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I'm looking for a solid and but fast paced entry in field of javascript development.

The following topics come to my mind:

  • Javascript advanced concepts, OOP
  • jQuery, jQuery-UI, jQuery-Mobile
  • backbone.js
  • node.js
  • BDD and/or TDD

The courses of http://www.codelesson.com seem promising.

What certificates for Javascript developers exist/can be recommended?

What other vendors can you recommend?

vbd
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3 Answers3

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JavaScript certification is called github.

It's called write modules, maintain modules, and share modules with the community, build popularity, etc.

As a JavaScript employer I couldn't care less what certification you have, I care about either examples of github modules showing quality code or live websites/web applications show high quality code.

Raynos
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    Pretty much this but for browser development you can't afford to be a slouch at CSS either. It saves you a lot of work in JS to be able to handle complex positioning issues in CSS. For instance, there's no need to touch the DOM if a dropdown sits inside an element in a way that doesn't break it when it appears. Also CSS layout work is a way to break in at interactive firms, etc... JS devs come from a wide variety of backgrounds and rarely with any kind of a relevant degree because there really isn't one. Certs mean nothing. – Erik Reppen Mar 22 '12 at 23:02
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    @Raynos: It's not that I don't agree with you for a given context where you, the technical lead guy are the *sole* evaluator of a potential employee. I belive however that your answer is not helpful when talking about non-technical, HR people, who can very well sort down resumes on various "official" certifications such as a JS certif. – Shivan Dragon Oct 28 '13 at 15:51
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    @Shivan - I see where you are coming from and... the reality is that a company these days that does not have a tech savvy HR manager will fall behind in their industry in mountains of bad code made from poor hiring decisions. What a company needs to do is focus on hiring one very talented technical lead that will then do the technical hiring or manage it as a whole! Judging certifications and degrees is a good way to get into trouble if that is all you validate upon. – Elijah Lynn Nov 08 '13 at 18:19
  • @ElijahLynn Yes, your point is valid, at present less and less companies display this issue, as the over all tech savviness of the HR people has improved. I've experienced this myself for a few years now. However there still remains the issue of a good number of companies who still do it "the old fashioned way". But you're right, happily this is becoming less and less of an issue. – Shivan Dragon Nov 09 '13 at 10:23
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I don't know of any certificates that really test everything you described. I would suggest getting a base certificate like CIW JavaScript Specialist or W3Schools JavaScript Certification(some dispute W3Schools credibility) and then building a portfolio on your own of the technologies and skills inside of JavaScript you wanted to show off. A GitHub username full of sample code beats a Certificate any day.

JustinDoesWork
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    +1 for suggesting showing actual expertise in the field as opposed to just a certificate. – Jeffrey Sweeney Mar 21 '12 at 14:52
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    "W3Schools offers certifications whose value is highly debateable… No employers recognize or respect W3Schools certificates. Unlike Microsoft’s MCP or Cisco’s CCC, W3Schools has absolutely no authority over the technologies for which they claim to provide certification. Unlike CompTIA’s ANSI/ISO accredited certifications, W3Schools has no support from governing standards bodies." — http://www.w3fools.com/ – Constantino Tsarouhas Mar 21 '12 at 15:06
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    @RandyMarsh Your point that W3Schools has no authority over JavaScript is correct but as far as I know no one makes a Certificate from anyone that does have authority over JavaScript. Also copying and pasting from a website just because I used W3Schools as an example seems spammy. – JustinDoesWork Mar 21 '12 at 15:19
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    @JustinDoesWork There's a link in that comment to the source at w3fools.com, which is a good resource (despite its bias) to confirm the usefulness of w3schools. The consensus (as I understand) on programmers.SE is that w3schools is awful. – StuperUser Mar 21 '12 at 15:55
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    @StuperUser I edited the answer to include both another possible Certificate, I was more using it as an example, and a disclaimer about W3Schools after doing some more research. Hopefully that suffices. – JustinDoesWork Mar 21 '12 at 15:59
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Real-world experience is always the best way to learn, but often times you do need some formal training to either get your started, or at least get you pointed in the right direction. People who are already familiar with programming and development often forget that it can be difficult for someone new to the profession to just "jump in" and you can't learn how to code just by staring at someone else's code (which can also lead to blind copy/pasting of other people's code without truly understanding how it works).

I can vouch for CodeLession. They have a good range of courses from beginner to expert, with real instructors leading the course (not just a canned set of YouTube videos) and available to answer questions. Very often the instructors are experts in the particular field (i.e. jQuery core contributors teaching jQuery courses).

Marc Novakowski
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