Yeah books will only take you so far. I'm almost the opposite (when it comes to
JavaScript), I've never read a JavaScript book before, and got into it entirely by
practical learning. I started off the way most of us did with Image rollovers and
working up from there, along with a few tutorials (anyone remember the JavaScript Tip
of the Day site?). It took me a while before I could write stuff entirely on my own
without looking at examples. I started DHTML stuff back when Netscape 4 was still in
beta, and at that time there were only a select few tutorials with limited DHTML stuff
on them so I started writing my own (even though I was entirely unqualified to do so).
That was the point where I started to really learn how to do the more complex stuff
with JavaScript. I tried doing stuff that was definately beyond my current abilities,
and kept at it until I figured out how to do it.
So in order to become a vastly better coder I'd say you have to be able to set goals
for yourself that are significantly above your level of knowledge and not give up
until you accomplish it. You gotta be able to solve a problem from start to finish.
Dan
On Thu, Dec 07, 2000 at 11:20:48AM -0800, Jason Willer wrote:
> Howdy Folks,
>
> I'm dreading posting this to the list, but I can't stand it any longer. So please,
>any responses should be directed to my email and not the list. By doing so, you
>don't clutter the list with responses to my borderline DynAPI question.
>
> I've been lurking Dan's original Forum (now defunct) and this list for about 4
>months now and am amazed at the expertise you guys/gals show with DHTML and DynAPI.
>My question is how did you learn all of this stuff and how can I do so also? I'm
>what I consider a book programmer with no practical experience. But, as you well
>know, reading a book doesn't mean you're a programmer! I can read O'Reilly's
>JavaScript book and Dan's tutorial all day long and run through the examples, but
>that doesn't do "jack" for me in becoming a *real* programmer. As a matter of fact,
>I have so many books, my entire department thinks I'm the Technical Library. Yet, I
>can still only right "toddler" code.
>
> I want to be able to do the practical things you guys do with the DynAPI, but don't
>know how to get there. I would ultimately love to be able to write a MenuList widget
>for DynAPI 2, but don't have a clue where to start. Please...could anyone give me
>some direction...oh great Guru's?
>
> Humbly
> Hopeless (Jason W.)
>
> P.S. I have a version of Dan's v1 MenuList running on a website, but that's only
>because you guys did all of the work! I can read part of the code and then I get
>stuck at certain points. Thus the need for this post.
> _______________________________________________
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