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Should you start learning Backbone.js without learning vanilla js?

1 points by samzhao ↗ HN
I have a decent amount of basic jQuery knowledge, and I would like to develop a web app using Backbone.js. Should I start from scratch and learn vanilla javascript first, or is my jQuery knowledge enough to get me started?

3 comments

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sheraz
Jump right in.

Follow the TODO example line by line and modify it into something that you own. That should be enough to get your head wrapped around the "Backbone way."

Also, IRC has been a good place to get help. #documentcloud on irc.freenode.net

samzhao
Thanks for your reply sheraz! That's what I thought, and that's what I did with Django. I had never learn Python before and wanted to get started with Django. The problem though is that without having a lot of experience with Python, learning Django can really be a pain. It's pretty hard to follow any tutorials. To avoid going through the Django path again, I start to wonder whether I need to learn vanilla js first. And you answered me just that! So thank you!
sheraz
Funny you mention django and python -- I've wanted to learn it but didn't want to invest the time with python :-) Lesson reciprocated!