There are a number of resources on the Internet for reading up on JavaScript but very few viable options for actually exchanging ideas with extremely knowledgeable JavaScript developers, especially when it comes to just wanting to know about JavaScript itself and not a specific JS library. This was a pain point I personally felt when I wanted to learn more about the language and be able to have “mentors” that could help me better understand JS and ECMAScript.
After chatting a bit with JavaScript expert Asen Bozhilov about this, we decided to fill that hole by launching a new mailing list called JSMentors that allows developers to get to know the language and find the expert guidance in a friendly and professional environment. The list offers developers a place to:
- Discuss ECMA-262 standard
- Discuss different implementations of ECMA-262
- Discuss different host environments of JavaScript
- Discuss implementation of algorithms in JavaScript
- Discuss your library design
- Review your code
- Review your book on JavaScript topic
- Review your article on JavaScript topic
We also wanted to provide a list that was professional, courteous, and friendly to developers of all skill levels. Too many forums, newsgroups and lists look down on beginners or questions deemed too introductory and we wanted to ensure that JSMentors didn’t fall into that same hole. So we created a set of simple rules. Via the JSMentors mailing list you must not:
- Insult other subscribers
- Post racism
- Spam publications
So far it’s been working great and developers are getting the mentoring that they desperately want and need. And the great thing is that the mentors are a who’s-who of the JavaScript world. Check out this list:
- Garrett Smith
- Juriy Zaytsev a.k.a. kangax
- Dmitry A. Soshnikov
- Steven Levithan
- John-David Dalton
- Stoyan Stefanov
- Benjamin Rosseaux a.k.a. BeRo
- Diego Perini
- Angus Croll
- Peter van der Zee
- Christian C. Salvadó
- Peter Michaux
One important thing to note is that the main focus of the list is the JavaScript language and while you can post about JavaScript libraries, you’re more likely to get a better answer in a library’s specific support forum or list than on JSMentors.com.
Asen and I would like to invite developers to join JSMentors.com and create a productive list to help everyone become better JavaScript developers and help push the web forward.
After some months reading the threads in the list, JSMentors became one of my favorite JavaScript resources. Great job, and, moreover, great idea! Thank you!
You’re welcome. Glad you like JSMentors. :)