Frustrated by the Javascript requirement

This may sound harsh and I hope you take this advice as it's intended: to motivate you about execution vs. tinkering.

When you're saying that JS kills your enthusiasm and that you desperately in need for another person that's skilled in JS, I hear excuses. When we embark in a new adventure, there's a wall waiting for us. It hits us hard the moment our initial enthusiasm wears off.

This is where the "blood, sweat and tears" part comes in, about which makers are talking when they talk about successful projects!

I'd suggest you pick the one idea you're most excited about and focus on that until you've shipped the first version. Which is a tiny part of your whole idea – a start for solving the big problem.

Think lice Mc Gyver: work within your constraints, use what you have and what you know to solve the problem.

Create a relative solution, not an absolute one. Never try to go for the best possible solution. Aim for what’s in your reach and iterate from there!

Hope this helps :)

What makes you say JavaScript is a requirement? It absolutely isn't. There's nothing wrong with server side generated pages (Basecamp, GitHub hello?). Just use whatever you're comfortable with, especially for a MVP.

1. Our brain is an idea generator and its going to generate million idea all the time. Just pick one which You yourself face and care about. Ideas are worth nothing, its a multiplier, execution that's matter. Ideas * Execution = Value of your product
2. Your customer/user doesn't care what you use to build your app, they only care if it solves their problem.
3. Stop thinking about making app, don't think like a programmer/coder rather think like a problem solver, programming is just a tool in your toolbox to help you solve a problem. Start to think if you understand the problem and can you figure out how to solve that, when you do people will pay you for that solution.
4. Work on your idea as a side project, there is no guarantee it will work out even if its the best idea ever (a lot of factor determine a product success). Have a sure income source and work on your idea on the side. You'll know when its time to work on it full time.
5. Start with 0.1, don't target to build the ultimate version of your product you have in mind. Ship early and get feedback and you'll know if it have any potential or do you need to pivot. Just make the simplest form and ship it and collect feedback from users.

Nothing happens overnight, it happens over time ... a long period of time.

Wish you all the best.

Have you tried VueJS?
I also second/third the use of server side code to generate pages.
Then later on, replace parts of your pages with server calls via VueJS/javascript.
Also, you can do responsive websites without the need for JavaScript. That's just CSS and media queries. Use any of the available CSS frameworks to make development faster.

Not only is a full blown single page JS app not necessary, it's usually a mistake for a solo founder dev.

Use a back-end MVC and ship stuff! The Rails ecosystem in particular has a lot of tools to get you further without a front-end framework. Turbolinks, UJS, etc. I was literally more productive with it in two weeks than I was with Node after years of using it at my 9 to 5.

Once you've found some traction, then it's worth it to invest more in the front-end. I second @owelcodes's suggest to go with Vue. It's the simplest to get started with and it's really learned from mistakes made in React and Angular IMO.

I've done some work with JQuery in the past but I know it can get out of control pretty quickly in terms of spaghetti code

I'm confused. You're an experienced back end coder, so you know a bit about how to organise code. Why not use those same skills with JQuery? I mean if you had to call a database, you couldn't sprinkle database calls everywhere, you'd have a database module that does database stuff. So why not have a rendering module that does rendering stuff and have all your JQuery there? It's only spaghetti code if you make it spaghetti code.

Try vue.js! If I can get my head around it, I am sure it is easy enough for everybody. I also can't get through react.

I used to feel exactly the same way coming from a .NET background. I used to cringe thinking about having to learning JavaScript.

I honestly don’t know what changed but now I love working with it. Especially React (though I’m still fairly new). Would be happy to try and help if you have anything specific thats bothering you, feel free to reach out via email on my IH account.

You can also try typescript with angular which is a bit more structured and you can do just about anything web related with python though I’ve personally never ventured to try it.

Hi Giac,
I can understand your problem.
I am a front end developer (react), and ready to work with you. please share your best ideas with me, if I like any of them we can work together to create a product out of it. I can manage java script stuff and you can manage back end. Please email me at skyword23@gmail.com

Full time (almost) working as a full stack engineer (React) but I have only one suggestion: drop JS and get the shit out. Do not obsess over tech. I have tried and failed 4 times in 12 years. Now I follow marketing first. Finally things started to work out a little bit.

Have you tried Vue.js ? it's easy to learn

I'd argue that building a whole app with a Javascript framework is overkill for most projects.
Ask yourself if your product idea absolutely has the "snappy and immediate feedback" requirement. Else you would be adding complexity to the already complex task of creating a new software product.

If you're primarily a backend engineer, perhaps you should leverage that and build a sweet API or developer tool you could sell?

Don't get frustrated. You can do it.

• Do whatever you want. Paint how you want to paint. Love how you want to love. Code how you want to code.
• Don't let the internet tell you that you have to use JavaScript for everything. The internet loves to shout that JavaScript is The One True God, but it's just noise.
• Don't let the internet tell you how to use JavaScript. You don't have to use a framework or a library. You can simply use JavaScript, the language, as much or as little as you like. Or none.
• If I can learn JavaScript, anybody can learn JavaScript. I use the word "learn" generously. My background is in design, and I'm befuddled by npm and the myriad frameworks; but I'm still able to use JS to my advantage. I use npm and Gulp for light task management, I use jQuery for front-end interactions and AJAX (jQuery does not have to be spaghetti code), and I even write React at my full-time job. It can be a frustrating learning curve, for sure. My application is practically written by StackOverflow.
• It doesn't have to be either/or. My web app is PHP and MySQL server-side, and jQuery client-side. Some would say I'm simply banging rocks together, a mere caveman with a bundle of sticks. But all my clients see is a service they need, and their money never criticizes my code base.

At the moment I think Rails (with Turbolinks enabled) would be the backend framework that allows you to write the most SPA-like app without having to fiddle with JS. You can add Turbolinks to e.g. Django too, but it requires more set up.

In any case, why not go with a backend framework you know well and sprinkle in JS where absolutely needed. Vue.js is good in that regard, you only need to learn the basics, don't have to fiddle with JS routers or state management.

Give https://nextjs.org a try, it's server side and convention over configuration framework.

React was this kind of big black impossible to understand thing for me and after doing some examples in nextjs I was like "Uh, is that it?" Then move to client side react, it's like magic all the things you don't have to worry about, no more setup listeners, events or hooking the js, all of that is done for you.

I was also like you overwhelmed by all this client side js. A few years ago started working with node + express and just recently started to learn react. Everytime I needed to touch client side js it was a mess and always avoided it. I think react solves a lot of problems, and you might find it very useful.

I still struggling with CSS though, but that's another story.

I want to give some comments right after I read first few paragraph of your article. But when I see some of these existing comments from other people, well, those are already describe some of what I want to say. Well, these comments are awesome. You should grasp it well. 😅

Okay, Well, I haven't read all these comments here, just a several comments, but I haven't found someone mention the most important thing about JS.

You have to be patient. Because, whatever you do to learn JS, especially for new comer from other language, you will arrive at the conclusion that you don't know JS. Even most people who expert in JS agree with this, that "you don't know JS". Did you know? There is even a book with this title, "You Don't Know JS".

And there is funny term is JS Developer, which is "Javascript Fatique". Try googling it.

What I want to say is that we in JS community have experienced your feeling. JS ecosystem is crazy. It's like almost everyday, there is something new to learn. You will get lost in this crazy hype.

If we take psychological research, there is what is called Dunning-Krueger Effect. Try find the graph of this effect. In my opinion, if we learn JS, we will reach the point that we feel don't know anything faster than Dunning-Krueger effect.
😁😂
Haha just kidding.

Anyway, It's crazy that JS community think people could follow this fast never ending development of JS framework. (Actually, this sentence is from someone, but I forgot where I have read this. The point is just like this).

It's okay if you feel depressed with JS. Well, it's a welcoming party for every people who want to join JS.

Enjoy the Javascript Fatique.
😅

I feel what you feel. So, what is the solution?

Don't ever try to understand everything in JS completely before you start building something. You won't build anything this way. Just build, and learn what you need along the way.
😅

There are 2 articles I want to share.
The first one is about Web Developer Roadmap which is a visualization map of what kind of things to learn to be Web Developer. Well, of course most of them are JS things. 😅This roadmap is created by Kamran Ahmed. But there so many people wrote and talked about this roadmap. https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap/blob/master/readme.md

The second article is the counter or critics to the Kamran Ahmed's roadmap. Now, this second article contain some important things for you. 😅 https://thenewstack.io/code-n00b-careful-wish-web-dev-roadmap-2017/