Why Javascript???
Javascript has become one of the most dominant programming languages in the developing world! There are many reasons for this but some of the more obvious ones include: its high ease of use and ability to learn quickly, and its ability to create rich, very dynamic web apps in the fast paced world of device evolution. Javascript has so much potential that is already being realized by developers and companies worldwide and has so much more to come. The ability of Javascript to create the best user-experience possible while also also keeping up with the demands of the rapid development going on these days make it one of the superior languages available today. It is not only great for client-side development but in the past few years has become just as relevant in server-side development with the implementaion of node.js. Node.js receives more than 35,000 downloads per day and can be seen being used by millions of developers worldwide as well as many brand name companies evem including Microsoft! In the new age of technology we are in, the cloud has become one of the most important entities, javascript is swiftly gaining an important role in the cloud as well. Javascript has become so popular that some high school computer courses are now teaching it. Overall Javascript is a flexible language that is easy to learn and use but it is not perfect (as no coding languages are) and has its quirks like the rest of them that I will talk about next.
Benefits of Javascript
- Interactivity
- Flexibility
- Easy to learn
- Client-Side Development/Processing
- Inexpensive Development
Javascript is what can add interactivity to your site making it more interactive with the user. This can make your site more 'fun' to be on and more memorable than an otherwise static site.
Javascript can be used to code small interactions like a drop-down menu, or large ones like a chatroom or game.
Fairly easy to learn and is even being taught in high school computer classes.
Most browsers launch javascript on their own, making it very quick to load and execute.
Javascript can be written directly into a text editor or into the html without any special compilers or specialized software to launch the script.
Limitations of Javascript
- Readability
- Does not distinguish between Integers and float numbers
- Does not have multithreading
- Browser compatibility
- Cannot access web pages on a different domain
Javascript is not very semantic and when having multiple teams work on a project. Readability is key.
Because of this financial transactions seem like a scary thought
Although I read a few things where this is being worked on and a few ways to work around it ie. timeout()
Depending on your browser different browsers interpret Javascript differently and if you don't test your code on all different major browsers you could have a serious problem.
You cannot access web pages on a different domain using solely javascript. All of your pages have to be on the same domain based on the same origin policy
Is Javascript Right for You??
I know this question is burning through all of your minds right now! As you can see and from many mixed feelings that I have found, no language is perfect and Javascript is no exception. It is a very powerful language that is fairly easy to learn and inexpensive to develop, but like all programming languages it has many downfalls as well. The main limitations that I see are the readability issues as well as the browser compatibility issues. Unfortunately most people aren't up-to-date with their browsers and there are so many different ones to choose from that I have personally seen issues with it and I am sure they will continue to arise for years to come. With that aside I am a personal fan of javascript so far and am excited to learn how to use it more in-depth and feel that it is a very necessary language in the developing world today. Thanks for reading!