: Is it acceptable as a web developer to know very elementary JavaScript and rely on frameworks such as Materialize? I've been using cusotmised Materialize CSS for most of the effects I want on

@Turnbaugh909

As a web developer you really should know at least the basics of JavaScript.

You can achieve a lot of visual effects purely with CSS but there is a lot you can do with JavaScript that simply can't be done with CSS. Where JavaScript really comes in to play is adding functionality and interactivity. Try turning JavaScript off and using this site and you'll see a lot of the interactions you have with this site are controlled with JavaScript.

If you don't want to learn vanilla JavaScript you can always use a framework such as jQuery, which may arguably be easier to learn if you are only using the basics (although it's still better to learn the JavaScript first). But as with any framework, that comes with a trade off between ease of use and bloating your page with often unnecessary large amounts code.

Relying on a front-end framework such as Materialize is ok but without knowing how it works (the JavaScript part anyway) you are limited to copying and pasting code and hoping it works. Debugging will be nigh on impossible and modifying or extending the functionality to fit your needs will be a minefield.

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