At a high level, JavaScript is a scripting or programming language that allows you to implement complex features on web server pages, such as displaying timely content updates, interactive maps, animations, etc. JavaScript is used for all web-related software development. It is the most widely used and popular scripting language in the world for website building.
The power of the JavaScript framework is in its popularity, ease of use, and large community. It is one of the three core technologies of the World Wide Web (www), alongside HTML and CSS. Perhaps the most powerful thing about the JavaScript function is that it includes all of the features of a programming language embedded in your web browser. Unlike other programming languages, where you have to download the language in your machine and create an environment, the JS framework does not require that. If you have a web browser like Chrome, then you can write JavaScript.
Initially, the JavaScript framework was only on the client side of programming to create user interfaces and webpages’ interactivity. With the development of Node.js, JavaScript is not used in both client-side and server-side programming — this makes it extremely versatile and valuable for a web developer.
JavaScript is the standard programming language of the web, and everybody uses the software written in JavaScript. Virtually everyone who has an internet-connected device with a screen can use applications written in JavaScript markup language.
Popular Uses of JavaScript
Adding Interactive behavior to web pages:
- Show or hide information on a click event.
- Change the colors of a button when the mouse hovers over it.
- Slide through a carousel of images.
- Zoom in and out on an image.
- Display a timer or a countdown on websites.
- Play audio.
- Embed video.
- Display animations and visual effects.
- Create pop-ups and modals
- Use a dropdown hamburger menu
- Client-side form validation.
- Autocompletion.
Creating web and mobile applications:
- Developers have access to a plethora of JavaScript frameworks for developing and building web and mobile device apps. JavaScript frameworks are collections of JavaScript code libraries that provide developers with pre-written js code to use for routine programming tasks.
- Popular front-end JavaScript frameworks include React, React Native, Angular, Vue, and Ember.js.
Building web servers and developing server applications:
- Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows Javascript to write server-side JavaScript to build servers and connect with databases. Frameworks like Express.js allow developers to build robust servers and develop back-end infrastructure using Node.js.
JavaScript is the backbone of modern web applications, but much like the human spine, it is quite flexible and liberal in what it allows. This can sometimes be seen as a disadvantage because it makes finding problems in programs harder. However, this flexibility allows a Javascript programmer to use many techniques that are not possible in more rigid programming languages.
A superpower of JavaScript is that it is easy to learn. It is widespread and supported by all browsers. Because it is a high-level language, it takes care of a lot of nitty-gritty programming for you, whereas in other low-level languages, you have to think about memory management, etc. In addition to being easy to learn, it is also easy to use. As long as you have a browser, you can write JavaScript to create rich web content.
Every programming language has some feature that separates it from other coding languages. In addition to all the amazing features of JavaScript, the one that stands out is how functions work in the language.
“Functions are the very best part of JavaScript. It’s where most of the power and the beauty of this language is.” — Douglas Crockford
Functions in JavaScript can be seen as workhorses. They play roles that other languages fulfill with multiple distinct features like procedures, methods, constructors, classes, and modules. All of these can be covered by the versatility of functions in JavaScript.
Finally, the most powerful feature of JavaScript is its community. It has one of the largest communities for any programming language. It is consistently ranked highest in Stackoverflow, Google searches, and GitHub issues. The amount of support for beginners is amazing!