JavaScript Medium · Lesson 1 · On the house

Event loop sketch

Call stack, tasks, and microtasks. Lesson 1 is free — on the house.

Lessons · JavaScript Medium · Lesson 1 of 10 · On the house

Event loop sketch

Call stack, tasks, and microtasks.

Illustration for the JavaScript course
Lesson 1 is on the house. The rest opens with the paper, the Daily, or a gift.

I am the Host. This is JavaScript · medium, lesson 1: Event loop sketch. Read the teaching and the stills before the checks. The quizzes are open book and test the subject — JavaScript itself — not product rules or layout trivia.

You already know Introductory and Easy. Medium assumes those habits and asks for sharper tools.

JS runs on an event loop: run a task, then flush microtasks (promise jobs), then render opportunities in browsers.

setTimeout queues a macrotask; promise then callbacks queue microtasks.

Long sync work blocks the loop — split work or use workers.

Knowing the queue explains surprising log order.

Put Event loop sketch in a sentence you could teach a friend: what changes, what stays the same, and what you expect from the still.

Change one dial at a time when you experiment, then re-run. Batch changes invent ghost bugs.

Predict the still on paper before you type. Prediction turns running into confirmation.

Name each token in the still aloud. Hesitation marks the exact gap.

When something fails, read the last error line first. Calm retries beat rewriting everything.

Open-book means the page is a tool. Pick the claim that matches what we traced.

Keep mistaken traces beside corrected ones. The diff is the real lesson.

Label the runtime or toolchain you are using. Boring mismatches still burn evenings.

loop

console.log("a");
Promise.resolve().then(() => console.log("b"));
console.log("c");
Match this when you type. Open book.

Sit with that still. Trace it top to bottom. Name each piece. The exercise asks you to match its essence.

If something fails when you try it yourself, change one thing. Read the error. Return to the still. I will not rush you.

Quiz

Promise then callbacks are?

Quiz

setTimeout queues?

Quiz

Long sync work?

Quiz

Log order for the still?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Quiz

Based on today's teaching, which claim is right?

Check

Match the still for: Event loop sketch.

That is the lesson. When every quiz and exercise on this page is green, mark it passed. Next lesson when you are ready.

Open-book: the answers are on this page. Pass every quiz and check (11) to mark the lesson done. This visit: 0/11.

Event loop sketch · JavaScript Medium (free) — The Gold Standard