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Learn JavaScript

Scrimba's free flagship JavaScript course, taught by Per Borgen across roughly 9.4 hours of interactive scrims and 140+ challenges that end in four things you build yourself.

Quick answer​

Learn JavaScript is Scrimba's free, beginner JavaScript course: about 9.4 hours across eight modules, taught by Per Borgen. You solve 140+ interactive coding challenges and build a passenger counter, a blackjack game, a Chrome extension, and a mobile app. It assumes no prior programming. If you want a free, project-first introduction to JavaScript, this is the strongest starting point in the catalog and the prerequisite for the React track.

Is it worth your time?​

It is free, so the only cost is time, and the format earns it. JavaScript is a language you learn by writing, and editing the instructor's code directly in the player forces you to write constantly rather than watch passively. The 140+ challenges are the real teaching mechanism, and the four projects give you something concrete at the end of each block.

The honest caveat is that "free flagship" does not mean "the only course you need." This is foundations, and it deliberately stops short of advanced async, deep object work, and the harder language internals. You finish it able to build small apps, not able to reason about every corner of the language; that depth is what Advanced JavaScript is for.

What you'll learn​

Course curriculum

8 modules

  1. Build a Passenger Counter App82 min
  2. Practice Time - Part 126 min
  3. Setting up a Local Dev Environment12 min
  4. Build a Blackjack Game2.7 hrs
  5. Practice Time - Part 227 min
  6. Build a Chrome Extension2.7 hrs
  7. Practice Time - Part 326 min
  8. Build a Mobile App59 min

The structure alternates building and practicing. Each project introduces concepts (variables and the DOM in the counter, conditionals and functions in blackjack, arrays and local storage in the Chrome extension) and each Practice Time block makes you apply them without the instructor's hand on the wheel. Setting up a Local Dev Environment is the bridge from the in-browser player to working on your own machine.

Who it's for, and who should skip it​

It fits complete beginners who want to learn JavaScript by building rather than reading, and anyone who needs the JS foundation before starting React. It is the anchor course for the Frontend Developer Path and the Fullstack Developer Path, and a good fit for beginners.

Skip it only if you already write JavaScript comfortably, in which case go straight to Advanced JavaScript or the React track.

Prerequisites​

None. No prior programming experience is required. A browser and a willingness to type code along with each scrim are all you need.

Where it fits​

Learn JavaScript is the foundation for two paths: the Frontend Developer Path and the Fullstack Developer Path. It is also the practical prerequisite for Learn React, which assumes the JavaScript this course teaches.

Free or Pro​

The course itself is free, with no subscription required to start or finish it. Scrimba Pro is a separate decision: it unlocks the structured career paths, the coding challenges, the Discord, and certificates. If you only want this course, you never have to pay. See current plans if you later want the path structure around it.

Strengths and limits​

What it does well: it is free, it teaches by building four real projects, the 140+ challenges keep you writing code, and Per Borgen is a clear, beginner-friendly instructor. The interactive format is an ideal fit for a first language.

Where it is limited: it is foundations only and stops short of advanced async and object work, the in-browser format means you set up your own environment fairly late, and fast peer help depends on the Pro Discord rather than the free tier.

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