Jeremy Keith, on teaching people JavaScript for the first time:
A lot of that boils down to this pattern:
When (some event happens), then (take this action).
We brainstormed some examples of this e.g. “When the user submits a form, then show a modal dialogue with an acknowledgment.” I then encouraged them to write a script …but I don’t mean a script in the JavaScript sense; I mean a script in the screenwriting or theater sense. Line by line, write out each step that you want to accomplish. Once you’ve done that, translate each line of your English (or Portuguese) script into JavaScript.
Pseudo code. I’m a big fan.
Writing a code flow out in plain English works great for beginners, and in my experience remains useful forever. I find myself regularly writing pseudo code in Slack and in bug/idea tickets, although I’ve perhaps graduated from plain English to my own weird non-language:
IF (user_is_pro? AND has_zero_posts)
OR (signed_up_less_than_three_days_ago) {
// ajax for stuff
// show thing
}