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resource for javascript without jQuery

Is there any repository of code snippets, tutorials, whatever, that concentrates on pure JS, without the use of frameworks?
I first approached javascript through scriptalicious then jumped to jQuery. I am now a seasoned jQuery developer, and I've done quite a lot in jQuery throughout the years.
My problem is, I've almost never coded in pure JS. By the time I got advanced in coding in general (I mean, cross-language), my JS coding style relied already heavily on jQuery.
Plus, each time I research a solution for a problem, the first results (or pages of results) in google involve jQuery, or, more rarely, another Js framework. Which leads me to this problem: since I have developed a lot of custom plugins, some fairly complex, for jQuery, I am quite sure I do know a lot of JS. But I can't tell the difference!
So I decided that from now on, and as long as I feel the need, I am going to try to use pure JS, at least at the beginning of each project (leaving myself enough time to revert to good old jQueryScript if I get stuck). My problem is I am way too advanced to follow beginner's tutorials. I would like to know if any of you guys has a suggestion for a place to begin my training. Some website where I could learn advanced JS, without frameworks.

I actually think Resig's book, Pro Javascript Techniques would be a great fit. I read it a while ago and my memory of it was that he walked through a lot of the kinds of cross browser issues one can experience with Javascript and talks about how one could create code to help remediate those issues.
Ultimately that thinking is what jQuery is all about, but this book is not a jQuery book at all, more focused on JavaScript, approaching the same kinds of problems jQuery makes you not have to think about.
Might be a great fit for where you are, and it is by no means a beginner book.
http://www.amazon.com/Pro-JavaScript-Techniques-John-Resig/dp/1590597273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310240944&sr=8-1

If you want learn more about JavaScript in general and really master it, there are two books that I would recommend:
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
JavaScript: The Good Parts
Both are excellent resources with great depth and cover fairly advanced topics.
If you would like to explore the possiblities of JS outside the browser and explore some cutting edge JS then take a look at the Node.js and CommonJS projects.

I recommend using this Google group:
http://groups.google.com/group/jsmentors

Web development with ESN Planet, how does it work?

I'm starting a new job soon, in web-app development. While I'm experienced with programming, my background is primarily in game development and desktop/server applications. I have very little experience from modern web app development. Anyway...
Our primary development tool is going to be something called ESN Planet, which I've not heard about before. Their website is not very specific about its features, and it seems unlikely for one to get a trial invitation ("We have been getting lots of applications, so please try to be as detailed as possible when applying for an invite below.").
Is anyone using this tool, and can explain what kinds of skills are involved in development of apps using this tool? Should I learn Python, JavaScript, CSS, or something else? All of the above? What is the workflow like for a developer? Will I need modern HTML skills?
I'd like to prepare for this job, but not sure what to expect and prepare for. My contact with the company is not a developer, so I figured I would ask here.

I saw a talk by the boss of the company that developed this stuff, at the Europython conference this year. It was ostensibly about the custom IDE that they created to develop in it, but also touched on the Planet system itself. It seems like a pretty run-of-the-mill MVC framework, as far as I can tell.
As far as what to learn, you will definitely need Python. Normally in web development you also need HTML, CSS and Javascript as well - but some frameworks abstract a lot of that away from you, to a greater or lesser extent. Impossible without knowing more about the framework to tell whether this is one that does. And it also depends on the way the company you're working for is set up - some have separate front-end teams that deal with that side of things, leaving the Python developers to just manage the server-side stuff.

For what it's worth, ESN Planet has been used to build Battlelog (http://battlelog.battlefield.com), the web platform for stats tracking and web launching of Battlefield 3.

Getting ready to learn html5

I'm a desktop application developer, and I plan learning html5, but as it's not released, there are (almost) no published books and not too much infomation for beginners on the web... I feel I should start with html4 and the current web development skills.
I think I should start with html4, css, and javascript... but there are so many technologies related that I get lost :D So, what current technologies will be still used when html5 is released? I mean, what about "jquery" and "ajax"? I know they are javascript under the hood, but will they still make sense in the future?
What would you recommend me considering that I have just a little bit of html knowlegde, almost null CSS and completely null in javascript?

Dive Into HTML5 is solid, but it isn't really targeted at total beginners. You might want to check out Designing with Web Standards for getting a grasp on the basics of HTML/CSS. For the JavaScript side of things, I'd recommend JavaScript: The Good Parts. Also keep an eye out for Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, which is due this summer.

If you're already familiar with HTML4, v5 is not terribly different, mostly it adds new elements and attributes, and removes some.
For essential coverage of web standards, I suggest Jeffrey Zeldman's Designing with Web Standards (v3). It's largely theory and background, with little code. I recommend it. There is a sister book by John Allsop, Developing with Web Standards, which I have not (yet) read, but it is supposedly the implementation half of the topic the two books cover.
There is a book in the making by Jeremy Keith, HTML5 for Web Designers, on the new A Book Apart site (backed by the people of An Event Apart, including Jeffrey Zeldman). Jeffrey writes about the new book on his site, and provides links to other related coverage, including Jeremy Keith's take on it.

Get a good base with html/css then move onto javascript and pick a js framework that you like. Jquery seems to be most popular.
Here's a good read on html 5

If you want to be accomplished you need to approach JavaScript like a programming language and learn it in its own right, not as a simple way to script a few things. HTML4 is really pretty simple, CSS is where the meat lies really when using JS to manipulate pages.
I'd refresh on basic HTML, then start working with JS while trying to get to grips with CSS and jQuery.

Another vote for Designing with Web Standards. While not the best "beginner" book out there in terms of holding your hand through your first site build, reading this book is hands down the best way for you to establish a solid foundation of good habits so that when you do get to learning how to code you'll understand why it is important to do things the RIGHT way.
That being said. HTML is cake. Tying it into CSS is a creative challenge, and really being able to understand javascript will set you apart.
As far as technologies becoming irrelevant: Stay away from Flash. Other than that everything is as strong as ever.

You should try this website Technobits.net, which will give you a kick start morning with latest updates in your favorite technology. Check out following urls.
http://www.technobits.net/technologies/html5-css/
http://www.technobits.net/search/?q=html5

HTML5 is basically the same as HTML4 but with some nice additional little features. Pretty much everything you will learn from HTML4 will work seamlessly in a HTML5 environment.
I would start with learning things in this order: HTML4, then CSS2, then jQuery.
After that, start learning about HTML5 and CSS3 when more information comes out about them. But main issue about learning these languages falls down to your basic understanding. Once you have that in place, the newer technologies just make these basic things a bit easier.
Effectively, they will always be written and constructed in more or less the same way - but in time with newer versions, things will become increasingly easier to achieve.

http://www.codecademy.com/ now has HTML, CSS, as well as lots of Javascript lessons - its free, online, and doesnt involve lots of annoying videos. It works for me anyways...

Help me take my intermediate Javascript to the next level

Sorry for the semi-rant here. I am hooked on javascript and want some direction on where to explore next!
I know the default answer is to just look around at sites and fire up firebug, but that may be inefficient as it's likely many sites have bad design and I won't be able to tell. I could use blogs and sites to follow, like http://ajaxian.com/, John Resig's blog, the YUI site, etc. Any comments are greatly appreciated! :)
Summary: Job needed to write a web app as a support tool. I begrudgingly took the task up to learn a bit of web stuff to implement a snazzy UI. (I come from a computer hardware background with all low level imperative stuff) I saw a jQuery UI demo and also came across an "ajax for dummies" guide pointing to jQuery, so I told myself I'd learn the minimum needed to do my damn job, but that would be it.
I bought the Jonathan Chaffer book Learning jQuery 1.3 and read the minimum needed to make my app work, but I was bothered that I didn't really understand the anonymous functions used, first class objects, etc. I did get an eyebrow raise from the interesting appendix on closures, and began thinking "hmm, that's cool..." So I bought the giant O'Reilly Definitive Guide and read through it. Wanted to know more, so I got the Douglas Crockford book (JS: The Good Parts) and went through his website - wow now I just blew away my previous understanding of JS prototypal inheritance (I was doing it the new() way) and damn, design patterns and unit testing frameworks in this language too? Javascript really must be more serious than I thought! With this newfound background I'm going through the jQuery library and dissecting its guts.
I don't know where to go from here though. Ideas I have but am not sure how to go about exploring include:
Get more into JS' integration into web architecture. I've only been doing basic XHRs, to serialize a few variables and do a GET to retrieve DB stored information, did XML->JSON conversion and back. But there's probably much, much more to make a app like gmail. Where to start?
Graphics and animations seem interesting. Saw some really cool demos from Google I/O 2009. I don't have a graphics background though so I'd need tips on where to start with the theory. I also don't know where JS' graphics capabilities overlap with Flash
Thanks guys! This community is the best (be kind to me, I'm an electrical engineer for my job, not a software guy)

The comp.lang.javascript newsgroup is a good place to advance your JavaScript. There are some seriously knowledgeable and opinionated people who regularly post there. You may need to brace yourself for the somewhat abrasive tone of some of the regulars though.

Google have made their javascript libraries public and open source.
These cover everything from UI widgets to event notification to unit testing.
Well worth looking at as a learning resource, a useful set of tools and as an inspiration as to what you can actually do with Javascript
It's called 'Closure' and is available here

Practise, practise, practise.
Ask lots of questions.
Try answering other people's javascript/jQuery questions here on SO. Examining how different people tackle problems can open your eyes to new methods and ideas.

Finding the joy of Javascript or searching for another UI-focused languages?

I'm a GUI designer/interactive musician wanting to improve my programming chops. I already know the basics(variables, loops, arrays, if/else, some logic), but I'm looking to learn in a structured way. I've seen some great books/tuts on Python and Processing (and even Flash)that aim to teach the fundamentals of programming in a fun and accessible. I've drooled on these books and considered learning Python many times, but to be honest, I don't know if these languages could be usefull for me on a professional sense. I need something directly related to interactive interface scripting/programming and JS seems to be my best bet (I've been trying AS3 but the OOP stuff made it somewhat hard for me).
I know JS can be fun (Jquery is). But I just can't find learning sources that are as compelling as the aforementioned material. All I find are tutorials and books that teach web development topics, such as form validation and ajax. I've tried looking for JS game frameworks, but all of them seem to be built for experienced developers and lack documetation or begginer's tutorials.
So, any directions on finding the joy in JS? Perhaps suggestions on other UI-focused languages ?
Thanks for reading this long question.

Have you had a look at Head-First Javascript? It seems to me to be a programming tutorial that's not inferior to the best ones available for, say, Python -- sure, it deals with web programming too (while a Python-based book might not), but, why's that extra info a bad thing?

Javascript isn't so much a "joy" as it is a "necessary evil". jQuery just makes it less evil. Actually that's not entirely fair: part of the "evilness" of Javascript is just all the cross-browser difference, not the language itself (which is actually quite modern).
But like learning anything, I don't think it's all that fun if you're just learning for learning's sake. Even a good book, tutorial or other resource won't do that (at least for me). I find it far more rewarding (and successful) if I have something in particular I'm trying to achieve or do.
If you know basic control structures and syntax then you know enough to pick something and try and implement it. You'll get stuck along the way (a lot early on) as you try and figure out actually how to do things. You'll probably do some of them really badly but that's OK. All that experience gives you a useful context when you do more reading and can appreciate the actual problems that something is discussing or solving.

If you are really looking for the joy of GUI programming, then I suggest you C#. Get yourself VS 2008 or above.
Just imagine, you have a great GUI designers that allow you to script you layout through drag and drop, and all you have to do, is to fill in the proper event and the program will just run like magic. Hand coding is kept to the minimum

Any programming language popular enough to have books written about it that you've seen in stores will be professionally useful to you. I think you have a good approach in looking for something that excites you. If those Python books make your heart race, pick one up and dive in. If you find something else that you love, go for it. You're gonna need that love to get you through all the hard work and frustration of learning to program.

You might want to take a look at Tcl/Tk. Although the language is sort of arcane, and the library is at least in principle available in other languages, notably python and perl, the toolkit in its native language is really very clear and concise.

I think you want to work on web interface programming not GUI (windows forms)..
Jquery is the best way to go and when it comes to web dev there is no escaping from Javascript.. I try and comiple some good sites .. give me some time

I suggest finding the joy in JavaScript. It sounds to me like your market may be in the browser, in other words, downloaded applications aren't what you're looking for. If this is the case, you don't have much of a choice: JavaScript or Flash.
If you had trouble with OOP, I suggest you find the joy in that first. As the joy of both JavaScript and AS3 (as you already know) can only be found once you find the joy in OOP, which will server you far better as a programmer in general.
As far as books, I recommend, JavaScript The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford, who is widely considered one of the top authorities on the subject.

Ok this is an old post, hope this still be useful to you. Try this book: "Modern Javascript Develop and Design" by Larry Ullman, he's a great author with a very clear and easy to follow style. I have learn PHP basic, intermediate and advanced with his books, even some OOP, so I think this could be a great tool for your learning path.