JavaScript: You Don’t Know Jack

When interviewing potential job candidates and students, my experience has shown that the most often overrated skill that today’s developer claims is experience and expertise in JavaScript. Let me start by debunking a common and widespread misconception: jQuery !== JavaScript. Please don’t be that guy in the interview or on your development team.

In this presentation, we’ll unlearn some bad habits and take a fresh look and perspective at the JavaScript language. In particular, we’ll demonstrate different scoping issues, look at prototypical inheritance and discuss different techniques to make your code more succinct, expressive, flexible and less error prone.

Learn the JavaScript language fundamentals and apply that knowledge to jQuery (or the framework of your choice) and take not only your skills, but also your code, to the next level.

Note: George is giving this same presentation this summer at That!Conference. Get an early preview or free up your time for another great session while attending that conference.

About George

George works as a senior software engineer at the University of Wisconsin – Steven Point. For more than a decade, George has been developing custom software solutions, routing packets, crashing servers and clicking a mouse. Although always opinionated, he is always happy to mentor and learn with fellow developers.

George's philosophy on what it takes to be a great developer is simple. If the code you wrote six months ago isn't garbage, then you’re standing still. In our industry, if you’re standing still you’re already moving backwards. Take charge of your career and your code… challenge yourself! Learn something new, reignite your passion and learn to love writing code all over again!