Hacker News Reader

Comment by dylangeorge | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone have experience learning JavaScript with Anki? I am still trying to figure out the best way to learn JS.

Yes, in fact that's exactly how I've been getting myself to learn some of the more fundamental / weird parts of JS. I've been following this path and building Anki decks after each chapter:

http://javascriptissexy.com/how-to-learn-javascript-properly...

You should try the syntax highlighting plugin [1]. Whenever I read or learn something new I put snippets immediately into Anki with this plugin and review every day.

[1]: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/491274358

I am not sure how effective this technique is for learning programming languages but here's a post by Derek Sivers discussing about it:

http://sivers.org/srs

The best way to learn JS is very much the same as the best way to learn anything. If you don't know how to learn something effectively then no tool can help you.

What do I mean by knowing how to learn effectively?

* Understanding the basics (js is a dynamically typed scripting language)

* Understanding core concepts (in JavaScript, one core idea is prototypes. Another one is the keyword this which trips a lot of people up)

* Understanding all the connections (variables are actually object properties!)

* Asking a lot of questions

* etc

Not so sure about using flashcards to learn a programming language. Better just to get out there and use it to make something.

I have been experimenting with the idea of learning Urbit through Anki. No useful decks published yet. Hoon has a complex set of runes (~& |- $_ ++) and several rich vocabularies of three and four letter words, and for the most part it's made by one man.

These (unique?) properties make Hoon language a prime target for an Anki deck. Programmers learning languages with less byzantine syntax (like Javascript, or even Brainfuck) might not benefit much from Pauker-style study and deck creation.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com