Yey! More Videos! In this new episode of the JavaScript-mancy Vlog I go through the basics of declaring functions in JavaScript with an epic showdown between function expressions and function declarations. Who will prevail???? Don’t miss the bloopers at the end!!
Hello! I’m back!
In the last article of this series we talked about the first steps you need to take when starting to write a book: The Why, the What and the whether to use a publisher or self-publish. Today we’re going to dive deep into the actual process of writing, that grueling and marathonian challenge that will suck the life out of you if you choose to venture into its muddy waters.
If you consider yourself brave and interested in writing then go on and venture forth! If you’re not, you may still find a lot of useful tips into the art of keeping your focus, motivation and getting stuff done. All steam ahead!
The past few weeks I’ve been doing lots of pixel art. With the launch of JavaScript-mancy: OOP - Mastering the Arcane Art of Summoning Objects in JavaScript I decided to re-design the cover to make it more special and appealing.
It’s a pity to spend a year of spare time writing a book and then only spend 30 minutes on a cover that no one finds appealing. So I went ahead and re-designed the cover for all the books in the series.
I thought it’d be interesting to record what I’ve learned and share it with you in case you’re interested in doing your own pixel art.
So, ready to learn some pixel art?
Last week I finished my second book JavaScript-mancy: OOP - Mastering the Arcane Art of Summoning Objects in JavaScript and promised to write a follow-up on everything I’ve learned on the topic of writing books these past two years.
So here we are, I think this will be a long series of articles with half a serving of practicalities, tips and tricks, and another half of soul-searching, reflection and dreaming. Hopefully you’ll find something useful, and who knows, perhaps feel inspired to write your own book and spread your ideas throughout mankind.
More than two years ago I had an idea.
I was going to write the most awesome JavaScript book of all time mixing two of my passions: programming and fantasy. It would be a complete guide for C# developers coming into JavaScript and it would teach them using common C# patterns and practices as the perfect gateway. All the while carefully navigating the most obscure and arcane parts of JavaScript, and opening the door to all the awesomeness JavaScript has to offer.
To make the book more fun and interesting it would have a theme - Fantasy - and a story - the hero’s (or heroine’s) journey of the wizard Mooleen in her quest to learn JavaScript and save the world. All the chapters would be wrapped within a Fantasy story of epic proportions, with all the code samples and exercises inspired by fantasy and related to the overarching story.
The name of this book was (is) JavaScript-mancy: Mastering the Arcane Art of Writing Awesome JavaScript.
As time went by, I came to realize that the task I had set before me - writing a book about everything JavaScript - would be an arduous and time-consuming one. So after writing more than a thousand pages I decided to split the original volume into smaller ones and thus The JavaScript-mancy Series was born. I did this both for the readers and for my own sake. Being confronted by a 2000 pages book can be daunting for any reader and mustering the willpower to write a 2000 pages volume which could take years to complete is extremely difficult.
So I broke down the original book into two books that would include the more mature parts I had written at the time:
The first of these I published last year and the second one has been my sole focus for the past year. I’m happy to announce that I have just finished the last review for JavaScript-mancy OOP and so my second book is completed (writes Jaime with overwhelming happiness). Behold!
