of them.
Think of it like cooking some pasta. When using a JavaScript library, you simply grab the pot, pan, ingredients to make the pasta, and plates to serve. You only require only the things you need to make pasta. When thinking about a JavaScript framework, imagine an entire fully loaded kitchen. Another way to think about it can be that JavaScript libraries are like pieces of furniture that add style and function to an already constructed house. At the same time, frameworks are templates you can use to build the house itself.
Examples of an open source JavaScript framework includes Angular, Ember JS, and Vue JS. These are some of the most popular frameworks with large communities and support systems. Frameworks provide a structure to base your entire application around, and developers can safely work within the structure’s rules.
The advantage of frameworks is the overall efficiency and organization. The disadvantage is that a developer has less freedom to work around the rules and conventions specific to a particular JS framework. Libraries, on the other hand, give developers more freedom to use different code and snippets but do not provide the type of structure and convention that comes with a framework.
Learn how to create a javascript library with General Assembly.
Did you know that Spain is one of the hardest-hit countries of the pandemic? Many of the millions of jobs lost will not be available again due to automation and new technologies — a problem that will challenge individuals with disabilities more, since their digital skills gap was already wider pre-pandemic. We believe this is the moment for action to support workers whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the pandemic and create opportunities for them to pursue careers in fields with strong long-term prospects.
That is why we at General Assembly and Fundación Adecco are incredibly proud to have partnered and reskilled 15 individuals with disabilities into software engineers.
According to Dolores García Autero, Fundación Adecco’s CFO, “The digital revolution is sharply increasing the demand for tech professionals; in our country, however, there is a deficit of such profiles. Through this program, we aim to contribute to closing the skills gap while, at the same time, increasing the presence of people with disabilities in tech roles, where they are currently underrepresented.”
The “Tecnología y Discapacidad” report published by the Fundación Adecco and Keysight Technologies Spain shows that:
45% of individuals with disabilities find barriers to entry in new technologies.
32% say the reason is due to lack of accessibility features
16% report simply not having the resources to acquire new technology.
Over 70% of individuals surveyed believe the pandemic will prevent them from finding employment.
By offering GA’s 3-month full-time Software Engineering Immersive (SEI) course to these individuals, our goal was to equip them with the skills needed to pursue a profession with excellent long-term prospects and increase accessibility awareness in software and web solutions through the work of our graduates.
“This has been, by far the most intense learning experience I’ve ever had, and a true mental and physical challenge. I barely knew what HTML was and, after only three months, I can now consider myself a developer! To say that I am proud of my achievement would be an understatement. A whole professional future has opened up to me where I can succeed regardless of my motor impairment.” —Ismael Gonzalez, SEI graduate
Taught and adapted by Pedro Martín, a trained pedagogue and SEI graduate himself, the course was General Assembly’s first social impact initiative in Europe — and the first program delivered entirely in Spanish. According to Pedro, more than the sheer happiness of teaching in Spanish and being able to give back to the community, the course opened his eyes to how “disabilities can be superpowers.”
“We had students who had difficulties with their manual dexterity. It wasn’t easy for them to type on a keyboard, so they took their time to just think about what the best code to type would be, instead of just trial and error. This approach made them very thoughtful members of the group, and they showed the rest of us how the economy of keystrokes can make an impact on how we developed software.”
In addition to learning the key foundational skills in class, students then developed four projects:
A video game in vanilla JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
A React application, consisting of 2 APIs.
A MERN (Mongo, Express, React, Node) stack application.
A PERN (PostgreSQL, Express, React, Node) stack application.
All are now walking away from the program with new skills and a portfolio of work to showcase to potential employers.
The job search process is being aided by Fundación Adecco, which is providing career coaching and networking opportunities. In less than two months after graduation, the candidates have been interviewed by an average of five companies — and four individuals have already accepted a job offer!
We are eager to watch these new tech professionals thrive and look forward to following their robust careers. At the same time, we remain committed to creating partnerships and programs that enable affordable and accessible education, contribute to a diverse tech talent pipeline, and promote social mobility through careers in tech.
