For ages now I've been trying to find the time to learn JavaScript. That statement might surprise some of you who I know consider me as something of a JavaScript "guru". Bear with me.

As with most languages I'm self-taught and have learnt by the modification of example code. Undoubtedly this isn't the best way to learn. At some point you need to go back to basics.

Sometimes I think my problem is that I misunderstand too much about JavaScript to ever be able to truly understand it. Is there any way back or do I already have too many bad habits!?

<analogy quality="medium">I guess it's a bit like learning to speak English by coming to live in a Northern working-class town in England (like one where I were born). You'd pick it up fairly quickly but you'd learn some bad habits along the way, such as not using the word "the", saying "Am going te pub" or "Working down pit". You'd probably use double negatives such as "I haven't got no money" and way too many clichés, such as "At the end of the day I turned round to him and said..." which do nothing but pad-out what you're actually trying to say.</analogy>

My accent and way of speaking has changed considerably since I left home. Mainly due to my stint down south where they tend to talk proper (like what the Queen does). Having a job in "business" means you need to communicate effectively with people. This means talking clearly and concisely, which I do do now. This is especially useful when dealing with international clients on the phone.

However, although my speech has improved I still don't know the basics of my first (only!) language. My education didn't really dwell on the grammar side of things. Although I do consider myself something of an expert on the proper placement of apostrophes I still don't really know what a past participle is or what a split-derivative means. Although I can write in a way that I think is easy for others to read I don't know if it's correct.

Take this question from an online quiz at the BBC as an example:

Q. Which sentence has the adverb in the wrong position?

1. Suddenly I felt sick.
2. I suddenly felt sick.
3. I felt suddenly sick.
4. I felt sick suddenly

Now, to me, all of the sentences work (in that they make sense and convey the message to the reader) and I'm not sure which is correct or exactly why or what an adverb is for that matter.

Writing code is the same in many ways. Especially with JavaScript. There are numerous ways to achieve the same thing. Chances are most ways will work but only one way is the "proper" way. Coding the proper way means it's more likely to be understood by a greater number of people and make you seem a much cleverer person. Nobody wants to be the Vicky Pollard of the coding world do they!

What I want to do is learn to code JavaScript properly. More on that next week...