Is learning Vanilla JavaScript still important?

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With so many frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular being popular, many beginners don’t learn plain JavaScript first. Do you think it’s still important to know Vanilla JS, or is it okay to start with a framework?

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Always, always, ALWAYS learn the basics.

Frameworks are great until they introduce a bug which you can’t catch unless you understand the fundamentals.

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I think that is like asking if it is okay to start learning a programming language before learning assembler (machine) language. I think it is a matter of priorities and personal preference. What is best for someone else might not be best for you.

I think the best way to learn a language is to have a project to do. Use of a framework for a project is one way to do that. I am assuming that you will also learn JavaScript; if a framework prevents you from learning JavaScript then that is different.

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dangerous assumption. People (not specifically the OP, just speaking in general here) tend to do the minimum required.

Should you learn vanilla javascript? Yes.
Why? Because of two things:

  • What do you do when the framework breaks?
  • What do you do when the framework doesnt offer you exactly what you want?
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I do not understand. I am saying we should learn vanilla JavaScript and you are saying we should learn vanilla JavaScript yet you seem to be disagreeing with me. In answer to the question is it okay to start with a framework I am saying it is a matter of priorities what to learn first.

Probably the problem is that there is no difference between vanilla JavaScript and framework JavaScript.

Is that different from framework JavaScript? Perhaps you mean the DOM, which is actually not JavaScript.

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We are both saying people should learn Javascript. I’m saying your assumption that people will learn Javascript is a dangerous one; and that people have the tendency to do the least possible, to wit, learning only the framework.

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I did not say that. When I said I am assuming that you will also learn JavaScript I said you not people.

And I still do not know what the difference is between vanilla JavaScript and framework JavaScript.

That implies it is possible to use the framework without JavaScript.

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It’s… kind of like saying you can drive a car without knowing mechanical engineering; the fact that one skillset (driving the car) uses the other (that turning the wheel rotates a shaft that goes through gears to rotate the tyres and impart an angular velocity to the car) does not imply a required knowledge of the base level in order to use the sparkly wrapper on top. You could make the car turn by getting underneath it and rotating the axle controls manually; but not everyone needs to know how to do that while the steering wheel works. When your steering wheel breaks however…one person would be able to get the car to the garage, albiet very slowly. The other’s calling a towtruck.

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Well, I will say yes, learning Vanilla JS is very important even if you have a good knowledge of React, Vue, and Angular. Here are some reasons why you should learn Vanilla JS:

  1. Vanilla JS is lightweight, faster, and simple, which can help you to create complex projects.
  2. JS makes debugging much easier.
  3. Frameworks run on JavaScript, so you need to understand JS first.
  4. Core concepts like closures, scope, prototypes, event bubbling, promises, and events work everywhere.

Thanks

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JavaScript is the lingua-franca of the modern web, so it should arguably be one of the first languages a coder learns when they start learning programming today. Even desktop projects like vscode are written in frameworks like electron today, then there is increasing backend infrastructure in node and express. Want to write a chrome extension? There again, just no escaping JS! Learning and getting expertise in JS should be like a no-brainer today.

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