Must-Watch JavaScript

This is a collection of well-received talks about JavaScript covering topics such as React, functional programming, performance, frameworks, debugging, tooling, and more.

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2026

1. Own the RSC Pipeline: Cache and Compose It Yourself: Manuel Schiller, React Summit 18:23

2025

1. Fine-Grained Everything: Rich Harris, performance.now() 2025 42:34
2. JavaScript at the speed of Rust: Oxc: Jim Dummett, ViteConf 2025 29:15
3. Learn JavaScript by Building Mario!, Ania Kubów, (YouTube Channel) 2:12:04
4. TanStack is Your New Favorite Framework: Jack Herrington, CascadiaJS 25:49

2024

1. Encrypting Data in the Browser - Exploring Web Crypto APIs: Aakansha Doshi, JSConf Budapest 33:31

2022

1. Debugging async JS: Jenn Creighton, React Miami 24:44
2. Large Scale Refactoring: From Start to Finish: Natalia Tepluhina, JSHeroes 27:47

2019

1. The Future of Web Animation: Sarah Drasner, JSHeroes 31:03
2. HTTP Headers for the Responsible Developer: Stefan Judis, JSConf EU 23:31
3. Essential JavaScript Debugging Tools for the Modern Detective: Rebecca Hill, JSConf Budapest 29:18
4. Take on Me, Web Browsers!: Eva Ferreira, JSConf Budapest: 21:59
5. Interactive Web Animation with SVG: Cassie Evans, CSSCAMP 32:08

2018

1. In the Loop: Jake Archibald, JSConf Asia 35:11
2. Look Mum, No Hands! - Brain Controlled JavaScript: Charlie Gerard, JSConf EU 24:34
3. 10 Things I Regret About Node.js: Ryan Dahl, JSConf EU 26:41
4. Deep Learning in JS: Ashi Krishnan, JSConf EU 31:30

2017

1. Immutable Data Structures for Functional JS: Anjana Vakil, JSConf EU 26:32
2. JavaScript Engines - How Do They Even?: Franziska Hinkelmann, JSConf EU 25:13
3. Async + Await: Wes Bos, dotJS 15:51
4. Advanced Async and Concurrency Patterns in JavaScript: Kyle Simpson, js.la Meetup 39:42
5. The Browser Hackers Guide to Instantly Loading Everything: Addy Osmani, JSConf EU 28:09

2016

1. The Rise of Async JavaScript: Jeremy Fairbank, FluentConf 28:58
2. Reasonable JavaScript: Preethi Kasireddy, Nodevember 50:12
3. Learning Functional Programming with JavaScript: Anjana Vakil, JSUnconf 29:56
4. Choosing a JavaScript Framework: Rob Eisenberg, NDC Oslo 1:01:13
5. The Myth of The "Real JavaScript Developer": Brenna O'Brien, Front-Trends 27:05
6. An Angular 2 Force Awakens: John Papa, ng-conf 20:39
7. React.js for TV UIs: Steve McGuire, Netflix JavaScript Talks 35:02
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to All Things Memory in JavaScript: Safia Abdalla, JSConf Budapest 26:16
9. SVG and GreenSock for Complex Animation: Sarah Drasner, ForwardJS Summit 40:16

2015

1. JavaScript in 2015: Glen Maddern, (screencast) 10:32
2. Angular + React = Speed: Dave Smith, ng-conf 19:26
3. Parallelism Experiments in JavaScript: Naveed Ihsanullah, JSConf US 32:39
4. Eliminate JavaScript Code Smells: Elijah Manor, FluentConf 29:15
5. Pocket-Sized JS: Henrik Joreteg, dotJS 18:44
6. What the... JavaScript?: Kyle Simpson, ForwardJS 38:16
7. Real World jQuery: Ben Foxall, jQuery UK 26:45
8. JavaScript State of the Union: Geoff Schmidt, Meteor Devshop SF 48:47
9. Dirty Performance Secrets of HTML5: Andreas Gal, FluentConf 14:15
10. You Should Use <Insert Library/Framework>, It's the Bestestest!: Paul Lewis, ffconf 33:31
11. Async Programming in ES7: Jafar Husain, JSConf US 35:56
12. Live React: Hot Reloading with Time Travel: Dan Abramov, ReactEurope 30:40
13. JavaScript Transformation: Sebastian McKenzie, JSConf US 20:23
14. Node.js at Netflix: Kim Trott, Node.js Interactive 25:17
15. If You Wish to Learn ES6/2015 From Scratch, You Must First Invent the Universe: Ashley Williams, JSConf US 25:48

2014

1. Enemy of the State: Amy Palamountain,Forward JS 32:40
2. Mary Live-Codes a JavaScript Game from Scratch: Mary Rose Cook, Front-Trends 32:16
3. Unorthodox Performance: John-David Dalton, ForwardJS 43:39
4. What the Heck Is the Event Loop Anyway?: Philip Roberts, JSConf EU 26:53
5. Building Isomorphic Apps: Spike Brehm, JSConf Asia 45:01
6. JavaScript for Everybody: Marcy Sutton, JSConf EU 28:59
7. JavaScript ♥ Unicode: Mathias Bynens, JSConf EU 25:41
8. Using AngularJS to Create iPhone & Android Applications with PhoneGap: Daniel Zen, ng-conf 21:34
9. Virtual Machines, JavaScript and Assembler: Scott Hanselman, FluentConf 25:56
10. User Interface Algorithms: Mark DiMarco, JSConf US 27:41
11. End to End Angular Testing with Protractor: Julie Ralph, ng-conf 18:46
12. Async JavaScript at Netflix: Jafar Husain, Netflix JavaScript Talks 28:38
13. Building Realtime Apps with Firebase and Angular: Anant Narayanan, ng-conf 21:08

2013

1. A JavaScript Web App Deconstructed: Alex MacCaw, JSConf Asia 36:24
2. JavaScript in Your Native Mobile Apps: Allen Pike, JSConf EU 25:47
3. JavaScript Masterclass: Angelina Fabbro, JSConf US 22:33
4. A Comparison of the Two-Way Binding in AngularJS, EmberJS and KnockoutJS: Marius Gundersen, JSConf EU 19:16
5. Hacker Way: Rethinking Web App Development at Facebook: Tom Occhino, Jing Chen, and Pete Hunt, F8 44:35
6. Promises and Generators: Control Flow Utopia: Forbes Lindesay, JSConf EU 31:26
7. How to Rewrite Your JS App (at Least) 10 Times: Garann Means, Fronteers 47:45
8. Front-End Development in Node.js: Raquel Vélez, jQuery Conference Portland 34:01
9. Front-End Tools for the Young Developer: Christian Vuerings, SF HTML5 User Group 14:16
10. Rethinking Best Practices: Pete Hunt, JSConf Asia 40:57
11. Righteous Javascript, Dude!: Zach Bruggerman, Cascadia JS 18:15
12. Transitioning Groupon to NodeJS: Sean McCullough, EmpireJS 28:23
13. Making JS More Learnable: Pamela Fox, dotJS 28:46
14. The Web Experience in the Autistic Spectrum: Natalia Berdys, JSConf EU 30:37
15. Return of Inspector Web: Web Components a Year Later: Angelina Fabbro, Fronteers 49:44
16. Develop High Performance Sites and Apps with JavaScript and HTML5: Dr. Doris Chen, HTML5DevConf Meetup 1:01:39
17. Building Reflow: Kristofer Joseph, BackboneConf 45:41
18. Levelling Up in AngularJS: Alicia Liu, HTML5DevConf 40:31

2012

1. A Novel, Efficient Approach to JavaScript Loading: Malte Ubl and John Hjelmstad, JSConf EU 26:36
2. WTFJS: Brian Leroux, dotJS 18:26
3. To Hell with jQuery: Karolina Szczur, JSConf EU 20:00
4. Is Node.js Better?: Brian Ford, JSConf US 41:42
5. Inspector Web and the Mystery of the Shadow DOM: Angelina Fabbro, JSConfEU 28:42
6. Maintainable JavaScript: Nicholas Zakas, FluentConf 47:04
7. Client Side Internationalization: Alex Sexton, JSConf EU 24:08