What is JavaScript Used For In 2022? What Can JavaScript Do?

“Any application that can be written in JavaScript will eventually be written in JavaScript.” – famously said James Atwood (co-founder of Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange). It is one of the most, if not the most popular programming language in today’s time. According to a lot of forums and programmers, it is also one of the most loved as well as disliked programming languages of all. So what is the buzz at all? In this article let us try to understand JavaScript as a popular programming language, its variety of use cases, and what it can do.

So what is JavaScript, after all?

It is a high-level, single-threaded scripting or programming language used popularly for the web. It is primarily used to add complex and dynamic features to web pages and engineer web applications. Using JavaScript with HTML and CSS can help transform a static site or web page into an interactive and dynamic one.

What is it used for?

JS is a text-based, dynamically typed language that is used both on the front-end, the client side, and the back-end, the server side. A lot of technologies are built around JavaScript for it to be used in making end-to-end full-stack (frontend + backend) web applications. Let’s dive more into understanding it.

Using JavaScript on the web’s frontend

All the interactivity that you encounter when browsing any website is primarily made possible by using JS. From clicking that add-to-cart button to add your products to the cart while shopping online to navigating a carousel, to submitting the sign-up form at codedamn.com/register, all of which are made possible using JS. There are a lot of popular JS libraries like react and vue that are used now heavily used in the front end to build user interfaces and single-page applications.

Using JavaScript on the backend

Originally it was made as a scripting language that can run inside a browser to help add interactivity to web pages. However, with the invention and rise of NodeJS, it is now used to spin up servers and even build complex backends. A lot of JS backend frameworks like ExpressJS are used with NodeJS to make engineering complex backends possible. Even codedamn.com’s backend is built on NodeJS. So chances are that the welcome email that you shall receive on signing up at codedamn.com is made possible with JavaScript (on NodeJS).

To build mobile applications

It is even possible to build applications for iOS, Android, and the web from a single code base written in JS. Using JavaScript technologies like React Native or Ionic can make it possible. Companies like Coinbase have IPO-ed by using react native for their application (Read more from their official blog here)

To build desktop applications

JS frameworks like Electron are used to make cross-platform desktop applications. The very popular code editor (or IDE), VS Code is built using Electron. Have you used github.dev? Go, give it a try. Can you guess why the interface and usability of the online code editor are so similar to that of the offline VS Code software that you use on your PC?

What can JavaScript Do?

When it comes to JavaScript, there is not much that JavaScript can not do. The four above-mentioned domains are broadly the main areas where JavaScript is heavily used. However, JavaScript as a programming language can also be used in the following domains:

1. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: JS libraries like TensorFlow.js can be used for training and deploying ML/AI models both in the browser and on Node.js.
2. Game Development: JavaScript engines like Phasor are used to make games for desktop and mobile.

History and Facts

JS was built in 1995 by Brendan Eich (he’s the current CEO of the Brave browser) at Netscape, one of the first internet browser companies. It is boldly said that the language was written in under 10 days. It had a lot of flaws. The JavaScript we know, learn, and use today is nowhere close to what it was back then. It was originally named Mocha. But was later renamed “JavaScript” to catch around the hype of Java (trust me, both are very different). Since its dawn JavaScript has continued to evolve through the ECMAScript standards. The ECMAScript 6 or ES 6 has brought a lot of major changes to JavaScript that helped it truly mature as a programming language to be used in a variety of domains.

Conclusion

Now that you know what all JavaScript can do. How about you start learning? Yes, you can learn for free. But what if I say that you can learn for FREE, structured, and in an interactive way? Check out codedamn’s FREE and interactive course on JavaScript essentials and its advanced theory.

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Also, after your start learning, don’t forget to join 6900+ developers on the 50 days of JavaScript Challenge at codedamn.com/50-days-of-js and win exciting rewards. 

I love JavaScript! I hope you shall too.