Introduction
Millions of websites and web applications are built using the JavaScript programming language. In general, JavaScript developers work alongside front-end developers to build the front-end logic to define the behavior of various elements of the visual layout in a web application.
In addition, JavaScript language is used for connecting with the services running on the backend. The primary responsibilities of a JavaScript developer are to enhance the user experience and the interface by instant response mechanism in the events of user clicks or to fetch data from servers and update the web pages dynamically.
Typically, these technical professionals are among the most sought-after experts across organizations and industries. A robust JavaScript developer portfolio requires programming skill sets and the knowledge of working on industry-oriented projects. Therefore, it is essential for an individual to deep dive into technical concepts and enhance coding expertise with top online courses.
Related reading: Top 11 jQuery Online Courses
1. JavaScript for Beginners Specialization by UC Davis – Coursera
This course is among the best JavaScript courses for beginners on the Coursera platform. In this course, the focus is on building the fundamental skills of the learners in JavaScript and jQuery. There is a gentle progression in the modules of this course to let learners adapt to the concepts in a more effortless manner.
The learners will be provided with following along hands-on sessions and multiple assessments to enhance their programming skills. However, there is a need to complete the capstone project to earn a certificate successfully.
The takeaways from this course include the ability of the learners to work with code editors, control structures, loops, and understanding the core programming structures for modern web development. In addition, the learners will explore the jQuery library and understand the difference between JavaScript and jQuery. The course contents are:
JavaScript Basics
This module introduces the essentials of JavaScript with examples of websites that allow the students to understand the type of websites the learners will develop. In addition, the learners will cover the fundamentals of JavaScript and its history, and its current uses and releases. The concepts on writing the first script and working with programming languages such as HTML and CSS to understand how to create variables and arrays.
Animation with JavaScript and jQuery
The second module focuses on the JavaScript libraries, including jQuery. The concepts on DOM manipulations will be covered in detail. Furthermore, the learners will understand how to differentiate between libraries and select the best one for implementation and improving the development of web page animations.
The learners will also explore landing page-style websites with the help of jQuery elements for manipulating HTML documents for an improved user experience. Finally, the concepts on plugins will be covered in-depth.
Interactivity with JavaScript and jQuery
The third module of the course includes the concepts of using complex scripts and complex jQuery plugins. The learners will identify objects in JavaScript and create new objects to work with data by understanding the modification and deletion process.
Furthermore, the concepts of DOM manipulation and how to use multiple functions for a complex program will be explored with multiple hands-on sessions. In addition, the learners will gain knowledge on how to break more extensive programs into smaller and manageable parts.
Data Manipulation in JavaScript
Data manipulation is the primary theme of this module, and the learners will learn how to manipulate data using advanced JavaScript. In addition, the validation and handling of data from users and outside sources will be covered, including the concepts on validation basics in JavaScript. Finally, the learners will be expected to complete a capstone project at the end of this module.
Instructor: William Mead
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges for certification may apply)
2. HTML, CSS and JavaScript for Web Developers by John Hopkins University – Coursera
This certificate programming course is available on Coursera. The course provides essential tools, programming languages, and exposure to learners to experience modern web development on real-world projects.
The learners will begin from the ground up by covering the implementation of HTML and CSS for web pages, followed by advanced concepts to code the pages with different components.
The learners will understand how to add functionalities to websites wherein the pages rearrange and resize according to the user’s screen.
In addition, the learners will be able to learn the uses of JavaScript to build fully functional web applications with Ajax to provide server-side functionalities and data to the end-user. The course curriculum includes:
Introduction to HTML and CSS3
This module covers the basics of HTML and the environmental setup. In addition, the HTML5 basics and its document structures, semantic tags are some of the essentials of HTML5 that are covered in-depth.
In this module, the learners can expect to explore the concepts of CSS3, followed by advanced concepts such as floating and CSS rule conflict resolution.
In addition, the concepts on box model and background property are some of the crucial concepts that are covered in the module.
Finally, the learners will cover the concepts of responsive designing using CSS codes and work on a project involving Twitter Bootstrap and the grid system.
Coding the Static Web Page for a Restaurant Website
The learners will cover the essential concepts of building a restaurant website and interacting with a client when managing the website project. The entire model is focused on building an actual website as per the business requirement of the restaurant owner from scratch.
Introduction to JavaScript
This module is an extension of the previous module, and the learners are provided with the concepts of adding functionality to the websites. In addition, the learners will cover the fundamentals of the JavaScript language and understand its valuable features. In this module, the learners will cover every aspect of JavaScript, from the common language constructs to JavaScript types and objects such as functions, arrays, closure, and scope isolation.
Using JavaScript to build Web Applications
The final module focuses on utilizing all the concepts covered in the previous modules in the context of building a web page. The learners will include web page component manipulation, DOM, API, and serving data to a website using Ajax. The concepts on HTTP and Ajax requests and response handling and processing JSON data will be covered in-depth.
The module will finish by adding a backend service to the restaurant website and dynamically acquiring data from the restaurant menu from the server without reloading the entire web page.
Instructor: Yaakov Chaikin
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges for certification may apply)
3. Interactivity with JavaScript by University of Michigan – Coursera
This course is offered on the Coursera platform. Although this course is offered as part of the Web Design for Everybody Specialization, it is also available for learners to enroll separately.
In this course, the learners will understand how to take the website to the advanced level and provide more interactivity for the end-users. It is ideal for learners who have essential programming experience using HTML and CSS3 and the knowledge of the fundamentals of JavaScript.
The learners will understand how to create a web page and add more functionalities such as reacting to common events like page load or mouse click and movements and keyboard inputs. In addition, the course covers the concepts of variables, looping, function, and debugging tools.
The learners will clearly understand DOM in JavaScript for identifying and modifying different parts of a web page. At the end of the course, the learners will create DOM events, dynamic alteration of the contents, and better styling to the pages. The course requires learners to complete the final project for certification.
The course contents are:
- Introduction to JavaScript
- Reacting to the Audience
- Arrays and Looping
- Validating Form Data
Instructor: Colleen van Lent
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges for certification may apply)
4. JavaScript Certification Training Course – Simplilearn
The course is available on Simplilearn. This training program introduces the fundamentals of JavaScript and several relevant topics such as data types in JavaScript. In addition, the course provides a detailed explanation of loops, conditional statements, objects, and variables in JavaScript. The learners will be building a real-time chat application at the end of the course with advanced functions using advanced JavaScript, jQuery, and Ajax to work with the web application’s server-side requirements.
The course contents are:
- Fundamentals of JavaScript
- JavaScript for Beginning Web Developers
- JavaScript for Absolute Beginners
- Fundamentals of jQuery
- Fundamentals of Ajax Development
- NodeJs for Real-Time Chat Application
- Advanced JavaScript
Instructor: Industry Experts
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: $135.1 (Price may vary according to the region)
5. Learn Intermediate JavaScript Nanodegree Program – Udacity
This course is offered on Udacity. The course is a specialization program on JavaScript development and is ideal for learners with working experience with the programming languages for web development. This course focuses on enhancing the learners’ knowledge of web development, server-side application development, and desktop development.
The learners will be well prepared in this course to tackle advanced roles in web development and build a solid understanding of JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue. The course’s prerequisite includes understanding JavaScript primitive types, writing conditions and loops, a good understanding of syntax and structure, declaring functions, and the ability to navigate using Chrome DevTools.
The learners will also be provided with real-world projects from industry experts and technical mentor support in this course. Besides, the learners are also offered project feedback from experienced reviewers from the industry and support for building the GitHub portfolio to connect to the programming community.
The course contents are:
- Object-Oriented JavaScript
- Functional Programming
- Asynchronous Programming in JavaScript
Instructor: Alyssa Hope, Rachel Manning, Andrew Wong, and Richard Kalehoff
Level: Advanced
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: Monthly Access: $308.7, 3-Month Access: $787.2 (Approximately)
6. Programming for the Web with JavaScript by University of Pennsylvania – edX
This course is available on the edX platform. In this programming course, the learners will begin with the introductory concepts of modern web development using JavaScript. In addition, the learners will explore the concepts of web page creation using HTML and CSS.
The learners will also explore how to create advanced web page layouts and responsive design tools necessary for such designs. Additionally, the learners will cover the concepts on web page design using DOM, dynamic and interactive web page designs using JavaScript in the browser.
Furthermore, the learners will be well-equipped with the knowledge of JavaScript syntax and advanced features such as callbacks, events, and asynchronous programming. Moreover, the learners will explore the concepts of jQuery and its uses for web development and how to provide additional functionalities. The concepts such as DOM manipulation and event handling are covered in-depth.
This course will also introduce you to modern web frameworks and component-based libraries such as React.js for efficiently developing modular web page components and D3.js for creating data-driven documents. In addition, the learners will explore how to represent data and exchange data with the help of JavaScript, JSON, and RESTful API on the web.
The learners will also be provided with additional modules to cover the concepts of server-side JavaScript and the frameworks such as NodeJS and Express to create and deploy complex data-driven web applications in a more straightforward manner.
This course will prepare the learners to use such frameworks and have sufficient knowledge of integrating them with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB. The prerequisite of this course includes basic knowledge of programming and the fundamental concepts related to core data structures.
The course curriculum includes:
- Web Programming Basics
- Using JavaScript to Create Dynamic Web Pages
- Client-Side Frameworks for Developing Modular Web Page Components
- Building Scalable Web Apps with Server-Side JavaScript
Instructor: Chris Murphy and Swapneel Sheth
Level: Intermediate
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: $150 (Approximately)
7. Web Programming with Python and JavaScript by Harvard University – edX
This course is available on the edX platform. In this course, the learners will explore the concepts of database design, scalability, and user experience. A wide range of hands-on sessions will guide the learners to write and use APIs and create interactive UI. In addition, the learners will understand how to leverage cloud services like GitHub and Heroku.
At the end of the course, the learners will gain comprehensive knowledge about the principles, languages, and tools that allow them to enrich the web applications’ styling and designs and learn to deploy on the internet.
The prerequisite of the course includes prior programming experience in any language. At the end of this course, the learners will be well-equipped with their programming skills in HTML, CSS, Python, Django, SQL, and JavaScript. In addition, the learners will be well-aware of the concepts on models, migrations, user interfaces, testing, CI/CD, and build scalable and secure web applications.
Instructor: David J. Malan and Brian Yu
Level: Intermediate
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: Free Enrollment (Pricing for certification available on sign up)
8. XSeries Program in Django for Everybody by University of Michigan – edX
This course is available on edX. This series focuses on building Python programming skills to develop websites using the Django library. In addition, the learners will cover the essentials for modern web development and explore all the programming languages such as HTML, CSS, SQL, and JavaScript.
During the course, the learners will build online websites with Django, JavaScript, jQuery, and JSON web services, and the working websites will be graded for the course. This course also covers additional concepts on PHP, Flask, and Ruby on Rails.
The course modules are:
- Web Application Technologies and Django
- Building Web Applications in Django
- Django Features and Libraries
- Using JavaScript, jQuery, and JSON in Django
Instructor: Charles Severance
Level: Beginner/ Intermediate
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: Free Enrollment (Pricing for certification available on sign up)
9. Advanced JavaScript – Pluralsight
This course is available on Pluralsight. The course is for learners who have working knowledge or essential programming experience using JavaScript. It is mainly targeted at advanced learners looking to gain a strong understanding of JavaScript with a deeper look at the functionalities of JavaScript and how the core mechanics of this programming language is used for compilation, optimization, and execution in the browser.
Some of the key takeaways from the course include:
- Scope and the JavaScript compiler
- Execution of function code
- Lexical scope
- IIFE Pattern
- Dynamic scope
- Explicit binding
- Closures
- Object orienting prototypes
- Async patterns
- Solving callback problems
- The course contents are:
- Introduction
- ECMAScript Language Specification
- Scope and the JavaScript Compiler
- IIFE Patterns
- Binding and Object Orienting
- Module Patterns
- Prototype Linkage
- Callbacks
- Generators
Instructor: Kyle Simpson
Level: Advanced
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.8/5
Price: 10-Day Free Trial (Charges applicable after trial period)
10. JavaScript and jQuery Essentials Training and Certification – Edureka
This course is offered on Edureka . In this course, the learners will be introduced to the concepts of JavaScript and the fundamentals of front-end development. In addition, the overview on syntax and various aspects of JavaScript programming and its libraries will be covered in detail.
The concepts on objects and error handling methods are explored for boosting the programming skills of the learners. All the concepts in this course are example-oriented, with practical sessions to gain practical skills for web development.
At the end of the course, the learners will understand functional websites and the client-side, creating, updating, and deleting HTML elements, using objects to access and change browser properties, validating HTML forms, and code optimization using jQuery. The prerequisite of the course includes basic knowledge of HTML and CSS or any programming language.
The course modules are:
Introduction to JavaScript
After completing this module, the learners will have an understanding of the following concepts:
- History and Introduction
- Basics of JavaScript programming
- Reducing server load
- Variables and their data types
- Handling conditional statements
- Variables
- Data types
- Type Conversions
- Operators
- Conditional statements
Functions and Internal Memory Management
This module includes:
- Functions and reusable codes
- Internal Memory Management in JavaScript
- Identify the type of declaration that should be applied for a variable
- Variable Shadowing and Closures
- Garbage Collectors in JavaScript
- Functions
- Function Execution & Memory Management
- Variable Shadowing & Closures
- Garbage Collection
Objects and Event Handling
In this module, the learners will understand the benefits of Objects and Event Handling in JavaScript. Given below are the concepts that are covered in this module:
- Browser Object Model (BOM)
- Document Object Model (DOM)
- Objects
- Events
- Validations
- Create and use objects
- BOM methods and elements
- HTML Elements through DOM objects
- Changing HTML Element style with DOM
- Event Listeners to DOM elements
- Validate HTML forms before sending a request to the server
Libraries and Frameworks
The module introduces different libraries and frameworks of JavaScript. The concepts covered in this module are:
- Libraries and frameworks
- JSON
- AJAX
- jQuery
- Difference between JavaScript and jQuery
- Working with errors/exceptions
- Identify the difference between libraries, frameworks, and tools
jQuery-Functions and DOM
- The module covers the following concepts:
- Using functions with jQuery
- Selectors in jQuery
- Traverse through and modify the DOM elements using jQuery
- Apply effects and animations in DOM
- Functions
- jQuery Forms
- Form Validations
- Event Handling
- AJAX with jQuery
- Plugins
Instructor: Industry Professionals
Level: Beginner/ Intermediate
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 5/5 (on the platform)
Price: $114.8 (Approximately)
Conclusion
In the modern IT industry, software development without JavaScript is unimaginable, which defines why JavaScript is still among the most in-demand IT skills. The demand for JavaScript developers is on the rise, and it remains a popular career opportunity. According to Glassdoor, JavaScript developers command a competitive salary with a base salary of $90,141 and the highest salary of $200,000 according to seniority and experience.
With these numbers, it is no wonder that JavaScript developers are the most sought after across industries. Most websites use JavaScript today as it can add interactivity and other integral web functionalities to a website or an application. In addition, JavaScript continues to be versatile and is supported by all web browsers.
JavaScript developers can use different libraries, frameworks, and plugins to develop more efficiently to provide visual elements and behavioral functionalities to a website. In addition, JavaScript developers are ensuring support for the front-end with the backend services to maintain the website’s functionality and enhance the user experience.
The role of a JavaScript developer extends beyond designing and development as they are vital for fixing bugs, building libraries, and maintaining the speed and scalability of the application. Undoubtedly, JavaScript developers are highly employable and featured in the LinkedIn Emerging Job Reports as a top job with a 25% growth rate.
Developers and aspirants need to upskill themselves and deep dive into this career of immense potential with some of the top courses available today. Thus, the article focused on highlighting some of the most highly rated courses on JavaScript from some of the top universities in the world
