Apparently this needs to be said but you can absolutely start with React and skip “JS fundamentals” IF YOU WANT. You’ll be confused about some things for sure (!), but for some people (incl. me) getting something on the screen is the only thing sustaining the initial interest.
Be wary of advice like “I learned it in the wrong order, so don’t repeat my mistakes”. It reeks of survivor bias. Those people *did* end up learning both, right? Maybe if they approached it from the other end they wouldn’t even finish it and switch to something else.
Learning is not linear. You can “start anywhere” and branch out. It is much more important to be learning effectively (e.g. learn to recognize when you have a gap instead of trying random guesses until it works, and learn to ask the right questions).
Note I didn’t say it wouldn’t be confusing. It absolutely would! But do we teach kids grammar, or do we speak in front of them? This isn’t quite the same but the notion that big dependent things must only be learned sequentially is wrong.
By the way I literally started with a drag and drop visual editor.
People keep answering: “but they will be confused”. YES they will be confused. The goal is not to eliminate confusion from the learning process, it is to not to lose people who give up because what they’re learning feels too far from what they want to be doing (make an app).
I am focusing on this because it’s a common fallacy. You learn something, then you learn it “right”, then you think that if you could go back and learn it “right” from the beginning it would have been easier. But your thinking is already tainted by both experiences.
It is tempting to misattribute your “aha” moment to learning fundamentals when it is actually a byproduct of BOTH. You learned what the fundamentals were “for” first, then you learned how things actually work, and these pieces combined in your brain in a satisfactory way.
Learning from fundamentals is more efficient in the long run from a mechanical perspective. But we’re not machines, we need to CARE. A longer route that makes you care may end up working better than a shorter route you abandon because you’re bored.
Note I didn’t say you never need to go lower level. You do — you will get stuck otherwise. And after you learn it, you’ll be convinced you “should have” learned that thing first, because you have an emotional understanding of why it mattered now.
