The relevance of JavaScript programming

When Netscape first introduced JavaScript to the World Wide Web as a client-side, simple scripting language for web browsers, it has become the most misunderstood and disdained programming language. Both developers and users were fast to point out its numerous design errors. Vendors implemented buggy JS versions in their also buggy web browsers, thus users opt to disable the ability of their browsers to run the JS code.

WHAT JAVASCRIPT IS NOW

Now, eighteen years later, JavaScript has become the dominant programming language of the web. All modern web browsers implement the language, making it the only one deployed on all PCs as well as mobile devices all over the world. JS has become a dynamic, powerful, fully-functional object-oriented programming language on par with more traditional ones. It has advanced features like modules, prototypal inheritance, namespaces, anonymous functions and meta-programming even. Full-blown apps like Google Maps and Gmail are programmed in JavaScript. These days, one could not be a web developer and now know JS. It is a language that every serious web developer should learn and master.

The Importance of Javascript Programming

1. Free and easy to set up. One need not purchase JS. One the client-side, JavaScript comes with a browser and executes within it. There’s no need to download, install and configure any library files to run it. All it takes is a program code editor, such as Notepad++, l EditPlus, Sublime Text and of course, the internet browser and one could write and execute the JS code. Moreover, JavaSCript is an interpreted language. One could pause the program at a particular code line, modify the line and resume execution of program at that line. There’s no edit-compile-execute cycle to contend with that is time consuming. Data types and memory management are managed by the browser.
2. AJAX. Stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It’s a set of interrelated web development technologies that enable web browsers to asynchronously interact with the web server. Using AJAX, the web pages get updated in the background with no refreshing and reloading the web page. Meaning that the surfing experience of the user is not just uninterrupted but dynamic as well, due to the content of the web page is updating continuously to the newest version. Now, AJAX has transformed the web to a place wherein users could interact with the sites as well as other users.
3. EASY TO DEBUG. All popular browsers enable debugging the JavaScript code. However, there are excellent, free online tools that allow looking not just at one’s JavaScript code, but also at the execution environment. What is more, the tools offer a logging capability that allows one to write and store the values of variables at different execution stages of a program. Two free and excellent tools are Web Developer Toolbar and Firebug. Web Developer Toolbar is available for FireFox and Chrome and Firebug is a plugin for the Firefox browser. The helpful tools enable one not just to debug JS, but examine the HTML and CSS code of the webpage, thus one could take an in-depth look at the whole app. One could modify code in real time and see modifications take effect right away.
4. FREE AND POWERFUL FRAMEWORKS AND LIBRARIES. Software development could be a daunting task, nerve-racking, intellectually challenging and time consuming. To overcome the obstacles, developers boost their prospects of success and to cut down on development time drastically. Developers resort to frameworks and libraries. Simply, a framework is a reliable and proven design or configuration components of the software. On the other hand, a library is a set of program code that is error-free organized into functions. By using libraries and frameworks, developers avoid the reinvention of the wheel and employ reliable and tested solutions to recurring problems. Development effort and time is reduced by half as well. Because of the widespread JavaScript use, a lot of very reliable and popular frameworks and libraries are freely available for developers. Among these frameworks are Bootstrap, AngularJS and BackboneJS. The popular libraries are Prototype, Dojo and jQuery. jQuery and Bootstrap often are used together. Bootstrap further employs responsive web design, which is a design method that enables a webpage to change the layout, based on the browser screen width. So, a webpage could be displayed easily either on a full desktop monitor screen or on a mobile device.
5. THRIVING AND IN DEMAND USER COMMUNITY. The JS ecosystem continues growing, and the demand for developers who know pure JS and specific JS frameworks and libraries is high. The demand for JavaScript has grown more than any other programming language over the years.

JavaScript is the most popular programming language today. In all, it is a vast popularity and use in the web world, keeping ahead in the advancing web trend.

Dhrumit Shukla is Business Development Manager with TatvaSoft - a custom software development company. He writes about Technology Trends, experience working with B2B and B2C clients.