The battle of the programming languages is one that has been on for many years and I perceive it will not end. In considering one's preferred programming language, one must have explored other languages, considered their area of interest (machine learning, mobile/web development, etc), scalability, maintainability, performance, target platform and many other factors.
JavaScript is my preferred programming language. In this article, I'll highlight a few of the reasons for my decision.
Easy to learn
JavaScript is easy to pick up and has a natural feel to it. Being a higher-level language, it abstracts away most of the complex details of the machine so you can focus on learning how to program. You can also start coding with JavaScript straight from your browser, before proceeding to set up any development environment to perform more complex activities.
Wide-span of use
Originally, JavaScript could only be run on web browsers. However, due to its popularity and the need to reduce the number of languages/tools developers need to learn to accomplish a task, the need to expand its area of application became very eminent. JavaScript can now be used in areas such as IoT, frontend, desktop, backend, mobile, machine learning and game app development.
Dynamic Typed
Unlike its static-type counterparts (e.g. Java, C#), JavaScript does not demand you declare data types before using the variables. It is smart enough to deduce them and execute commands at runtime. This flexibility can pose several (security) threats which can, however, be managed using best practices and packages that address such concerns e.g. Joi for Node.js.
Community and resources
Due to its popularity, there are vast communities and resources available targeting beginner to expert level developers. In my opinion, there are more tech conferences that speak on JavaScript as a language or its libraries/frameworks than any other language.
Async processing
JavaScript handles requests asynchronously. That means it does not wait for returns on a request before receiving another request. Instead, it logs the requests and delivers the response based on the execution time of each request (a request that takes a shorter time will be processed and returned faster than a request that takes a longer time).
Evolution and innovation
JavaScript frameworks, libraries and packages are released much more frequently than any other language. This is mainly driven by the open-source community which anyone can be a part of.
Resources to get started
- The ultimate and free JavaScript resources
- List of my favorite JavaScript resources🚀
- Ultimate JavaScript Resources That Every Programmer Should Know!!
Closing remarks
If you don't know JavaScript, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and explore the resources above. Good luck!
Despite supporting JavaScript, I believe it is important should consider the purpose and requirements of a project before deciding a language to use.
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Ciao👋🏼