A review of CSS for JavaScript developers and Joy of React

In 2024 I took two courses by Josh Comeau: CSS for JavaScript developers and Joy of React.

Read the "Context" sectionContext

I have been programming professionally for a decade, and regularly work with CSS and React. I often find frontend work a bit frustrating, with a lot more trial-and-error than backend development.

I really enjoyed Josh's courses, and I feel more efficient writing frontend code after taking them.
Most notably there is less guesswork involved when I work with CSS, making it more efficient and enjoyable.

I got a bit more out of the CSS course, likely because I never really had a structured approach to learning CSS. That said, both courses are excellent references that I'll return to.

Read the "What I liked" sectionWhat I liked

• The courses are very engaging with a mix of interactive examples, videos, small exercises, and larger projects. Josh encourages exploration, and the format is great for that.
  I thought the larger projects pretty much looked like real work, except you get to test your learnings and see how Josh did it at the end (spoiler: better 😅).

• Attention to detail. This is why I loved the courses.
  I think getting a frontend design exactly right is the hardest part.

  If you're fine with "it looks ok" and occasional regressions, you can get away with a lot of things.
  If you want it to look and behave great - or exactly match a design - a 'good enough' approach does not cut it.

  The examples in the course never leave annoying details unaddressed, and that's fantastic¹.

• These are not design courses, but Josh obviously has a keen eye for it and shares a few tips along the way.

• In the future I plan on using the courses as a reference for topics like font loading best practices, or existential questions like "should I use px/em/rem for my margins? Paddings? Media queries?".
  They also point to some of the best CSS resources on the internet (which tend to look amazing).

Read the "Overall" sectionOverall

I fully recommend Josh's courses!

Both courses are approachable for relative beginners, with extra sections for those less comfortable with JavaScript or tooling. As an experienced developer, I found a ton of value in them.

The courses are occasionally on sale, I recall Valentine's Day and Black Friday in 2024 (subscribing to Josh's newsletter should have you covered).

Finally, if you're unsure about the teaching style, Josh's blog provides a great preview of what to expect.