What is JavaScript? Geting Started with JavaScript Language

Some popular JavaScript frameworks include React, Angular, and Vue.js, while libraries like jQuery and Lodash offer a wide range of utility functions to simplify common programming tasks. JavaScript is a high-level, often just-in-time compiled language that conforms to the ECMAScript standard.[11] It has dynamic typing, prototype-based object-orientation, and first-class functions. It is multi-paradigm, supporting event-driven, functional, and imperative programming styles. It has application programming interfaces (APIs) for working with text, dates, regular expressions, standard data structures, and the Document Object Model (DOM).

what is javascript

For example, the V8 engine is a core component of the Node.js and Deno runtime systems. In 2012, jQuery was by far the most popular client-side library, used by over 75% of websites.[40] While still in widespread use, its popularity has been surpassed by newer libraries and frameworks. All major web browsers have a built-in JavaScript engine that executes the code on the user’s device. That said, JavaScript can be used to create servers, mobile applications, etc. What is even more exciting however is the functionality built on top of the client-side JavaScript language. Whether you’re just getting started with programming or want to level up by learning a new language, you can learn at your own pace from leading companies and universities on Coursera.

JavaScript Explained! – Video Tutorial

Keep in mind that Node-OS works best on the Linux operating systems since it’s built on top of the Linux kernel. Node.js is also lightweight enough to serve as a scalable tool for microservices, allowing you to develop a single app comprising small services with individual processes. Today, JavaScript has plenty of frameworks and libraries to simplify complex projects, such as AngularJS, jQuery, and ReactJS. In the meantime, Microsoft introduced its web browser called Internet Explorer 3 (IE 3) as a competitor to Netscape. However, IE featured its own JavaScript implementation called JScript.

what is javascript

With JavaScript, developers can perform a multitude of tasks, such as manipulating web page elements, validating form data, handling events, making HTTP requests, and much more. It also provides powerful APIs for working with multimedia elements, accessing device features like geolocation, and interacting with server-side resources. At its core, JavaScript is designed to enhance the user experience by enabling dynamic behavior on webpages. Unlike static HTML and CSS, JavaScript adds functionality and interactivity, allowing developers to create responsive web experiences.

What makes JavaScript unique?

Typically, you use JavaScript with HTML and CSS to enhance a web page’s functionality, such as validating forms, creating interactive maps, and displaying animated charts. The src attribute of the script tag allows you to apply a source for the JavaScript code. That reference is important because it notifies the browser to also fetch the content of script.js. python for javascript developers You might also hear the terms server-side and client-side code, specially in the context of web development. Client-side code is code that is run on the user’s computer — when a web page is viewed, the page’s client-side code is downloaded, then run and displayed by the browser. In this JavaScript module we are explicitly talking about client-side JavaScript.

  • However, modern JavaScript engines are commonly implemented as just-in-time compilers that compile JavaScript code to bytecode for improved performance.
  • It also provides powerful APIs for working with multimedia elements, accessing device features like geolocation, and interacting with server-side resources.
  • Errors may occur if JavaScript is loaded and run before the HTML and CSS that it is intended to modify.
  • While the statement is somewhat true, as mentioned, it can now run in different environments with Node.
  • Keep in mind that Node-OS works best on the Linux operating systems since it’s built on top of the Linux kernel.

Research job postings in your area to see what libraries and frameworks are being used. We use an if else statement to check how many times the button was clicked and display a different message based on how high the count number is. https://remotemode.net/ In this example, when the user clicks a button a message will display with the number of times the user clicked. When the count reaches a certain threshold, the message will change and become more sarcastic as the count rises.

JavaScript Basics

90% (if not more) of your webpages would be static, and you’d only have the dynamic changes like animations that CSS provides. JavaScript arrays are used to store multiple values in a single
variable. Here we’ll start actually looking at some code, and while doing so explore what actually happens when you run some JavaScript in your page. In this first article we will look at JavaScript from a high level, answering questions such as “what is it?”, and “what is it doing?”, and making sure you are comfortable with JavaScript’s purpose.

It saves them time and effort from having to code programming features from scratch. HTML and CSS are often called markup languages rather than programming languages, because they, at their core, provide markups for documents with very little dynamism. Here we are selecting a text paragraph (line 1), then attaching an event listener to it (line 3) so that when the paragraph is clicked, the updateName() code block (lines 5–8) is run. The updateName() code block (these types of reusable code block are called “functions”) asks the user for a new name, and then inserts that name into the paragraph to update the display.

Popular applications like Visual Studio Code, Slack, and Discord are built using Electron, showcasing the power and potential of JavaScript in the desktop application space. The web browser receives the JavaScript code in its original text form and runs the script from that. However, JavaScript is still considered an interpreted language, since the compilation is handled at run time, rather than ahead of time. JavaScript has come a long way since its inception, transforming from a simple scripting language into a full-fledged programming language capable of tackling a wide range of development tasks. As its ability to enhance interactivity and dynamic behavior on web pages has become more sophisticated, JavaScript has quickly become the go-to language for front-end development.

  • In July 2008, these disparate parties came together for a conference in Oslo.
  • In this aspect, JavaScript is very different from another language called Java.
  • With JavaScript, developers can perform a multitude of tasks, such as manipulating web page elements, validating form data, handling events, making HTTP requests, and much more.
  • It includes a parser to analyze the code, a compiler to convert it into machine code, and an interpreter to run the compiled code.
  • This differs from a server-side language, in which the server processes the script before sending it to the browser.
  • When considering Java versus JavaScript, you’ll notice a few key differences.
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