How can a beginner join the world of modern front-end?

Question

JavaScript

Hello. About a year ago, I started learning HTML/CSS "for myself", made up a dozen PSD templates, got acquainted with Bootstrap, jQuery. Now I asked myself the question of getting acquainted with one of the modern JS frameworks and here I had some fundamental misunderstandings where everything is going. I started getting acquainted with Angular 1, after reading a little forums, I realized that knowledge of jQuery for working with angular is not only unnecessary, but also some consider it "harmful". I went further, read about Angular2, here now I am faced with opinions that the knowledge of Angular1 is "harmful".
Please advise what is the best way to do this?
1) Is it worth spending time further on jQuery?
2) Is it worth spending time on Backbone now?
3) How fast is the ReactJS ecosystem compared to angular1->
Everything rests on the fact that there is not much time / effort left for study after work and I don’t want to spend it on something that later turns out to be “harmful”.
Update:
Thanks to everyone who responded. I won’t say that thoughts to learn js thoroughly, es2015 didn’t visit me. The problem I have is that it is easier for me to learn on the principle of "learn by doing". When I was learning the basics of html, after watching a few tutorials, I took a psd template and started trying to type. At first it turned out to be a mess, I googled stackoverflow, watched a video (including a well-known Jedi layout), with each template my understanding got better. With jQuery, it's about the same, at first I just connected plugins, then I read the doc on this library and next. layout has already started to write a little bit of code for small functionality. Then I tried to make a layout without using plugins at all, read about the modular organization of jQuery code and write bicycles ahead. I won’t say that it turned out sweet, but my internal.
And now I want to step onto a higher level and take a course towards understanding those things that distinguish a "layout developer" from a front-end programmer. But how to do it gradually, and even constantly practicing? To be honest, dry reading learn.javascript.ru quickly kills interest and makes you want to take a nap.
There were thoughts of writing a plugin in pure js, or laying out a layout without including jQuery at all. This is partly why I wanted to immediately take some kind of framework and start cycling on it.

Answer 1

with opinions that knowledge of angular1 is "harmful".

the problem here is that if we take the average Angularist, he writes in the angular1.0 style, uses scopes in the controller to the fullest, etc. The reason for this is the lack of updating the documentation for angular. Well, that is, the corrected docks are lying around in the pull requests on the github, but for some reason they still hang there not accepted for some strange reason.
For example, here's how I cook angular , and here's how others . The latter is considered harmful. Let's say if you use $scope in an Angular application version 1.5+, then you are already preparing Angular incorrectly. If your business logic flows into components, it's also something strange, and so on. But the latter is no longer tied to the angular.
Learn javascript. and so it will be needed. And study seriously. And not only the basics, you also need to know general things that are not tied to js. OOP type, functional programming, solid, grasp, dry principles and other abbreviations. In short, take these questions seriously. In parallel, deal with HTTP, be able to not only use APIs but also design them, etc. In short, this is a huge layer of knowledge that has been formed for more than one year.
No, it's not worth it. Backbone is a low-level library for those who know how to do things. For a person who does not distinguish MVC from MVVM, it will only hurt (I have a couple of projects inherited from other developers that demonstrate the problem).
Taking into account the fact that from the moment of the release of angular 1.x until the release of angular2 (and it is still in beta) 4 years have passed ... mega-fast.
You just need to learn not the framework, but the principles on which it is all based. Understand the idea. And then nothing will be harmful. Most developers stupidly copy-paste the code and enjoy it.

Answer 2

1) Selectors must be known, the rest can be studied as needed.
2) Backbone - worth it.
It is quite simple, it takes quite a bit of time to learn it.
But it's worth it, it will be very useful for a beginner to get acquainted with the MV * architecture at the front.
3) Maybe I misunderstood the question.
It is better to spend time on Angular, and on the 2nd one, and on TypeScript.
It will give more development, but I recommend it after the first 2 points.
React can be learned if necessary.

Answer 3

I agree that you need to learn native JS. After that, frameworks will be easier to learn. When any novelty appears, you will go over the documentation and already have an idea of ​​​​how all this is implemented and where it is best to apply it.

Answer 4

1 and 2 - of course, take the time to familiarize yourself with them - such knowledge will definitely not be superfluous.
3 - React, like Angular 2, is very changeable, yes, all JS is now booming and every day they throw out heaps of everything useful and not so good, so look at Angular, look at React and choose the best for yourself.
But keep in mind that Angular is a framework, React is a library.

Answer 5

I would advise you to start with pure JS, see how the basic OOP principles, prototypes, factories, closures, etc. are implemented in it. This knowledge will not be superfluous. And then move on to JS frameworks. As for jQuery, it's enough to look through the main methods / properties / plugins, I don't see the point in spending a lot of time on a special study. I conduct interviews and code reviews for juniors in the company, and as practice shows, the best results are shown by those who studied native JS, it is easier for them to study frameworks than those who originally wrote in jQuery.