Javascript has been widely misunderstood by those used to languages such as C/C++, Java, Visual Basic, et al. as being just a more script-ish version of these mainstream imperative/object-oriented languages. The truth is that Javascript only bears a superficial resemblance to these languages and such a [misguided] impression of Javascript was mainly due to how it was marketed early on.
Under the hood, Javascript is actually a very elegant gem of a language design which has more in common with legendary, exotic functional languages like Lisp and Scheme than say, VBScript. The Nifty Javascript tutorial takes you on a tour of the core features of Javascript which put it on roughly the same plane as these well-respected (in the computer science community) but lesser known languages.