Eh, to some degree you do get a starting point in uni for various things. You’ll learn basic models for systems or databases as part of core requirements. If a web course exists, it’s most likely optional and out of date.
Web is certainly a different context, and some people struggle to pick it up. There’s no authoritative book like the C Programming Language, and the web is full of wrong information that sometimes comes above more authoratitve sources like MDN in Google results.
This is absolutely correct from the perspective of a senior developer. Junior devs generally haven't completed enough language/framework hype cycles to develop the required experience (or cynicism really) to look past the bullshit to this very simple fact.
how we present has changed a lot, though. And we reap the rewards of not teaching.
As a general example, part of why accessibility on the web is so poor is because we don't teach anything about it. It's become this mythical scary thing, when in reality a lot of the pain is avoidable with a little bit of thinking. We just don't teach any of it.
If we're talking language level (even in C, you'd usually be using other libraries and APIs even if it's just POSIX or curses), I'd argue that "JavaScript: The Good Parts: The Good Parts" is probably the most authoritative book out there.
Web is certainly a different context, and some people struggle to pick it up. There’s no authoritative book like the C Programming Language, and the web is full of wrong information that sometimes comes above more authoratitve sources like MDN in Google results.