The programming world is a dynamic one and languages used equally so. While new ones pop up with intense regularity to meet the specific needs of a time; they tend to find themselves ‘benched’ just as quickly. Keeping abreast of all the new languages is a Herculean task, but developers take it on to remain relevant.
Now that being said, there are a few languages that have survived the test of time and JavaScript is one of them. Used to script interactive effects within a website browser, there is a language, which has met its share of detractors. It has been dubbed a ‘messy’ language, it has been questioned as being a language at all; and was even thought to be poorly designed. All this was perhaps in the initial phases of implementation within the Netscape ambit that it was created for.
Drawing from Simple Strengths
But despite all the negative thoughts towards it, it continued to be used. It had to its advantage the ability of being a scripting language for both the client and server-side. It was supported on all popular browsers from Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 onward, to Firefox, Opera, Safari as well as Google Chrome. It upgrades websites with interactive features ranging from slideshows to ad pops, and everything in between. All this with Google’s auto complete functionality. It is used rather regularly in game development as well as the creation of desktop applications – the list of its capabilities is quite a long one.
Over the years, the development community has not hesitated in naming it the most popular programming language in 2017. A new developer survey by Stack Overflow emphasized that JavaScript continues to be the most commonly used programming language. This is among many other distinctions.
The biannual Redmonk language popularity report 2017 also listed JavaScript as No. 1. All this naturally begs the question – Why do developers love JavaScript so much?
The Best, and it’s free! JavaScript comes with a browser and may be executed within it. A notepad and an Internet connection are all you need to start coding. It depends on a massive open source coding community and so there is always a solution to every problem. It also has free frameworks and libraries available to assist in coding.
Easy learning: Since the syntax of JavaScript is quite similar to English, learning it became easier. The language has been standardized for use and browsers are able to handle complex data movements, making things easier.
Simple infrastructure needs: Here is a language that does not require any unique compilers or even editors for that matter. A simple text editor and a browser is all that is needed to run some JavaScript code.
Saves bandwidth: JavaScript code is processed on the client-side which means that that the user’s processor takes on the burden instead of the website. Result? A saving of bandwidth and reduced pressure on the server.
Easy implementation: Since the same language may be used for both front and back-end implementation, developer teams have it easier. JavaScript developers can make use of third party add-ons to create specialized snippets that can be used with specific web pages. Debugging is also easy since all the tools to manage are provided for. Firebug and Web Tool Developer are the best.
Validation of each field allows for immediate feedback: JavaScript allows visitors to fill in their details and have each of the fields validated and corrected. This removes the annoying feature of having to fill up an entire online form again for having made a single small mistake. Further because it is a scripting programming language it need not be compiled. Plain text, or something as simple as Notepad, (which is free) is all you need.
Uniform user-experience: Since browsers come with JavaScript that is in-built, there is no additional software or downloads that need to be in place. Every user, irrespective of a browser, is assured of the same experience.
It adapts easily: Over the last decade it is has grown in scope as well as application, and is supported by all browsers. It can work easily with HTML/DHTML, CSS3 and also background services via AJAX. With web moving from Adobe Flash apps to HTML5, JavaScript helps in easy interface coding when compared to Flash, which requires a lot of work to be compliant.
The future looks bright for JavaScript as it will only expand in terms of usage and popularity. The demand for pure JavaScript developers as well as those for particular JavaScript libraries and frameworks will be high.
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