Getting Started With JavaScript

SUMMARY:

• Getting started with JavaScript, starting out with the introduction into JavaScript, it’s uses, importance, advantages and it’s limitations. As the class goes on, I will go into the tutorial proper. That is by next article.
• JavaScript is one of the most popular programming language in the world and this has made it to be very important in web development.
• What is a programming language?
  A programming language is a set of grammatical rules for a computer to carry out a task.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript abbreviated as “JS” is a high level scripting language that was created by Brendan Eich in 1995 during his time at Netscape Communications. Note, JavaScript is not the same thing as Java ( I almost got that confused when I started out learning programming). It was conceived as a scripting language for the Web for both client and server side. It was then quickly re-positioned as a Web “companion” for Java. This was a marketing strategy that was used to boasts sales for JavaScript because Java was heavily marketed and was gaining popularity. Hence the name JavaScript.

For front-end and back-end software developers, JavaScript is important for them because it allows them to do a lot. JavaScript is also used in websites to provide various forms of interactivity and cleverness.

Importance of JavaScript

1. JavaScript helps to validate the client – This is really important to verify any user input before submitting it to the server and JavaScript plays an important role in validating those inputs at front-end itself.
2. DOM Manipulation – DOM’s are Document Object Models which utilize JavaScript to manipulate an HTML page easily. This helps in adding and deleting any HTML tags very easily using JavaScript and modify your HTML to change its look and feel based on different devices and requirements.
3. JavaScript can be used to raise dynamic pop-ups on the web pages to give different types of notifications to website visitors.
4. JavaScript provides Ajax library which helps in loading back-end data while you are doing some other processing. This really gives an amazing experience to your website visitors.
5. JavaScript also provides the facility of creating presentations which gives website look and feel.
6. Node.js is built on Chrome’s JavaScript run time for building fast and scalable network applications. This is an event based library which helps in developing very sophisticated server applications including Web Servers.

There is so much to talk about JavaScript that can’t be completed here. You are advised to search in for more.

Some Limitations of JavaScript

1. One cannot use JavaScript to read or write files.
2. It is not possible to use JavaScript for networking applications.
3. JavaScript doesn’t have any multi-threading or multiprocessor capabilities.
4. JavaScript is sometimes interpreted differently by different browsers.
5. The primary issue of using JavaScript is search engines. While Google tries to execute and understand JavaScript, client-side code is still not fully search engine friendly. A web application that depends on too much JavaScript can make it difficult for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search engines require content to interpret and rank your web pages, and too much JavaScript renders code and nothing is readable for bots.
6. No matter how much fast JavaScript interpret, JavaScript DOM is slow and will be a never fast rendering with HTML.

Thank you for reading. Please look for the follow up article in the next issue!