1) The #1 secret to good JS is mastering crazy-yet-delicious object-orientated prototype madness. You won't get anywhere just learning how to write functions, but learning how to use prototyping well is a esoteric skill, so that's where Crockford comes in:
2) Check out the videos on http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/theater/ There's 2.2gigs of them for you to digest. Crockfords are especially good, and will teach you good practices.
3) Use a framework like mootools to save you time on real projects. However, I advise against assuming these frameworks are "perfect"; they all have faults.
4) Don't copy other people too much - many JS devs, including me, are terrible programmers :-P
5) Learn JS by creating AJAX projects as it's so important to web apps. "Professional Ajax" by Zakas is a decent place to start.
6) Enjoy it! JS is a fantastic language, and the quick returns can be incredibly rewarding. It has its faults, but it is amazingly powerful and quite unique.
Don't copy other people too much - many JS devs, including me, are terrible programmers
One of the biggest problems with JavaScript is its community. I'm not talking about N.YC readers who think they are bad programmers. No, I'm talking about the fact that there are reams and reams of plain old bad advice on JavaScript out there that still outrank the good stuff in most search engines.
99% of the time a Google search on a JavaScript problem will score you pages of hits with antiquated, non-standard, buggy or IE-only approaches.
You won't get anywhere just learning how to write functions
I totally disagree. Learning how to write functions is a big, big deal and will take you far indeed. I can't think of anything more important for learning programming.
Meanwhile, "object-orientated prototype madness" is entirely optional.
2) Check out the videos on http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/theater/ There's 2.2gigs of them for you to digest. Crockfords are especially good, and will teach you good practices.
3) Use a framework like mootools to save you time on real projects. However, I advise against assuming these frameworks are "perfect"; they all have faults.
4) Don't copy other people too much - many JS devs, including me, are terrible programmers :-P
5) Learn JS by creating AJAX projects as it's so important to web apps. "Professional Ajax" by Zakas is a decent place to start.
6) Enjoy it! JS is a fantastic language, and the quick returns can be incredibly rewarding. It has its faults, but it is amazingly powerful and quite unique.