Douglas Crockford (author of JavaScript: The Good Parts) has a great series of talks on JavaScript and, more broadly, how to think clearly about software.
If you’re the kind of developer who enjoys fewer “clever tricks” and more durable mental models, these are worth your time. They’re opinionated in the best way: the goal isn’t to win debates—it’s to ship understandable, maintainable code.
Here’s the collection:
If that link ever goes stale (it’s an older archive), search for “Crockford on JavaScript YUI” and you’ll usually find mirrors and re-uploads.
Some themes you’ll see throughout:
- Language sharp edges: what JavaScript makes easy, what it makes easy to mess up, and why.
- Simplicity as a strategy: how constraints and conventions can reduce bugs.
- Design tradeoffs: choosing boring, readable solutions that scale with teams and time.