A presentation on how to evaluate the content you use for learning jQuery

2. Who is this for?
• Beginners
• Intermediate developers unsure of how to
evaluate ‘stale’ learning material
• Lecturers unsure of how to identify up-to-
date resources for students

3. Factors to consider
• Date
• jQuery version
• Accuracy
• Popularity
• Medium
• Credibility

4. Date

5. Date
Developers in 2011 are still
sharing learning resources
from 2007 (bad)

6. Date
Majority of blogs no longer
update content a few months
after the publish date

7. Date
(Old) Fundamentals stay the
same, but best practices
change over time

8. Date
• Keep an eye out for author notes pointing
to newer versions of material
• Focus on learning resources that are recent
• Avoid posts/screencasts older than 3 years
• Favour resources that keep their content
up-to-date

9. Version

10. Version Number
jQuery has significantly
changed since 1.3.x

11. Version Number
Resources using older versions may
not cite newer (potentially) better
ways of accomplishing same tasks

12. Version Number
• Try sticking to resources using jQuery 1.4.2
• 1.3.2 resources are fine for basic selection
related reference
• Ideally use resources citing 1.5.x - this came
with a major rewrite of $.ajax() including
support for Deferreds

13. Accuracy

14. Accuracy
Writers/content creators
aren’t perfect
(we all make the occasional mistake)

15. Accuracy
Be sure to check the
comments for obvious errors
or omissions

16. Accuracy
Favour resources willing to
admit issues, make corrections
or apply code fixes

17. Popularity

18. Popularity
Anyone can create a top 30 list
with a gazillion re-tweets. This
doesn’t mean a resource is high
in quality.

19. Popularity
Base decisions to use on
content quality rather than
popularity

20. Popularity
Use resources for inspiration,
the Official API documentation
for reference.

21. Credibility

22. Credibility
Is the author of the resource
considered trustworthy and
knowledgable?

23. Credibility
Is the resource a ‘content-farm’
or there for educational
purposes?
Unique, well-researched content can be favourable.

24. Credibility
Does the author practice what
they preach in their projects or
material?

25. Credibility
• Evaluate content on its merits rather than
the author’s popularity or name
• Be wary of resources that write a lot but
say very little
• Make sure the authors you rely on for
educational content know what they’re
talking about

26. Medium

27. Medium
Screencasts, talks and blogs are
excellent but can have a finite
shelf-life if not updated

28. Medium
Regularly updated content
(eg. The jQuery Fundamentals
book) can be preferable

29. Medium
Live training (eg. Bocoup) can
offer comprehensive, up-to-
date learning if an option.

30. Conclusions
Use due diligence when
selecting your jQuery learning
material.
Have fun learning!

31. More from me:
• @addyosmani
• http://addyosmani.com
• http://github.com/addyosmani