There's no substitute for doing. <a href="http://getfirebug.com/" rel="nofollow">http://getfirebug.com/</a> + notepad/gedit/vim + <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.w3schools.com/</a> You probably have picked up the basics of web stuff by osmosis. Javascript is just as much a programming language as any other... copy some javascript into the browser and start messing around, use firebug to see what your experiment gets into different variables at various times. You can arrange your windows so you can see your editor, a tutorial and the browser all at once - fast turnaround time for testing code changes is a cornerstone of effective programming.