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Table of Contents
Is JavaScript a programming language?
Yes! As the name implies — JavaScript is a scripting language. Traditionally, scripting languages are executed one line at a time by an interpreter, so a computer program that directly executes the written instructions. This stands in opposition to compiled languages, such as C++, for instance, which must run through a compiler before they can be translated into binary code.
Currently, it is possible to run JS with a just-in-time compiler, too. It compiles the code on the fly and caches the result to speed up the subsequent runs. Still, JavaScript remains a scripting language.
As a programming language, JavaScript is:
- High-level – high-level languages resemble natural languages or mathematical notation, which helps simplify programming, including code updates and extensions.
- Dynamic – as a dynamic language, JS uses dynamically-written code to quickly implement functionality to an application, in a way that enhances programming efficiency.
- Prototype-based – JavaScript’s structure is based on prototypical objects, which can be cloned and reused as templates to build new objects. Prototypes also enable building associations between objects in JS. Copying and modifying objects are more direct than in class-based languages such as Java, which simplifies coding and reduces the programmer’s cognitive load.
- Multi-paradigm – JS supports event-driven, functional, and imperative programming styles, which makes it a multi-paradigm language. This results in its flexibility and enables different approaches to development.
Is JavaScript open source?
Open source applies to software, and JS is a programming language, so no, JS is not open source. However, it’s an open standard that conforms to ECMAScript specification. Anyone can use it to develop their own implementations.
For JS to produce any output, we need interpreter engines, each of which is subject to its own license agreement. For example, Google’s V8, Facebook’s Hermes, or Mozilla’s Rhino, they are all open source. By contrast, Jerryscript is licensed under the Apache License.
The difference between JavaScript library and framework
While interpreters are essential to generate JS output, frameworks and libraries are optional but highly recommended. These are prewritten components that your JavaScript team can use to build robust, highly-performant code faster. They offer significant advantages to your business, too, from reducing code size and complexity to speeding up the deployment of your project.
Sometimes, e.g., in the case of React, it’s hard to categorically determine whether a given resource is a framework or a library. Nevertheless, in theory, the two notions are distinct.
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Framework
A framework is a software platform that lays the groundwork for programmers to develop applications. You can compare it to a house plan or blueprint that needs to be populated with input before the construction begins.
Same with a software framework; it is pre-equipped with code for predefined classes, workflows, and functions, but needs specific details to be supplied by the programmer before it can run a complete code.
Popular JS frameworks include Angular, Bootstrap, and Vue.js.
Jump to this section to learn more about JS frameworks.
Library
A library, like a framework, refers to a reusable piece of code; however, libraries are usually focused on delivering a specific functionality/component, and give developers greater freedom over the code structure than frameworks. Coming back to the house metaphor: libraries can be compared to ready-made pieces of furniture or appliances that we choose to make our home complete.
The main difference between a library and a framework is that a library contains snippets of ready-made code that needs to be still arranged by the developer into a workflow. Frameworks, on the other hand, are in charge of running workflows. Additionally, one framework can utilize multiple libraries.
There are dozens of JS libraries available, with DOJO, jQuery, and React topping popularity charts.
Java |
JavaScript |
| Developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995. | Developed by Brendan Eich of Netscape and released in 1995. |
| It is a general-purpose programming language based on C-style syntax. | It is a web-based scripting language, also closely-related to C-style syntax. |
| Java requires code compilation to check data types. | JS can run without compilers as data types are checked dynamically. |
| Java is a class-based language. | JS is prototype-based. |
| You can run Java on any operating system with a Java virtual machine. | JavaScript is usually run in a browser and cooperates with CSS & HTML, but it can be also run using runtimes outside the browser. |
| As a general-purpose language, Java can be used to develop applications of any type. However, it has some preferred applications. | JS is mainly used to build web applications, and its primary purpose is to create dynamic, interactive pages, web and mobile apps, and fully-featured GUIs, but it's not restricted to that use only. |
In the introduction, we have already covered some of the key JavaScript applications. Here, we will add some more details about each use of the language.
Adding interactive website components
JavaScript was made to create and control dynamic website content, and this task remains its primary application. A vast majority of developers use JS to enhance Internet web pages with interactive features such as:
- dynamic forms
- animated graphics
- autocomplete suggestions
- photo slideshows
If we said that everyone uses JS on their website, this wouldn’t be much of an overstatement. JS powers over 90% of all global sites, including those of Microsoft, Facebook, Walmart, Uber, PayPal, Google, Quora, and LinkedIn alongside millions of others.
Thanks to JavaScript, you can take a stroll down the world’s most iconic shopping displays, without moving from your sofa
Creating web and mobile applications
The next most popular use of JavaScript is for web and mobile app creation. In addition to battle-tested web development frameworks like Vue.js, Angular, React, or Ember.js, JS also equips developers with mobile-first toolkits such as React Native, Ionic, jQuery, or PhoneGap for fast and cost-effective mobile development.
Besides, JS is well-suited for web and mobile app development as it heavily focuses on UX/UI and design enhancement. This results in distinctive, highly-accessible interfaces. Another useful JS advantage is the fact that it supports multi-platform development, making devs capable of using the same code to deploy your apps to multiple platforms and OSs.
Rendering 3D graphics
By adding depth to websites and apps, 3D design elements create a greater sense of realism and boost user engagement with your product. However, to deliver the desired outcome, 3D features need to be skillfully implemented.
Modern JS comes with numerous 3D libraries that make it easier for developers to embed cutting-edge effects into your code and build mesmerizing user experiences. By leveraging these resources, developers don’t need to create exceptional 3D experiences from the ground up but can work with existing code snippets to simplify and speed up development. The list of JavaScript 3D engines goes forever, with Three.js and Babylon.js leading the charge.
You may get a sample of Three.js mind-blowing 3D capabilities on the corporate FACC site
Or take a virtual tour of Google’s Cloud City
Building web servers
NodeJS, a JavaScript cross-platform runtime environment, allows JS developers to build scalable server-side network applications and create HTTP servers that serve content to web users. The tool offers easy scalability utilizing nodes added on top of the existing system. It is also well-known for providing robust performance and efficient code execution, thanks to features such as event-driven architecture and concurrent request handling.
Furthermore, Node.js is highly extensible, giving your developers the freedom to customize and extend the code with ease as requested. All of these characteristics, paired with the full-stack capabilities of the environment, make it a suitable choice for web server creation.
Combining JavaScript and IoT
The Internet of Things and Javascript make a perfect match for several reasons. First of all, JS supports cross-platform development, which allows it to be used with connected devices. As an event-driven technology, JS allows IoT sensors and hardware pieces to respond to data as it is generated, without putting too much strain on the memory or the user to clean up the memory resources.
Besides, JavaScript is compatible with a wide range of hardware IoT solutions, including Espruino, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino. Developers working with IoT also benefit from libraries, frameworks, and packages that facilitate the development of robust IoT solutions (e.g., Johnny-five, Cylon.js, IoTjs, etc., all specifically designed for IoT). The companies that leverage the combined powers of JS and connected devices to deliver IoT platforms and applications include IBM, Intel, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce.
Making games with JavaScript
A versatile programming language, JS applies to games development, where the code written in JavaScript is rendered on HTML5 canvas. It targets multiple platforms and supports developers with a rich choice of frameworks and libraries for web and mobile game development. Some of them, like Three.js, can also be used for other purposes, e.g., 3D graphics design.
That said, for now, JS games tend to be rather short and basic, with relatively simple controls. To a large extent, this results from the browser limitations. Therefore, as browser technology develops, JavaScript’s role in gaming is likely to grow.
A retro-inspired 2D RPG, CrossCode is an example of a game entirely based on JS
Using JavaScript for blockchain
Asynchronous, parallel programming paradigm allows JavaScript to handle thousands of concurrent transactions so characteristic of blockchain deployments. Blockchain developers mostly make use of JavaScript Ethereum Web3.js libraries to connect and interact with other Ethereum nodes and smart contracts using HTTP, IPC, or WebSocket. They also frequently use the language to work with Hyperledger Fabric, a robust framework for developing secure, transparent and validated blockchain services. JavaScript also provides ample resources for implementations dealing strictly with cryptocurrencies, to perform cryptographic operations.
Machine learning and JavaScript
Though seemingly an unusual choice, JavaScript is frequently used in AI and machine learning projects, side by side Python. As deep learning and natural language processing engines are increasingly moving from server side to the web browser, new possibilities arise for JS developers.
Because of the availability of rich sets of up-to-date data, the web browser environment is ideal for deep learning deployments. JS, with its constantly evolving ecosystem, provides the tooling indispensable to bring the power of machine intelligence to multiple platforms and devices, with reduced costs of server infrastructure, without the need for installation, and with the possibility to run models offline.
Which JavaScript framework to choose for your project?
There are over twenty JavaScript frameworks to choose from, most of which streamlining client-side implementations, with some supporting backend JS development.
We don’t recommend choosing a framework based solely on what skills your dev team has at hand or what your programmers feel comfortable with. It’s your concept or product that should drive the decision about tools, and not the other way round.
Therefore, seek to assemble a team of remote experts proficient in the framework that matches your exact expectations. And if you struggle, reach out to us. We will point you to the right person with the right skills ;)
Here’s how top JavaScript frameworks stack up with web developers
To help you make up your mind and choose the best framework for your next project, we’ve come up with a little comparison. You’ll find out the crucial details about each framework and learn about its applications, functionalities, and top pros and cons.
If exploring frameworks doesn’t fire you with enthusiasm, you can skip directly to the summary table for a quick comparison table.
Angular
Best for: scalable Single Page Applications (SPA)
Before we get down to details, let’s have a glance at Angular’s history. AngularJS was originally a JavaScript-based framework developed in 2009 by Google engineers to simplify web application development. In 2014, Google rewrote it in TypeScript and published it as Angular, which now serves as a blanket term for version 2 and higher.
The differences between the earliest AngularJS and later Angular versions are monumental. Not only was the initial framework rewritten in TypeScript, but its entire architecture pattern changed from model-view-controller to component-based, where each element of UI can be treated as a separate component in a hierarchy.
The new Angular was primarily designed as a comprehensive framework to develop Single Page Applications (SPAs). SPAs are web pages that interact with a browser and don’t require any reload during use. Examples of SPAs include Twitter or Gmail. On top of these changes, Angular v2 was conceived with the mobile-first approach in mind, to enable efficient, platform-independent mobile app development.
Angular’s upgrade has caused a rift among web developers, as the vast scope of changes has made the original and consecutive versions completely non-compatible. Since Angular v2 and its followers appeared, the number of AngularJS developers has been gradually diminishing. Even so, some engineers still make use of the original framework, reluctant to transition to the upgraded versions, as they involve embracing an entirely new set of skills.
Today, Angular stands out from other frameworks thanks to its architecture, which allows building sophisticated and powerful UIs with rich interaction capabilities. Self-sufficient components can be reused across different sections of applications, and their decoupling makes the code easier to maintain. TypeScript is another defining feature of Angular, which helps maintain clear and error-free code, especially in enterprise-grade applications.
While AngularJS was troubled by lagging performance, its successors are packed with CPU performance-enhancing features for higher application performance. The latest versions also include various optimization techniques to optimize loading times.
Overall, Angular boasts an immense collection of GitHub repositories (more than 650K!) and over 2 MILLION commits. About one-third of the web developers program with the framework, which is quite a large pool. What’s interesting, however, is that only half of them enjoy working with Angular, with the other half dreading its complexity, steep learning curve, and bloated architecture.
Pros:
- Led and maintained by Google
- Immense, though fragmented, community
- Highly-reusable, maintainable code
- Mobile-first support
- Scalable and reliable applications
- Platform-agnostic
- High performance and quick load
Cons:
- Hard to learn
- Marked differences between consecutive versions
- Requires the knowledge of TypeScript
- Verbose, complex code
- The large size of applications
- Limited search engine options
- Inefficient for small, lightweight apps
Maturity: Version 2 published in 2014, the latest, ninth, update released in Feb 2020. Angular (all versions) is the second most popular web framework, with over 653K GitHub repositories. Nevertheless, it’s also among the least liked and most dreaded developer tools.
Used by: BMW (price calculator, dealer finder), Google (landing pages for Marketing Platform, Digital Garage, and other projects), Forbes (website), Microsoft (Office Home website), PayPal (UI elements), Crunchbase (website); more companies appear here.
Backbone.js
Best for: simple SPAs with custom interfaces
The first version of Backbone.js was published in 2010 to give developers “the freedom to design the full experience of their web application.” This framework (sometimes classified as a library) stands out with simplicity and a gentle learning curve. The free and open source tool has a RESTful JSON interface and is based on the model–view–presenter (MVP) application paradigm.
One of the defining features of Backbone.js is that all server-side functionalities must be passed through the API. This helps developers trim down the code and simplify the delivery of complex web functions. Backbone works on the principle of providing the minimal set of models, collections, and user interfaces, leaving the choice of extensions to the developer’s discretion. It also has a clear, organized structure that facilitates the creation of elegant, readable code.
Although developers working with Backbone appreciate its simple usability modules and organized format, the tool is not immensely popular. Less than 8% of web developers know the framework, which has 24K repositories on GitHub.
Pros:
- Lightweight, straightforward and highly compact structure
- Provides a collection of basic building blocks
- Allows flexibility to build personalized apps
- Leads to neatly-organized, maintainable code
- It is fairly easy to learn
Cons:
- Relatively few resources and modest source code
- Development of large-scale, complex apps requires time and research
Maturity: First published in 2010. Currently, it has over 24K GitHub repositories, with more than 576K commits; ca. 8% of web developers use it.
Used by: Trello app, Uber website, Basecamp calendar, Airbnb (mobile app), Verizon
Ember.js
Best for: enterprise-grade, dashboard-like applications
Much less popular than Angular or React, Ember.js is an open source model-view-controller (MVC) JavaScript framework, initially released in 2011 by Yehuda Katz. It is intended to provide a complete tool stack for developing ‘ambitious’ (i.e., robust and scalable) web applications.
As an MVC framework, Ember divides the underlying logic into three self-contained but interconnected layers. By abstracting the data model from the controller and view elements, Ember.js enables parallel, asynchronous development where one team is working, e.g., on the interface look and feel. Another takes care of business logic. This results in rapid software development and simple code maintenance.
Additionally, Ember supports two-way data binding: any updates in the model are immediately reflected in the view, and vice versa. The framework also offers its own command-line interface to create, build, and test the code fast, as well as an inspector tool for debugging applications. An essential advantage of Ember is its standardized structure, which translates to more streamlined development and stable, performant applications.
The fact that only about 8% of web developers regularly use Ember places the framework on the niche side. Nevertheless, the tool has many prominent names among its users, which proves its value in the development of enterprise-grade web apps.
Pros:
- Powerful templates to create gorgeous UIs
- Own CLI packed with a standard file and directory structure
- Two-way data binding
- Support for backward compatibility
- Inspector tool enabling easier debugging
Cons:
- Declining popularity trend over the last few years
- Not much room for personalization
- Doesn’t go well with small-scale projects
Maturity: Initial release in December 2011, with a first stable release in 2015.
Used by: Apple Music, Adidas Runtastic, Groupon, TED, Microsoft, Zendesk
React
Best for: high-performance, interactive websites, cross-platform mobile app development
According to the official website, ReactJS is a library. However, the resource is so powerful and fully-featured that it is often classified as a framework (even Stack Overflow does it). So let’s pop it in this category.
A long-time industry favorite React gives us plenty of reasons to be loved. This Facebook child emerged in 2013, taking off immediately as a powerful tool for the development of large, very dynamic applications. As a declarative framework, React ensures readable, scalable code that is easy to debug and maintain. Following the ‘learn once, write everywhere’ principle means that developers don’t need to rewrite almost any code to provide support for different devices or OSs.
The tool’s significant strength comes from the separation of data and presentation layers, virtual DOM, and modular, reusable components. These inherent features of React help save development time and simplify upgrades, as well as to update the view in web applications faster in case of any changes. Additionally, as React is not tied to a specific technology stack, it can be combined with other frameworks.
Every third developer knows React, and over 70% of JS developers have worked with the tool and are willing to use it in the future. React’s tremendous popularity is well-reflected in the mind-boggling number of GitHub repos — over 1.4 million!
Pros:
- The most popular JS framework of all
- Robust documentation and abundant resources
- Immense developer pool
- Led by Facebook developers
- Reusable code components
- Easily integrated with other frameworks and libraries
- The continuous evolution of the tool
- Rapid and efficient development
Cons:
- React requires a vast assembly of build tools
- It is not a full framework, so incompatibilities may occur
- May be too bloated for smaller projects
- Might be difficult to grasp for junior developers
Maturity: Since its release in 2013, React has become the most used and adored JS framework, loved by 75% of developers.
Used by: Slack, Twitter, Netflix (Gibbon platform), Facebook, Khan Academy, CodeAcademy, Dropbox, Yahoo, and many more
React is the second most popular web toolkit
Svelte
Best for: updating or replacing legacy web apps, small and fast websites and applications
As a component JS framework, Svelte bears some resemblance to React and Vue. However, it runs at the pre-build time, using its own compiler to convert components into imperative code that updates the DOM. Doing so results in nimble, performant code that provides web apps with an incredible speed of loading.
In addition to that, Svelte is also reactive; whenever the application state changes, the user-facing view is updated accordingly. Without virtual DOM and boilerplate code (large chunks of code that reappear in different sections and bloat an app), its syntax is simplified and compact, positively affecting development speed and app or website performance.
The framework (or a compiler, as some prefer to see it) adheres closely to HTML, which makes it more understandable and user-oriented. On top of that, scope styling makes custom CSS syntax and extra extensions redundant.
Pros:
- Resolves some issues of former frameworks
- Performance boost
- A readable and compact syntax
- Quick to pick up for rookie developers
- Very positive feedback from the tech community
- Appropriate for bringing simple websites and apps fast to market
Cons:
- A relatively new tool known by less than 7% of web developers
- Lack of tooling and third-party components may require custom coding
- Low level of business adoption so far
Maturity: First released in 2016, it is one of the latest JS frameworks. Only 8K GitHub repositories, with 108K commits.
Used by: Bloomberg, Nesta, Spotify, SEMrush, New York Times
We already mentioned (probably a few times by now;) that JavaScript is without equal in terms of popularity. In fact, it is unique in many ways. A dynamically typed, interpreted, and predominantly client-side scripting language, it powers the web, unlike any other technology.
Bearing in mind JS’s singularity, we will nevertheless endeavor to draw a comparison between JavaScript and dominant programming languages, focusing on critical characteristics, such as speed and cost of development, versatility, and performance.
When it comes to popularity, JavaScript is beyond comparison
JavaScript vs. Python
JavaScript and Python share quite a few similarities. As high-level, interpreter, and dynamically-typed languages, both enable fast iterations and allow developers to add and update application features quickly. The two languages also enjoy a massive following due to robust performance, extensive tooling and library support, and simplicity. When it comes to applications, Python is a general-purpose coding language heavily used in deep learning, ML, image processing, and data analytics projects. It can also build a web app backend.
- Speed of development: draw
- Cost of development: draw
- Performance: draw
- Versatility: draw
- Developers’ pool: draw
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: draw
- Who wins: The two are neck and neck in all categories.
JavaScript vs. PHP
Even though PHP is past its prime, developers still rely on it for the backend development of their web apps. The language is suitable for other applications. Nevertheless, web development takes precedence. Quite often, PHP and JS work in tandem, where the former on the server supports the latter on the client side.
PHP interpreters usually outdo those for JavaScript in performance, mainly on account of their maturity. The total cost of project delivery in PHP also tends to be lower than in JS’s case. The PHP developer count exceeds 5.5 million specialists. Still, that’s half of JS’ community size; besides, the group of PHP experts is likely to be slowly dwindling.
- Speed of development: JavaScript
- Cost of development: PHP
- Performance: PHP
- Versatility: JavaScript
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: JavaScript wins when it comes to skills accessibility, development speed, and variety of use cases it supports. However, PHP might be a more suitable choice for price-sensitive projects.
JavaScript vs. Ruby
A general-purpose scripting language, Ruby owes popularity mainly to the Ruby on Rails framework for building websites and web apps. Even so, it is also extensively used for the creation of sophisticated programming toolings, such as platforms for mobile app development and package management applications. Thus, Ruby beats JS in terms of versatility.
The main benefit of the language is that it’s geared towards ‘programmer happiness,’ focusing on simplicity, productivity, and time efficiency. This is possible thanks to the abundance of tools that facilitate and accelerate the coding experience. Ruby, as such, doesn’t score very high when it comes to app performance. However, it gains a massive boost with a lightweight interpreter, mruby, frequently leveraged in high-performance applications.
- Speed of development: Ruby
- Cost of development: draw
- Performance: draw
- Versatility: Ruby
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: draw
- Who wins: Ruby, when properly implemented, has a certain speed and versatility advantage over JS. Still, it has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to community size.
JavaScript vs. Dart
Developed by Google, Dart is an object-oriented, class-based programming language for delivering apps on multiple platforms. Even though it’s still considered niche (only 4% of developers use it), Dart was the fastest-growing language on GitHub between 2018 and 2019. The surge in Dart’s popularity is attributed to the emergence of Flutter, Google’s UI toolkit for cross-platform app development. Besides the Flutter framework, the usage of Dart remains insignificant.
- Speed of development: draw
- Cost of development: Dart
- Performance: draw
- Versatility: JavaScript
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: The two languages draw level in terms of development speed and app performance. Dart tends to be more cost-efficient. At the same time, JavaScript beats it in the scope of applications and business and community support.
JavaScript vs. C++
Created in 1985, C++ is one of the first programming languages with a few compelling advantages over JavaScript, including versatility, reliability, and speed. Developers use it to create GUI-based desktop apps, operating systems, database software, enterprise applications, browsers, compilers, and libraries, among other applications. C++ is also extensively used for developing computer games.
Despite these benefits, the language mostly appears in projects that require strong performance and ultra-low latency. That is because of the steep learning curve and complexity, which prompt many beginners to give up on their efforts to master the language. Finding a reliable and experienced C++ developer takes much more time than hiring a skilled JS expert (or a Python engineer, for scientific computing projects). Mainly for that reason, companies go with C++ only if there’s no alternative.
- Speed of development: JavaScript
- Cost of development: draw
- Performance: C++
- Versatility: C++
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: C++ scores higher than JS on performance and range of applications. Nevertheless, it trails behind with development speed, and cannot dream of the extensive support that JavaScript has both on the developers’ and business’ side.
JavaScript vs. C#
Microsoft created C# in opposition to Java as a primary technology for enterprise-grade software. Compiled into an intermediate form (IL) to be run by the just-in-time compiler, it offers much higher performance than the interpreted JavaScript language. C# has varied applications, from Windows apps to third-party web apps.
The availability of Blazor, a client-side UI framework, and WebAssembly standard makes C# one of the very few technologies apart from JS for the creation of web frontends. It’s estimated that over 30% of developers know C#. However, they mostly come from an enterprise background. Using agile development practices with C# is doable, though uncommon.
- Speed of development: JavaScript
- Cost of development: C#
- Performance: C#
- Versatility: draw
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: C# beats JS on performance and cost-efficiency. However, it cannot keep up with JavaScript’s immense following and wide-spread adoption among startups and tech organizations.
JavaScript vs. Rust vs. Go
While Rust and Golang emerged from completely different backgrounds, they share an array of similarities. Rust is a multi-paradigm programming language originally developed by Mozilla as an advanced extension of machine learning languages. Currently, it is predominantly used to build in-house and OS software and infrastructure/DevOps tools. It also retains broad application in gaming development, as well as AI, ML, and VR projects. Rust may be used in the frontend, as well as the backend of web apps.
Golang came into being in 2007, created by Google, to streamline building software infrastructure. Today, developers use Golang for building large corporate systems and robust, scalable network servers. The application of Go in web development is also increasing.
Both Rust and Go are statically-typed languages notable for their remarkable speed, efficiency, and concurrency. At the same time, they aren’t all that easy to master, which impacts the developers’ pool size and availability. Less than 9% of developers use Go, while slightly more than 5% know Rust. Additionally, as relatively new technologies when compared to JavaScript, Rust and Go still need time to mature to offer maximum potential.
- Speed of development: draw
- Cost of development: Rust & Go
- Performance: Rust & Go
- Versatility: Rust & Go
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: High performance, economical Rust and Go languages triumph over JavaScript in several categories, but finding reliable developers for these technologies may be troublesome.
JavaScript vs. Java
Java was designed as a multi-platform technology, ready to support not only desktop software but also mobile apps (remember Java Applets?). Currently, the language’s scope has diminished, and developers use it mainly for web backend and Windows apps.
As a compiled language, Java tends to be faster than JS. It also wins over JavaScript in-app performance, security, and robustness. Nevertheless, startups and fast-paced organizations rarely use Java on account of its low and cumbersome development speed. These downsides of Java also contribute to the fact that every second developer loathes working with the language.
- Speed of development: JavaScript
- Cost of development: Java
- Performance: Java
- Versatility: draw
- Developers’ pool: JavaScript
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: JavaScript, by a narrow win. It outperforms Java in development speed, community size, and popularity. Java generally offers more robust performance and greater cost-efficiency, while the two languages are equally versatile.
JavaScript vs. Kotlin
Appointed the technology of choice for Android development, Kotlin is a modern statically typed programming language created by Google as a remedy for Java’s shortages. Therefore, it takes what’s best after Java, while reducing the size of the boilerplate code.
The simplicity, efficiency, and flexibility of Kotlin make it developers’ favorite choice for mobile app development. However, JavaScript still offers comparable speed and cost of development, yet it’s far more commonly used. It’s also worth remembering that while Kotlin supports web backend and frontend development, over 60% of software created in the language are Android apps.
- Speed of development: draw
- Cost of development: draw
- Performance: Kotlin
- Versatility: JavaScript
- Developers’ pool: draw
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: JavaScript
- Who wins: Kotlin is picking up steam, outshining JS in performance. Even so, this proves too little to take over. As a more versatile language, JavaScript is favored by growth-minded companies.
JavaScript vs. TypeScript
Technically, TypeScript is a subset of JavaScript, with some added features, the most significant of which is optional static typing (as opposed to JS’s original dynamic typing). This feature has made it way easier for developers to build JS-based apps that can scale.
While JavaScript’s primary goal was to enhance HTML pages with interactive components, TypeScript was looking to make JS development more efficient. As a result, developers can choose between pure JavaScript flavor that offers coding speed and agility in small, simple projects, and TypeScript to efficiently deliver distributed, complex code.
- Speed of development: draw
- Cost of development: draw
- Performance: draw
- Versatility: draw
- Developers’ pool: draw
- Popularity among startups and tech companies: draw
- Who wins: It’s a nip and tuck. The choice is determined mainly by project size and complexity.
With more than 12 million developers actively using JavaScript, the language maintains its position as the most commonly used web development technology. From just-in-time compilation, through object-orientation, to concurrency, there are plenty of reasons why JavaScript has captured developers’ hearts. But how does the choice of JS impact a project? To answer that question, we’ve prepared a list of core pros and cons of JavaScript from the business perspective.
JavaScript advantages
A mature and widely-used technology, JavaScript brings myriad advantages to the business table. The most notable of them are listed below.
Time-to-market acceleration
Thanks to structured and flexible syntax, JavaScript code is relatively easy to learn, write, and update, which positively impacts project delivery timeframes. The language comes with an abundance of ready-made tools, libraries, and solutions that prevent developers from reinventing the wheel and allow them to step up the pace. Additionally, the high-level abstraction of JS from the device enables automation of significant features in a way that further simplifies and speeds up development.
Versatile applications
Initially created to enable interactive web pages, JavaScript is now a full-stack technology, embedded in a variety of software systems. The availability of backend and frontend tools and frameworks means that developers are not restricted to using JS solely for dynamic websites, but may leverage it in non-browser applications, such as IoT software, VR experiences, or mobile apps.
Rich interfaces
The primary goal of JS was to revitalize web pages with dynamic content, and most websites continue to use the language to that aim. JavaScript boosts user engagement with interactive components, such as forms, slides, mouse events, user inputs, and drag & drops.
High-speed advantage
As a language executed on the client-side rather than on the website’s server, JavaScript isn’t slowed down by calls to the backend. It also doesn’t require compilation, all of which results in a seamless, high-speed user experience.
Trustworthiness and industry approval
JavaScript is the most popular technology for client-side web development. Nearly all existing web pages utilize it in some shape or form. The language finds use across all industries and sectors and is equally trusted by new-age startups and established multinational corporations like IBM, Microsoft, or Samsung.
Cross-device support
A free, platform, and device-independent language, JavaScript doesn’t require any download or installation procedures. It can run in any browser across all OSs, on desktop, mobile, and smart devices. The universal application of the language provides an opportunity to broaden the business reach and target customers across multiple channels.
Interoperability and compatibility
JavaScript can power the frontend regardless of the technology on the server-side. It is highly compatible with other languages and can be injected into any web page. This interoperability is extremely useful in large, complex, enterprise systems that rely on multiple technologies optimized for specific tasks and seamlessly working together.
Futureproof technology
Despite JavaScript’s maturity, the language’s heyday is far from over. With new tools and frameworks regularly emerging, it is continuously evolving and finds new applications. Even though we can see other tech stacks coming and going, JS’s web domination and robust ecosystem make it a safe choice for delivering futureproof websites and applications.
Large developers’ pool
Businesses can take advantage of JS’s impressive developers’ pool. Not only does JavaScript remain the most popular programming language, but also it boasts one of the fastest-growing communities in recent years. Every second web developer uses it regularly to build web applications, third-party app extensions, and cloud services.
In 2019, there were over 12.2 million active JavaScript developers worldwide
JavaScript disadvantages
Like any technology, JavaScript has its limitations and coding challenges. Here are a few disadvantages of JavaScript to get the full picture of the technology:
Client-side security vulnerability
In a typical JS use case on the client-side, the code is visible to end-users and easier to manipulate than if it were running on the server node. This makes JavaScript vulnerable to cyber threats such as cross-site scripting or session hijacking, which compromise user data. Also, the ample use of third-party libraries can expose JS applications to malicious events.
Nevertheless, JavaScript as a standard is adequately secured and provides in-built protection mechanisms. Many vulnerabilities stem from poor JS implementation rather than the language’s inherent shortcomings. By relying on proficient JavaScript developers experienced with the creation of mission-critical applications, you can be confident that your website or app data remain safe.
Incompatibility with some browsers
JavaScript can run in all browsers, but occasionally, incompatibilities may occur. They usually apply to outdated browser versions and result in an inaccessible site or output errors. It may also happen that JS code is interpreted entirely differently depending on the browser. Thus, it’s essential to always test JS cross-browser before publishing new code.
Community fragmentation
The JS community is enormous but fragmented. Remember that many developers don’t know the native, vanilla JavaScript at all. Instead, they operate within the realm of particular frameworks that don’t necessarily overlap. When hiring JS talent, always bear that in mind. First, determine the toolset that suits your project requirements, and only then look for the relevant skills.
Unless you skipped all the previous sections, you should already know that nearly all websites in the world use JS. Therefore, coming up with a few mind-blowing examples of JS usage isn’t that much of a challenge.
However, you may also be aware that while speaking of JavaScript, we almost always refer to a specific framework rather than vanilla JS. That’s why we scoured the web in search of various web and mobile implementations of different JS toolkits that demonstrate exceptional creativity. From robust and secure banking mobile JavaScript applications to games made with JavaScript, here’s what we found.
Remarkable JavaScript applications
Medium
Industry: media, online publishing
JavaScript tools: Node.js paired with Nginx web server and Matador MVC framework
Where it uses JS: app servers
Result: frequent, iterative code deployments
eBay
Industry: e-commerce, online marketplace
JavaScript tools: Node.js
Where it uses JS: backend and frontend
Result: the ability to handle heavy traffic volumes at speed
YouTube
Industry: media, online streaming
JavaScript tools: AngularJS
Where it uses JS: backend and frontend
Result: cross-platform support and robustness to render and consume large data sets
IBM
IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation (a suite for mobile app development)
Industry: ITC, software development
JavaScript tools: AngularJS and integration with Ionic, jQuery Mobile, and other JS frameworks
Where it uses JS: frontend of the app
Result: the capability to recreate the corporate UI look and sophisticated features on mobile
Santander Bank
Industry: banking
JavaScript tools: AngularJS
Where it uses JS: mobile app
Result: quick loading time, component structure, in-built security support
Salesforce
Visualforce framework (to build custom UIs)
Industry: SaaS, marketing
JavaScript tools: ReactJS, together with Redux state container
Where it uses JS: web app frontend, Visualforce pages
Result: modular web app design, faster rendering of complex views
Vivaldi browser
Industry: online technology
JavaScript tools: tech stack incorporating ReactJS, Node.js, CSS3, HTML5, and NPM JS package manager modules
Where it uses JS: browser engine
Result: configurable, module-based design, quick development, appealing visuals
Oscar Health
Industry: healthcare, insurance
JavaScript tools: React Native (mobile)
Where it uses JS: mobile app
Result: 80% code reuse, small but nimble development team
BMW
Industry: automotive
JavaScript tools: Vue.js
Where it uses JS: car configurator website
Result: site interactivity and quick UI updates according to user inputs
Xiaomi
Industry: electronics
JavaScript tools: Vue.js
Where it uses JS: website
Result: rich UI, captivating animations
HexGL
Industry: gaming
JavaScript tools: three.js, Javascript, and WebGL
Where it uses JS: browser game
Result: powerful graphics, interactive, 3D gaming experience
Foursquare
Industry: location data, new tech
JavaScript tools: Backbone.js
Where it uses JS: core JavaScript APIs
Result: powering dynamic features like maps and lists
If this isn’t your first software development project, you may know the drill by now: plan, design, code, test, release. JavaScript development is no different, and it covers all the stages of a ‘traditional’ software project execution.
In this pillar devoted to JavaScript, we want to emphasize some crucial aspects of JS development and bring your attention to those elements that are relevant from the business perspective.
#0 Before you start. Choosing JavaScript developers
To begin any project work, you need to assemble the right team for the job, made of JavaScript developers and quality assurance specialists. Where to find them? Let us demonstrate some options:
- Freelance developer marketplaces. There are nearly 12 million active JS developers in the world, and many of them publish their profiles on freelance marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer. These platforms provide seemingly unlimited access to talent, as you can filter your search based on a developer’s particular expertise, experience, location, and other features. However, even though freelance marketplaces include peer and customer reviews, bear in mind that virtually anyone can sign up there, so you need to carefully weigh your options to choose a person with relevant skills. Additionally, such marketplaces are predominantly used by developers who have recently moved into their careers and are looking to gather some experience.
- Talent matching platforms. Slightly different from freelance developer marketplaces, these platforms act as intermediaries matching software professionals with your specified search criteria. Sites like Toptal or Hired perform a detailed background check of each applicant, applying a comprehensive vetting process to verify their talents. The reliability of these services makes them a frequent choice among corporate clients looking to supplement their teams with one or two developers.
- Software development agencies. For complex and enterprise-grade JS projects, you will need more than a single developer working on a per hours basis. In that case, we advise you to liaise with a JavaScript software development agency that will carefully assemble a managed team of hand-selected, seasoned JavaScript exerts matching your specific needs. To find the right company, you may use one of the business information sites such as Crunchbase or get in touch with our team 😉. The second option will save you the time and hassle of finding the right talent fitted for your market, industry, and company culture.
#1 Meet the team + lay down the basics
Before the project kick-off, you should ensure everyone involved in the project is on the same page. It matters especially now, in the age of remote working and globally-operating teams who never get to meet one another in person.
Regardless of whether you’re working with your internal team or use an external company/freelance support, it’s a good idea to organize an informal meet-and-greet call. It will provide your team members with a chance to network with their colleagues.
As the next step, set up a planning call to get down to the nitty-gritty of the project. Together, agree on details such as:
- the project’s purpose and objective
- the scope and budget of the project
- the target users and their profile
- the available technology stack
- requirements for the project kick-off
- possible issues and bottlenecks
- everyone’s role and scope of responsibilities
#2 Define project requirements
At this stage, if you work in Agile, your team comes up with a backlog of tasks, based on the list of technology and business requirements. If your project follows a more traditional Waterfall structure, then your people need to document all requirements and scope of work.
#3 Build a prototype
Once everyone knows what to do and understands the expected outcome, architects kick off the design phase, which usually involves rapid prototyping.
For example, if you are looking to revamp an existing corporate website in JavaScript, your development team will create simple website layouts. Whereas, if you are using JS to build a new mobile app for your services, the design team will work on wireframes and a clickable prototype before they push the project to development.
#4 Code!
This is the part where your JavaScript developers take over, programming code in line with the approved designs. Depending on the project specification, you’ll need to program the frontend or backend, or both. When assembling your project team for the job, pay attention to two things in particular.
First of all, take note of your developers’ communication skills. In the dynamic, highly-innovative software development setting, collaborative spirit and clarity, so conveying complex ideas in simple terms, are crucial for any project’s success. From code comments, through scrum meetings, to slack conversations, well-rounded programmers need to demonstrate the ability to speak and listen well at all levels. Note that in larger teams, information flow breaks more easily, that’s why most agile teams tend to be rather small, up to 10-15 people.
Another essential aspect at this stage is code review. This good programming practice refers to the process where a developer’s code is getting regularly evaluated by peers. Such a procedure helps ensure the high quality of code and eliminate potential bugs and errors. It is also beneficial for maintaining design consistency.
#5 Quality Assurance: How to test JavaScript?
In agile-driven JavaScript projects, the code is tested after each sprint to:
- check compatibility with all browsers and/or mobile devices
- verify UI look & feel and performance
- see how the website/app looks like on different devices
- examine the app’s or website’s security
What is more, JS allows testing code directly in the browser. All major browsers come with a JS console where you can quickly type in the code to execute it and verify the results. However, comprehensive unit testing requires the use of a framework.
JavaScript testing frameworks
Though it may seem simple on the surface, quality assurance is a complex — and critical — stage of JavaScript development. Fortunately, JavaScript QA specialists aren’t left to their own devices; they can rely on a rich mixture of testing tools and frameworks to make the task less challenging.
The role of JS testing frameworks is to simplify and streamline tests, lower maintenance costs, and maximize testing speed and quality. This is achieved by automating manual interventions and optimizing code reusability.
Testing frameworks support QA engineers and boost their productivity by:
- providing guidelines and conventions for writing test cases
- grouping test cases into test suites
- executing tests
- reporting on test results
The most popular JS testing frameworks include:
- Jest – developed and maintained by Facebook, Jest is the most popular choice for JS testing. It works with Node.js. React, Angular, as well as other frameworks and libraries, allowing QAs to create, run, and structure JS tests. Companies that use the tool include Facebook, Instagram, and Airbnb.
- Enzyme – this open source JavaScript testing utility usually works in combination with Jest, Mocha, and other frameworks, adding additional functionalities to React testing.
- Puppeteer – not a framework, but a Node.js testing library, Puppeteer provides an API for automation of scenarios in the Chrome browser.
- Mocha – one of the most frequently used JS testing utilities, Mocha provides the capabilities to test apps created with Node.js. Examples of companies using Mocha include Asana, Accenture, and Coursera.
- Cypress – this comprehensive testing tool is built on top of Mocha and enables setting up, writing, running, and debugging tests in the browser. Among Cypress users, you will find Revolut, Alibaba Travels, and Intuit.
- Jasmine – used primarily with Angular, this testing framework can also work with other tools and libraries to test code written in Node.js and React. You will find Jasmine in the tech stack of companies such as GitLab, UNIQLO, or Accenture.
- JSFiddle – this online IDE service works with popular JS frameworks, including React and Vue, and it enables QA engineers to test HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code snippets directly in the browser. It is mainly used for sharing simple, quick tests.
#6 JS project delivery
Depending on the end product, the deployment stage for JavaScript projects may refer to:
- installing JS backend on your servers
- deploying JavaScript apps to selected cloud platforms
- publishing your product to a chosen mobile app store
- uploading or updating your website on a hosting web server
As a wise man once said, „Everything flows and nothing abides.” JavaScript is constantly changing, too. The language, frameworks, and communities are in a permanent state of flux. New subject matter experts appear, JS workshops and conferences are cropping up, and the JS ecosystem is ever-evolving.
JS has experienced explosive growth in the last few years. The language is changing, and so is the range of its applications and projects. To help you stay in touch with the latest updates, we've gathered everything you need to know about the state of JavaScript as of 2020:
JavaScript community
If we analyze the global JS popularity chart in the last few years, we can see that the trend remains constant, without any major fluctuations. The language community has been steadily growing over that period; for example, two years ago, there were nearly 10 million JS developers; now, their count is nearing 12 million.
(Source: PYPL)
It also seems that the business profile of the companies using JS in their products keeps steady. According to the 2018 State of JS survey, companies of 100-1000 employees were the dominant JS users, followed by large enterprises, and small organizations of 20-50 people. Last year, the same proportions held, with a slight increase in the use of JS among medium-sized and large businesses.
Most importantly, JavaScript remains the most used programming language in the world eighth year in a row. All of this confirms its position as a stable, mature technology that is likely to maintain strong support among businesses and software developer experts.
JavaScript meetups and conferences around the world
JavaScript boasts at least several dozens of dedicated events where thousands of JS supporters gravitate every year to share knowledge, learn new things, and exchange ideas. Here are the world’s most important JS meetings and conferences where you can learn all things JS.
- JS Conf – The JS Conf organization has been active for a decade as a federation of JavaScript engineers, QAs, and aficionados, launching worldwide technical JS events. Happening everywhere, from India and Korea, through Europe, to the USA and Brazil, JS Conf events are continuously evolving. Regardless of the venue and edition, the conference remains the go-to event for any JS professional, bringing JavaScript mentorship, diversity, and learning under one roof.
- JS Nation – Connecting over 25K JavaScript professionals around the world, the event is dubbed ‘the largest JS conference in the cloud.’ It comprises days full of talks, workshops, and sessions dedicated to what’s hot and what’s not in the JavaScript ecosystem in the cloud.
- iJavaScript – The International JavaScript Conference combines virtual and onsite sessions and workshops in a series of Europe and USA-based events dedicated to full-stack JS. The sessions are divided into technology tracks, according to the core framework they cover. You’ll find separate modules for Angular, React, Node.js, and Vue.js, as well as a special track dedicated to JS testing, DevOps, tooling, and SEO.
- NG-conf – A nearly week-long (in 2020, held all-online) conference bringing together top Angular professionals in the USA and abroad. The usual speaker line-up includes software engineers, architects, and web developers from Google.
- Vue.js Global – Like Angular, Vue also has its dedicated event. This global conference, happening online in 2020, connects Vue.js leaders wishing to improve their work with the framework, and business stakeholders looking for inspiring ideas for new software projects.
- React Live – Brought to you by the same organizers as Vue.js Global, React Live is a single day event packed with hands-on knowledge on designing, building, debugging, and deploying React code faster.
- React Summit – React Summit is the largest React conference gathering more than 25K React and full-stack engineers who wish to keep up-to-date with the latest JS developments.
Who’s who in the JavaScript world?
If you prefer to stay home instead of traveling the world to catch up with the latest developments in JavaScript, no problem! You can find plenty of resources and influencers to follow in the burgeoning JS ecosystem. Check out this list to find out whom you should follow to brush up your JS skills:
JavaScript websites
- JavaScript – an all-in-one resource for JS developers to keep their skills up and running.
- JS Fiddle – one of several available JavaScript playgrounds where programmers can get started with JS frameworks, APIs, and resources without causing any damage.
- Superhero.js – the go-to resource for all things JavaScript, featuring a rich collection of articles, summaries, overviews, and presentations divided into thematic sections to make understanding JS easier.
- Ultimate Courses – a website by a famous JavaScript engineer and Expert Developer at Google, Todd Motto, which helps devs ramp up their JS coding skills.
- JavaScript Weekly – a weekly newsletter bringing all the relevant JS news and articles straight to your inbox.
- The State of JS – a global JS developers survey providing insights into their demographics, salaries, top JS technologies used, and most desired skills.
- GitHub JavaScript – a collection of GitHub repositories with JS code.
- OpenJS – a foundation dedicated to drive the growth of JS through education, certification, and knowledge sharing.
- Reddit JavaScript – a Reddit channel for JS.
JavaScript blogs, podcasts, and vlogs
- Echo JS – a community-driven JS news portal.
- JavaScript Jabber – over 400 podcast episodes with interviews with JS leaders and innovators.
- Modern Web – thanks to this podcast, developers can keep track of the latest JS tooling and get advice on building modern JavaScript applications.
- Syntax.fm – a collab-based radio connecting JS creators who dive deep into tech topics and exchange their experiences and advice.
- Front End Happy Hour – each episode features a panel discussion between JavaScript developers and contributors devoted to various tech and business aspects of JS projects.
- Daily JS – a goldmine of JavaScript knowledge, this digest updates current and archival JavaScript articles, tutorials, news, and learning resources.
- Ember Blog – the latest news and updates on the Ember framework ecosystem.
- ReactJS Blog – the official React framework blog featuring release documentation and JS tool upgrades.
- overreacted.io – Dan Abramov’s (see below at JavaScript influencers) personal blog explaining core React concepts, tools, and development strategies.
- Bits and Pieces – a collaborative blog where frontend developers share their thoughts on JS frameworks and coding tools and strategies.
