Is it okay to try to learn Vue and JS at the same time?

Do you have an idea that you’d like to build yourself? Have you messed around with CSS and HTML in the past but feel behind the times now? Do the results that you see achieved with Vue inspire you to want to explore more?

One of the reasons I love Vue is that, as the front page of the documentation declares, once you’ve read the guide you can start building things in no time. I happen to think that it is a great vehicle to learn and here’s why.

Frameworks make decisions

I’m a huge fan of frameworks. Whether that’s in how we approach life, thinking or software development. Using a framework, we can hold off on making decisions about *everything* even as we learn about *something*.

Vue can be a very light layer on top of our CSS and HTML. We can enhance the user experience, think in components and build sites that respond creatively to the data that is available. Using Vue directives we can iterate over lists, show elements on our pages conditionally and use data to control the properties of our elements.

As your learning journey continues you can fill in the gaps in your core knowledge. You can explore a JavaScript function more deeply and understand how Vue is working under the hood.

This “on rails” learning isn’t permanent or exclusive. As you level up you can stop following the rules quite so rigidly and bend them as necessary.

Learning is a lifelong journey

We’re always learning, right? As developers or as humans, our understanding and appreciation of the world is multi-layered and evolving.

If the JavaScript and Vue landscape could be mapped, it would be a sprawling landscape that didn’t have a single path. There is no linear progression from no understanding to complete mastery. This is an open world, infinite game. You can explore one area deeply and step back to admire the whole landscape.

It’ll be true that in six months you’ll understand the code you’re writing now more clearly. Maybe you’d structure things completely differently or take alternative approaches to solve your problems. But, guess what? That will be true six months from now as well, and six months after that and after that.

This landscape is not static. New tools, new paradigms, new models and insights are being shared all the time.

Keeps motivation high

You have a product or idea that you want to bring to life. My take is that if you have the motivation to start - do it and learn as you go. You’ll get the small boosts of dopamine as you learn new things which is largely what keeps me going. Seeing results early on will help you stay motivated.

When playing with Lego, I am someone who likes to follow the instructions. I don’t enjoy coming up with models on my own very much. But, the more instructions I follow, the more I can improvise even slightly. I see it a bit like that.

Vue provides those chunky bits of Lego that are half the side of the building or the top half of a space craft. You could build something like that with individual bricks but if you’re aiming to build a whole city or space fleet that feels like a waste of time.

As you create more, learn more and grow more in your understanding, you’ll understand how those larger pieces were put together. But, you don’t need to understand every aspect of how it works to use it (if that was true most of us wouldn’t be able to watch TV or use a washing machine).

Would life be easier if you understood JavaScript first? Maybe, but learning together means you can ask better questions.

Do frameworks break rules and oversimplify? Maybe, but they are a great place to start.

Will almost everything that Vue does be magic to you? Maybe, but you’ll still be able to create something epic with those magical pieces.

So, dive in! Accept that this is a journey you’re on and that you might want to rethink your creations in a few months as you know more. Create amazing things and keep on learning!

I have a new intro to Vue course coming out very soon. Sign up below if you want to be kept in the loop.