Several months ago, I bit the bullet and made my first foray into full-stack development by learning the Javascript-based Meteor framework. In little over a month (I took a break from freelance work) I managed to build a simple Elance-like service by following the chapters in the Discover Meteor book.

Along the way, I discovered some great online resources that supplemented Discover Meteor.

First, in prepartion for the book:

A JavaScript Primer For Meteor, written by one of the authors of Discover Meteor, is a great essentials-only tutorial on the Javascript you need to know.

Best Learning Resources for Meteor.js gives a great bigger-picture map of what there is to learn about Meteor and a directory of resources to do.

Then, as I was reading the book, I almost always kept these sites open in the other tabs on my browser so I could dig deeper into the syntax. (There is such a long list because Meteor uses various technologies and it’s not obvious when it’s a function from Meteor, MongoDB, Underscore, etc.)

Meteor’s Official Documentation: a great place to look up Meteor-specific syntax and to learn more about its features

Handlebars.js Site & Guide: a great primer for the curly bracket {{}} templating system that Meteor uses. (Though technically it builds upon it to create its own Spacebars systems.)

templating system that Meteor uses. (Though technically it builds upon it to create its own Spacebars systems.) Underscore.js Site & Guide: any time there’s an underscore _ , the code is using the underscore.js library. Also underscore.js is just a great time saver to good to know about.

, the code is using the underscore.js library. Also underscore.js is just a great time saver to good to know about. MongoDB Manual, Reference section: any time there’s a dollar sign ( $ ), you’re using a MongoDB function. They’re not super common in Discover Meteor.

), you’re using a MongoDB function. They’re not super common in Discover Meteor. Bootstrap’s Javascript section: there are a few occasions in Discover Meteor where they use Bootstrap’s inherit Javascript features.

That’s it! Let me know if there’s anything you think is missing from the lists above.

Special thanks to Nick Budden for pointing me towards Discover Meteor.