There is a saying in coaching: "practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."
What that means is that the point of practice is to reset habits to the best possible technique, so that when the athlete is under duress, they are habitually as efficient/effective as possible. Any practice done with poor technique is basically wasted time, and potentially counterproductive. This is true at any point in the athlete's development, from day one to just before the title game (or match or whatever).
So, just writing a lot of javascript will not make someone a great javascript developer. If they write a lot of crappy code, they will become an experienced, crappy developer.
The best way to achieve greatness is to have a great coach (or teacher, or mentor). That person can help one shortcut to the best technique, and they can catch and correct one when one strays from that.
But if one does not have that, then disciplined self-study of known great performers is an ok substitute.
And, when it comes to "how to become great" articles, I think the writer usually assumes that the reader is already somewhat engaged--that their target audience is already writing javascript but wants to get better at it.
What that means is that the point of practice is to reset habits to the best possible technique, so that when the athlete is under duress, they are habitually as efficient/effective as possible. Any practice done with poor technique is basically wasted time, and potentially counterproductive. This is true at any point in the athlete's development, from day one to just before the title game (or match or whatever).
So, just writing a lot of javascript will not make someone a great javascript developer. If they write a lot of crappy code, they will become an experienced, crappy developer.
The best way to achieve greatness is to have a great coach (or teacher, or mentor). That person can help one shortcut to the best technique, and they can catch and correct one when one strays from that.
But if one does not have that, then disciplined self-study of known great performers is an ok substitute.
And, when it comes to "how to become great" articles, I think the writer usually assumes that the reader is already somewhat engaged--that their target audience is already writing javascript but wants to get better at it.