JavaScript is one of the most valuable programming languages used in web development today. With the advent of Express.js, the backend stack of JavaScript coupled with a plethora of existing and evolving front-end frameworks, it seems the language will keep revolutionizing web programming.
So if you’re a JavaScript beginner, sit tight. These JavaScript project ideas will boost your skill and familiarize you with JavaScript’s basic concepts. Let’s get started.
1. A Simple To-Do List App
While building a to-do list using JavaScript, you’ll learn the basic logic behind CRUD actions and explore the event handling functions of JavaScript. Essentially, you’ll craft your script to create tasks, read, update, and then delete them.
Using event handlers, you’ll instantiate forms for entering every task and display them on submission. Once the JavaScript code for controlling your app’s functionality works, you can then use the CSS grid display method to organize each task. Then assign priority to them using the JavaScript conditional statement and date methods.
Although it’s not mandatory, you can take this further by saving tasks into a local database. Storing each input into a JSON file on your local machine, for instance, gives you an idea of how to perform CRUD operations when dealing with a real-life JSON object, an array, or a NoSQL database.
2. Create a Simple Timer
A timer is one of the easiest projects you can quickly execute using JavaScript. Although this sounds pretty basic, it teaches you how to automatically change the state of an element at intervals using JavaScript.
To make it more unique, you can build a countdown timer that stops at a user-specified value. You don’t need to store any entry into a database or a JSON object, as this is an instance that a user can tweak as they wish.
While coding the timer, you’ll familiarize yourself with JavaScript functions. Plus, you’ll learn how to write JavaScript code for basic mathematical conversions as you might need to convert some time parameters.
3. Build an Image Carousel From Scratch
A carousel is one of the most visually appealing additions to a website’s UI. When coupled with great UX, it adds a sleek effect to your UI. Plus, it lets you display images or items uniquely.
To build a functional and reactive carousel, you’ll need to get your hands dirty with the JavaScript loop. You can get your images from the DOM and push them into an empty JavaScript array. You’ll then add click events to a next and a previous button to display images successively, either to the right or the left.
That’s not a strict approach, though. You can use any method that works best for you.
If you’re curious and want to go the extra mile, you can add animations to your display to make this more realistic and easy to use.
4. Web Calculator
JavaScript, like other programming languages, supports numerous mathematical operations. So while coding this project, you’ll learn how to add click events to custom buttons or divs and organize them to become a responsive calculator that displays on the browser.
If you’re not familiar with them already, you might want to start by playing around with JavaScript operators. And then wrap your hands around event handlers to better understand the concept behind them.
While it’s more verbose, you can start by writing your script procedurally. But consider refactoring it into functions once your calculator starts working. You can approach this by creating a CSS flexbox. Then assign values and operators to them using HTML. You can then call your event handling function on each element in the flexbox using the JavaScript loop.
5. Resume Generator With JavaScript
Although you might be a bit confused on how to start on this one, there are a couple of resume-building web apps out there where you can grab your idea.
Ultimately, you’ll make a reusable resume builder that can accept new information and drop or update existing ones.
Coming up with more resume templates isn’t difficult once you understand the basic logic. So, you can start with a single template and scale up to more catchy designs as time goes on. Of course, you also want to add a download button so users can get their resume as a PDF.
A resume-building project helps you understand basic JavaScript CRUD operations. Additionally, you’ll learn how to use loops, event handlers, conditions, and some of the built-in functions of JavaScript. You can also save users’ information in a JSON object so your program can reference it later.
6. Build a Browser Extension
Building a browser extension for a starter project might look complex. But it’s not once you understand the requirements for coding a functional one.
It’s a worthwhile task to take on, especially if you already have a basic knowledge of JavaScript and would like to play around with a challenging project.
Although it might get a bit tiring tweaking your extension to work across multiple browsers, you can start with a browser-specific extension. And you don’t have to build a complex one. Yours can be a simple file downloader or an image resizer, for instance.
While building your extension, you also need to make it installable on the browser. This is where you specify your app’s information in a “manifest.json” file so the browser can recognize and accept it.
7. Build a Budgeting Application
We all want to monitor how we spend our money to avoid overshooting the budget. A budgeting app lets you track your expenses so you don’t spend more than you bargained.
Whether you build this for yourself or others, it’s a treasure worth stashing in your repository. Creating a DIY budget app with JavaScript not only improves your knowledge of DOM rendering, but you’ll also learn how to apply JavaScript operators to solve real-life problems.
While writing your code, you’ll collect form inputs and subtract expenses from your budget. You can take this further by writing code to set an auto-alert for the user whenever they’re about to outshoot their budget.
8. Unit Converter
Want to play around with basic operators and conditional statements in JavsScript? Then creating a unit converter affords you that flexibility.
In addition to writing mathematical formulas for converting various units back and forth, you’ll learn how to tweak mathematical outputs in JavaScript and render them on the client side. Since your app will likely handle multiple conversions, you can create a dropdown where users can select their choice units.
Logical statements then handle how your script converts the parameters based on the user’s choice. Indeed, a unit converter is one of the easiest projects on the list.
9. Create a Diary
Here’s a pretty handy project for those who love to keep a tab of their daily runnings. A diary app with JavaScript is a versatile but simple project suitable for beginners.
Because it’s a note-taking app and you need to pin down dates according to activities, you can store your inputs in a file as a JSON object and then reference them later when you need to track your history and saved inputs.
Although it might prove a little complex, you can save users the stress of manually selecting the time for their activities by writing code to store the time automatically. Like a to-do app, this also teaches you how to build a CRUD application using JavaScript.
10. Brick Breaker Game
In case you didn’t know, you can build a simple game using vanilla JavaScript, too. If you’re familiar with 2D games, you must have played or seen a breakout game before.
While it may require some foresight and thought, one of the positives of this project is the fun it brings in the end. Although it isn’t a sure gateway into game development, you’ll learn about many of the functionalities of JavaScript while working on this task.
Functionality is the goal, though. But you might need to combine some CSS with JavaScript here to arrange your bricks evenly. Ultimately, your program will dictate when a player wins or loses and what happens afterward.
JavaScript: Keep Learning by Doing
A hands-on some of these project ideas will boost your JavaScript skills and prepare you for real-life projects. That said, while styling is essential in most of these projects, be careful not to get distracted with it firsthand. But focus on the functionality that JavaScript offers, and you’ll start building responsive websites with JavaScript before you know it. Happy coding!
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