JavaScript vs Other Popular Languages of the 21st Century

The trends in the programming industry have changed so much in the past decade. One such evolution was seen in the web development industry. In the earlier days, web development originally just dealt with the development of web pages and websites for the intranet and internet. 

As time has passed, it has become more focused on creating complex and detailed web, mobile, and desktop applications. 

Since your webpage gives your clients and other businesses an idea of what your business is about, it has turned into a matter of prime importance.

How JavaScript Stepped Into the Programming World

The year was 1991 when the world wide web was first introduced. The first website that went live was CERN. 

It all started with a markup language called HTML. The purpose was to create a structure for numbers. It got revamped by its designers to create site structures but was too fragile and difficult to maintain.

By the time 1993 came around, the Mosaic web browser was released as the first browser with GUI access for everyone. Mosaic helped in the growth of the world wide web. In 1995, the scripting language was added to Navigator. Later, as a part of Navigator, JavaScript was released.

As of November 1996, JS was submitted to ECMA International. By 2005, Mozilla had joined ECMA International. This was the year JavaScript started to become the backbone for creating web applications. 

In 2008, Google Chrome was released with the V8 JavaScript engine. This was much faster than all web browsers at the time. 

While all this was happening, ECMAScript Edition 1 became ECMAScript 6 between 1995 and 2015.

How JavaScript Managed to Maintain Its Lead

When JavaScript first tested the waters, it was seen as an extra option added by Netscape. But, as time moved forward, developers noticed how futuristic its features really were. 

When you think about other languages, you need to know how unique JavaScript is.

Python

• Originally, JS was designed to support HTML pages and Python was designed to support servers from the command line. 
• The flexibility of parameter blocks for methods is offered by Python and not JavaScript.
• Where Python responds to function calls, JavaScript code responds to mouse clicks and keystrokes.
• Python libraries were built for analysis and data processing and JavaScript libraries were created for manipulating HTML in web browsers.

Java

• JavaScript is a scripting language and Java is a network-centric programming language. 
• Java needs to be a strongly typed language, while JavaScript is a weakly typed language.
• JavaScript is a cross-platform language, whereas Java is not. 
• Prior to execution on the client, Java needs to be compiled on the server whereas JavaScript is interpreted by the client end.
• JavaScript is a dynamic language and Java is a static language. 
• JavaScript aims on creating interactive web pages. 

C

• Where JS is compiled with the just-in-time compiler, C is compiled in advance. 
• JavaScript initially was embedded in web pages. Later, it helped in developing server applications developed through Node.js. And C is generally embedded in high-performance systems.
• JavaScript doesn’t work directly with computer memory, whereas C does. 
• In JS, users can juggle between multiple jobs, whereas C offers explicit control of threads.
• JavaScript is dynamically typed in comparison to C being typed statically.  
• Automatic handling of memory blocks is possible with JS and not C.
• Code needs to be recompiled while moving it into a different processor for C, while this is not the case for JavaScript.

JavaScript varies compared to some of the popular languages mentioned. It was built with a lot of forward-thinking. 

Here are the 2020 stats by Stack Overflow, where JavaScript has managed to be the top choice among developers. 

“Unsurprisingly, for the eighth year in a row, JavaScript has maintained its stronghold as the most commonly used programming language. Going further down the list, we also see moderate gains for TypeScript, edging out C in terms of popularity. Additionally, Ruby, once in the top 10 of this list as recently as 2017, has declined, being surpassed by newer, trendier technologies such as Go and Kotlin.” - Stack Overflow Most Commonly Used Program In 2020

Front-End and Backend Web Development

JavaScript gives developers the versatility to work with the backend & frontend. With it, you can even test website applications, webpages, and more. 

So, JS frameworks are tools that help you develop advanced applications in a smoother manner. 

Before, web developers relied on basic JS and jQuery. Now everything is very complex in the world of web development and hence there became a need for tools to match the cause. 

Here is a list of JS frameworks to help you take the load off:

1. React.js: Created in 2013, React.js is one of the most preferred tools to date. It creates interfaces that are user interactive where you get a speedy rendering. Here, only particular components are rendered instead of the entire page. Technically, it is a library, but it has shown real growth over the past year, which is why it is loved by everyone. With React.js, you get server-side rendering (SSR) and SEO support.

2. Vue.js: Launched initially in 2014, Vue.js is one of the easiest frameworks for anyone to learn. As a developer, the implementation of SPAs can be done efficiently using Vue.js. Again, it is a very popular framework as it offers two-way data binding similar to AngularJS. Like React, it even gives virtual DOM. With this, you get equal support for JS and TypeScript.

3. Meteor: Released in 2012, Meteor provides a ton of frontend & backend features for JS. It works for all the phases of software development while taking care of file concatenation, linking, and more. Now, it is used for real-time application development for well-known companies.

4. Express: Founded back in 2010, it is one of the most preferred back-end frameworks for JavaScript. This is due to its speed and minimalism. It is used to create web applications & APIs. The best part about it is, it is simple to learn and supports a lot of plugins.

Still Not Sold? 

Working on JavaScript gives you features beyond the static text. JS has all its features executed in real-time compared to HTML & CSS. This includes animated graphics, jukeboxes, interactive maps, etc. It is a great addition to CSS and the HTML Foundation. You won’t require a compiler for the setup. Instead, you create and connect your index.html and app.js, thereby getting a working prototype. The package managers provided allow you to share code between teams and are simplistic in terms of usage. The key selling point of JavaScript is definitely creating elements for HTML web pages and getting access to the elements from both the server and client end. You can get so many resources to learn JavaScript programming from scratch.

Coming to an End

JavaScript has managed to maintain its lead for eight consecutive years, and that speaks volumes. The versatility provided is still unmatched compared to other languages. Continuous development and backend accessibility with multiple domain growths are what makes it a top choice among developers. And as far as the future is concerned, it will continue to stay unmatched for a long time.