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javascript reactjs

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April 2, 2026 Score: 5 Rep: 208,118 Quality: Medium Completeness: 70%

Do I learn React before JavaScript? I'm confused

React is a Javascript library, so by definition you must learn/know/understand Javascript in order to use React and create React applications/pages/etc.

How do I learn JavaScript as a Frontend Development beginner?

There's nothing like good old official documentation. I'm 8-9 years into my frontend developer career and still reference these nearly daily.

What resources do I need (video links and written materials)?

I'd recommend sticking to the official docs like the ones listed above as they are singular resources that are generally actively maintained and remain current. Online blogs, Youtube videos, tutorials, etc. seem to always be outdated (but can sometimes serve as historical references).

Also would you advise diving right into react from css?

I'm not sure how to parse this question as React and CSS are entirely separate concerns. You'll likely learn CSS basics when using React though.

React seem to be so complex. What do I do? I'm confused.

Coming to web development from a pure Computer Science background in C/C++/Java I can certainly feel your pain. My internship was effectively a crash course in web development where I had to learn Javascript in order to complete assigned React milestones.

React is actually quite simple, once you "get it", i.e. thinking the "reactive" way. I can tell you though that if ever you are trying to do something and it seems like an uphill battle or that you are fighting React the whole way to do it, that you are likely doing it wrong and need to take a step back, possibly dive into the React docs for a particular topic, and reassess your position and strategy.

I'd suggest going through React's Learning Guide, and specifically the Tic-Tac-Toe tutorial, where you actually build an entire application and each step of the way has clear instruction.

An aside, what probably helped me the most in my career/journey through Javascript/React development is/was actually actively participating here on Stack Overflow.

Initially I had looked for questions that seemed simple/trivial enough to be answerable by a junior/inexperienced developer, i.e. after a search of the issue/problem statement, review of documentation, reproduction of the problem locally, testing a solution, finally a proposal of an answer.

What this did for me was:

  • Helped me build skills to attack unfamiliar problems
  • How to quickly recognize the problem space without much effort, i.e. identify key aspects of a problem to search with
  • Familiarization with documentation, knowing where the information is kept is useful
  • How to explain/distill what the problem is/was in simple terms
  • How to quickly prototype code and test it (either locally on my machine or in an online sandbox)
  • Explain how a proposed solution solves a problem

Overall, I improved my skillset and helped fellow developers at the same time. I felt that if I could quickly understand another developer's problem and provide a working solution that if/when ever I hit that same problem myself that it'd be "old news" and something I'd see before. If I could do this then I was making good progress as a developer/programmer.

This leads me to the second most helpful point, reading (lots) of code written by other developers. The more the better. Be it posts here on Stack Overflow, participating in peer code reviews, or if you simply peruse the source code of open-source repositories, reading other people's code will undoubtedly introduce you to new ideas.

April 2, 2026 Score: 3 Rep: 362 Quality: Low Completeness: 20%

You can find written material about JavaScript (and also HTML and CSS) here:

https://developer.mozilla.org/

April 2, 2026 Score: 2 Rep: 47 Quality: Low Completeness: 20%

I totally understand your confusion. Every frontend beginner feels this at the start, so you’re on the right track already.
First, focus on learning JavaScript basics (variables, functions, loops, DOM). Use videos from Hitesh Choudhary or Apna College, and read from MDN Web Docs.

Practice small projects like a to-do app or counter, that’s where real learning happens.

Don’t jump into React yet. It feels hard because JavaScript is not strong. First get comfortable with JS, then React will become much easier.

April 2, 2026 Score: 2 Rep: 1 Quality: Low Completeness: 10%

I'd recommend starting with JS. When doing so, learn the basics, like variables and functions. Make sure to use resources you have available, for example FreeCodeCamp.

Start with making small yet functional applications.

TLDR; First learn JavaScript before diving into React.

April 2, 2026 Score: 1 Rep: 6,575 Quality: Low Completeness: 20%

I'd suggest looking at roadmap.sh

April 2, 2026 Score: 1 Rep: 209 Quality: Low Completeness: 70%

You can learn Javascript from mdn docs or w3 school.

Also would you advise diving right into react from css?

No, you should learn javascript first, build some projects and then start learning react.

You can learn React from given below resources

April 2, 2026 Score: 1 Rep: 63,248 Quality: Low Completeness: 0%

React uses JavaScript. You can't really grasp React without knowing at least some JavaScript first.

April 4, 2026 Score: 0 Rep: 21 Quality: Low Completeness: 10%

You can but it would be painful , and if you want to learn react without learning javascript then you must learnthem both at the same because react is just javascript but just learning hooks,components,and other react concepts is not enough at all , and the creation of spa projets aren't as common as you think so learning pure js is much ore important , and the basis of react are pure js , even if you can find things that are harder in js and things easier in react like dom manipulation