From the course: Learning the JavaScript Language

Syntax: Learning to read and write - JavaScript Tutorial

From the course: Learning the JavaScript Language

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Syntax: Learning to read and write

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- [Instructor] In the next several chapters of this course, we'll be going over the syntax of JavaScript. This is not going to be a complete coverage of every single element of JavaScript syntax because the goal here is to allow you to get conversant in JavaScript. Just as with any other spoken language, you won't be totally fluent in a matter of a few hours, but you will be able to read code like this which is loaded with non-executable comments and some actual functionality and you'll be able to make sense of it. You'll understand control structures, the way we make decisions about what to do and when. You'll understand the different kinds of data types that are available, like numbers, lists, and so on. You'll know how to use variables which are places to store data. You'll understand comments and white space which help us understand what we've written and make sure we can actually read it. Generally, you'll have a pretty solid understanding of how the language is put together, enough that you can start working with it on your own. That's the goal. Not perfect fluency, but to become conversant. Programming languages are a lot like human spoken languages. You need to learn the grammar in order to use it, but that's not enough to become totally fluent. You need to put in a lot of time reading the language, writing the language, generally using it in whatever way you want to. With human spoken languages, of course, you could simply speak it with your voice and get a lot of use from it. But with JavaScript, you need to be able to read and write it. And after going through this course, you should be able to read and write code and begin to do what you need to using the language.

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