There are so many programming languages out there. 693, to be more precise. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses, own users and own communities. Why then would someone choose to learn JavaScript out of all these languages? I invite you to find it out.
Easy to get started
Yep. It is probably one of the easiest programming languages to get started with, as it has several advantages.
Setting up the development environment
In order to start coding in JavaScript, all you need is a browser and a text editor. Usually we have several of each of them on our computers. You do not need to set up any development environment to start using JavaScript. As a specific example, if you are viewing this page in Chrome or Firefox, right-click on this page and select Inspect / Inspect Element, then in Console paste the following code and press Enter:
var color = 'red';
var paragraphs = document.getElementsByTagName('p');
for (var i = 0, nr = paragraphs.length; i < nr; i++) {
paragraphs[i].style.color = color;
}
Now paste this code to return it back to normal.
for (var i = 0, nr = paragraphs.length; i < nr; i++) {
paragraphs[i].style.color = 'inherit';
}
Magic? No, JavaScript.
Rewarding experience
One of the reasons many people fail their resolutions is that they do not see in a relatively short time the effect of what they start to do.
Know somebody who went to the gym but then left this idea after a month or two because “it doesn’t have any effect on me,” or somebody who do not want to eat healthy because they do not feel any difference after staying on a diet for several days?
JavaScript is different.
Here you see your work almost immediately. You receive a pleasant feeling of satisfaction of what you are doing. You receive this psychological reward because you see how it turns out. Not in a year, not in a month, not even in a week. Now.
You wrote a piece of code and you saw the change it made. That’s really rewarding.
Coding is short term. Any code that you write affects your program instantly. However, working on a project as a programmer is long-term. You have to write code that will be easy to maintain when reviewing it in several weeks or months. But this is a topic for another post.
Easy to understand the basics
Because JavaScript is a dynamically typed language, it is easier and faster to learn than other languages such as Java or C.
Grasping the basics of the language is relatively easy, especially given the fact that there are many resources online (books, courses, platforms) that can help you learn and practice your skills. But as with any programming language, in order to excel at it, you will need to dive into the internals and learn the peculiarities of the language, which JavaScript has enough.
You can also check out The Heroes of Programming for learning the basics of JavaScript and you can also subscribe to receive latest information that will help you learn JavaScript easier and enjoy the process.
Career Opportunities
Knowing JavaScript can land you a pretty good job nowadays. There are many trends in the web development industry right now:
- real-time web sites that feel like desktop applications with interactive features like drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts and animations,
- visualization of large data-sets in an interactive manner with video and audio interaction,
- complex dashboards filled with user generated data that update in real-time,
- mobile and web games played by millions of people worldwide and many more.
JavaScript is at the core of these products, and thus, it is one of the most coveted skills in the developer marketplace today. And if you learn it, you will be looked for by the companies to work for them.
Fullstack
Today, by knowing JavaScript only, you are still able to create a web site from scratch, based on technologies that are written fully or partially in JavaScript.
This gives you unlimited potential to create everything by knowing only a single language. You can use Node.js for backend, a range of different frameworks (Angular, Ember, Backbone, React, etc.) for frontend and MongoDB for data storage.
And you can easily learn all these because they are all based on JavaScript. But before that, you need to learn JavaScript first.
Wide community
Last, but not least, an important factor is the JavaScript community that exists and is there to help when you face a problem with your code.
It is the biggest community on StackOverflow.
It is also the most tagged language at GitHub with over 2.6 million repositories.
All this means that JavaScript is widely adopted and used and that you will definitely have a job if you learn JavaScript. And besides that, you will easily find an answer to any problem that you might encounter.
Conclusion
JavaScript definitely has a bright future. Due to its nature, today you can know only one programming language (JavaScript) and be able to build fully functional complex projects and enjoy it in the process. Are you ready for it?
If you are a complete newbie in JavaScript, become a Hero of Programming and check what Heroes of Programming are there in JavaScript.
In case you already know JavaScript, feel free to browse this site for interesting information.
Also, irrespective of your experience, check out the interviews page to find out what other JavaScript Heroes are doing, what they are working on and what tips they have for you to improve your programming skills.
