JavaScript Everywhere — Web, Mobile and Desktop
According to StackOverflow 2019 developer survey, JavaScript is the most commonly used Programming language for the 7th year in a row. The reason for the popularity of JavaScript is simple, JavaScript runs everywhere. JavaScript is the only language that allows you to build web applications, APIs, mobile applications, and desktop apps?
JavaScript is a great language. It has a simple syntax, large ecosystem and, what is most important, a great community. At the same time, JavaScript is quite a funny language with tricky parts. Some of them can quickly turn your everyday job into hell, and some of them can make us laugh out loud.
The Most Used Programming Language
It’s clear that JavaScript has won the language war. It dominates almost every field. There is never a shortage of employment for JavaScript developers. The importance of JavaScript cannot be overstated. It is currently used by 94.5% of all websites, it has also found it’s way to the server-side of websites with Node.js, mobile devices with React Native & Ionic, Desktop with Electron.
JavaScript was originally designed as a client-side scripting language. The language has evolved since it’s initial release in May, 1995. JavaScript has a lot of Frameworks that make working with the language exciting and extend the capabilities of the language. Some of the most popular JavaScript Frameworks are React, Vue, Angular and Express.
Before diving into any JavaScript framework it is best to have a good knowledge of Vanilla JavaScript. Vanilla JavaScript means JavaScript without any Libraries of Frameworks. Core JavaScript topics like Variables, Data types, Functions, Arrays, Objects, Scope etc are very important to be a well grounded JavaScript developer.
What else can JavaScript be Used
Apart from web, mobile and desktop, JavaScript can also be used in other fields like IoT and Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning. JavaScript has lots of libraries like Johnny-five, Cylon.js and IoT.js for IoT. For artificial intelligence TensorFlow.js is the number 1 choice.
JavaScript is open
There’s no requirement for a JavaScript developer to use a particular IDE or one single operating system. To run JavaScript on the client-size all you need is a modern browser, on the server side you simple need to install Node on your machine. Node is available for all Operating Systems, it’s free and it’s open source. No need to pay a yearly fee to publish applications in the language. Most JavaScript frameworks are open source and the community is very inclusive. This makes it easy to get started with the language.
Conclusion
If you’re going to be a web developer, it is inevitable that you will use JavaScript. If you’re going into another field, a good knowledge of JavaScript will definitely help you to get started quickly. Although JavaScript can be used for a lot of things, it shouldn’t be used for everything. Always remember to use the right tool for the job.
Thanks for reading, remember to share your opinion and thoughts in the comment section.
