According to TIOBE Index for May 2021, JavaScript keeps its position as the seventh most popular programming language in the world. It has its followers and haters, but we can’t doubt the maturity of the JS confirmed by its stable position in the IT development arena. In this article, we will focus on the strengths of JavaScript and figure out why this language is worth studying.
First of all, let’s say what JS is. In a nutshell, it is the basic tool for frontend development together with HTML and CSS. HTML is responsible for the structure of a web page, its contents, while CSS deals with styles and visual embodiment of the elements. JavaScript in its turn is used to make a page interactive, to make all the elements respond to the user.
What can JavaScript do?
- User interaction. A user taps the button and receives a reaction, fills in the form, and gets a note about incorrect data. All those request-reply operations happen due to JS.
- Calculation. Any kind of mathematical calculation can be performed on a web page because of JS.
- Validation. JavaScript can validate data without reloading a page and even without the Internet connection, which significantly reduces the server load.
- Styling. With a certain event, the appearance of some elements on the page may be changed. Some HTML tags or attributes can also be added.
- Animation. If you want to have an unusual web page, add any kind of graphic elements or moving objects. All those are possible thanks to JS and your site will be a remarkable one.
Those were the abilities of JavaScript in brief. Now let’s turn to the reasons for the popularity of this language.
Ecosystem and community
If you are hesitating upon the difficulties you might have while studying JS, we have something to calm you down. JavaScript has a mature community, thousands of issues have already been discussed on sites like Stack Overflow and the solutions have been already found. The open-source codes can easily be found, analyzed, and used as study materials.
Another useful possibility for the JS developers is represented by a wide variety of frameworks and libraries of ready-made components. The frameworks offer sets of tools that can be built into any web application or become a complete application themselves.
We would like to stop here for a while. The choice of the JS libraries is stunning, but not all the solutions are steadily supported by its developers. Here is the list of requirements for a JS library worthy of attention:
- large number of components
- continuous development
- proper documentation
- responsive support
- short learning curve
- compatibility
As an example that fulfills all the above-mentioned requirements, we can mention the Webix JS UI library. It contains more than 100 widgets, that are turnkey components ready to work on any device and in any environment. Besides, the team is regularly releasing complex widgets, that can be used as complete SPA applications. Those widgets deal with data processing, files managing, projects managing, creating diagrams, and so on. The forum and technical support assist with any issues occurring. Documentation is full and the video tutorials facilitate the induction process. Besides, Webix offers a nice blog containing customers’ showcases, reviews of the new features, and other interesting tech news.
Ubiquity
One more argument in favor of the idea that JavaScript is here to stay is its ubiquity. JavaScript is currently used for the development of front end, back end, Android/iOS applications, desktop solutions. It is so due to V8, which is a JS engine. This engine is developed by the Chromium Project for Google Chrome and Chromium web browsers. It’s an interpreter that performs the JS code. The engine is written in C/C++, so it can run on embedded systems. Thus, JS is not likely to lose its popularity thanks to such universal exploitation of its possibilities.
Speed
The above-mentioned V8 produces an easily optimized code. It means, the code execution is carefully followed, those bits of execution, which are not used, are postponed, while those regularly used, are optimized. Thus, the whole process is becoming more rational and productive. Besides, JavaScript is a client-side script, so it significantly saves the time required to connect to the server. One more thing is that JavaScript improves the performance of websites and web applications by reducing the code length. The codes contain less overhead with the use of various built-in functions for loops, DOM access, etc.
Conclusion
Having mentioned the peculiar features of the JavaScript programming language, we stick to the idea that it’s not going to disappear in the nearest future. New tools continue appearing in the open-source and the knowledge of JS is an advantage in the IT developers’ job requirements. Besides, it’s the language of the websites, and with all the Corona hysteria we all seem to be living online for quite some time already. So if you are considering the idea of learning this language, you should give it a try!