This is Why You’re Struggling to Learn JavaScript
The summer of 2013 I decided I was going to be a coder. I already knew HTML and CSS, so I bought this gigantic “JavaScript for Dummies” book.
I’m talking phonebook-sized. I read that thing cover to cover all summer as if by the last page I’d suddenly be a developer.
I never claimed to be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
I genuinely thought learning all the syntax from a book would mean I could sit down and just… code.
I sat down at my computer and had no effing clue what to do by the end of the book.
Many of you aren’t as dumb as me but you might be learning JavaScript in a way that’s just as dumb.
Fast forward 11–12 years, and I’ve been an engineering manager, senior developer, and even run my own program where I teach people (smarter than me) how to change careers and learn to code. Check it out here.
And universally… everybody gets stuck at JavaScript.
One guy in particular stands out.
When I worked weekends at a coding bootcamp, there was this young man who would come in and study for three to six hours at a time. Every. Single. Weekend. Without fail.
Every time we met, he was starting over at for loops.
It was like his brain hit a reset button every week.
I genuinely started to wonder if he had some kind of condition.
Finally, I asked him point blank why he thought he could never remember this stuff.
His answer?
He’d study for those marathon 6-hour sessions on Saturday… and then do absolutely nothing until the next weekend.
Mystery solved. His brain wasn’t broken — his schedule was.
The Man Who Knew Nothing Every Week
That young man’s story is a perfect example of how learning to code like it’s a test for school can NOT work.
You can pour six hours into JavaScript in one day, but if you let it sit for a week, your brain treats it like junk mail and tosses it.
Science says: The brain stores skills better through spaced repetition — short, frequent sessions beat marathon sessions because your brain needs downtime to consolidate information into long-term memory (memory consolidation). Even 30–60 minutes a day will beat 3 hours once a week, every time.
This is why at Parsity, we spend more time than any other coding bootcamp on the science of learning and teach our mentees how to optimize their learning schedules. What good is curriculum if you can’t retain the info?
Fix: Decide on a daily minimum — even 15 minutes counts — and make it non-negotiable.
When AI Becomes a Trap
I love AI, but if your first instinct is to paste a question into ChatGPT instead of struggling with it, you’re robbing yourself of the exact cognitive process that builds problem-solving skills.
Science says: The “desirable difficulty” effect shows that effortful recall and problem-solving strengthen neural pathways far more than passively reading or being given the answer.
TLDR; Struggle === growth.
Fix: Give yourself a “struggle window” — maybe 20 minutes — before you go to AI. And when you do use AI, explain the solution back in your own words or rewrite it from scratch.
The Myth of the One Perfect Answer
A lot of beginners treat JavaScript like a math problem where only one formula works. But programming is more like writing — there are infinite ways to express the same idea.
If you obsess over “the perfect way” or “the exact syntax,” you miss the bigger skill: designing a solution that works.
Fix: When you solve a problem, try solving it again — differently. Use a for loop instead of .map. Try for of. Think like a problem-solver, not a syntax collector. Maybe use recursion. If that doesn’t work, maybe use recursion. If that doesn’t work…
If you don’t get that lame joke, look up recursion on Google.
The Curious Coder vs. The Syntax Collector
When I finally started improving, it wasn’t because I mastered filter().map().reduce()on toy datasets.
It was because I started building janky little projects with HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript slapped on to make things move, pop up, or react.
I gave myself small challenges:
- Make a button do something ridiculous
- Change the page when you click a cat picture
The syntax came naturally because I was genuinely curious and motivated to make something work.
After writing your 100th for loop — you just don’t need to look it up any more.
You can hate me all you want but if you don’t have that curiosity or if building things isn’t fun for you then this industry will not be a good fit.
Let me tell you something that isn’t good for my business: there are way too many people trying to get into software who won’t actually enjoy the day-to-day work.
If the struggle feels miserable and not worth it, it’s okay to choose a different path.
Fix: Manipulate real things with HTML, CSS and JS. Buttons, forms, modals.
Build something visual so you can see the cause-and-effect. Aim to get stuck so you can naturally learn along the way.
Don’t Skip the First Two Chapters
This guy on TikTok made a reaction video about me. He said my advice was “dangerous.”
My advice:
Learn HTML and CSS before JS.
I tell you, the internet is full of geniuses.
Jumping straight into JavaScript without understanding HTML and CSS is like trying to play jazz before you can keep a beat. You can do it… but you’ll be confused the whole time.
HTML and CSS are the canvas and paint — JavaScript is the brush. Without the first two, your code has nowhere to go.
Fix: Spend a week making static sites and styling them. Then, when you add JavaScript, you’ll instantly see how the three work together.
2 Truths and Lie
JavaScript is hard to learn. It’s even harder when you’re learning it wrong.
“Anyone can learn to code” is true in the same way that “anyone can get a six pack.” Is it possible? Perhaps. Is it likely — absolutely not.
I believe the most important predictor of your success is curiosity.
Small, consistent practice beats intense all-nighters.
Delay the AI crutch.
Think in solutions, not syntax.
Build tangible, visual things.
Lay your HTML/CSS foundation first.
You can read a hundred books. You can watch a thousand tutorials. You can spend hours scrolling dev Twitter or hanging out in some Discord full of neck-beards. But until you get your hands dirty, every day, building real things and struggling a little, you will keep restarting at “for loops” forever.
At Parsity, we work with small groups with a custom curriculum. We’ve helped bootcamp grads who can NOT land a role to self taught devs who burned out after completing the Odin Project to complete n00bs. We won’t tell you we can help you if we can’t. There’s only one way to find out. Apply here.
