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JavaScript is a program used to help develop the interactive side of the website. This help better operate the the published website that you are interacting with.

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Have you ever wondered, 'what is JavaScript used for?' You're not alone. Hack Reactor breaks down what JavaScript is, what JavaScript is used for, and why we use JavaScript as a programming language.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a text-based programming language used both on the client-side and server-side that allows you to make web pages interactive. Where HTML and CSS are languages that give structure and style to web pages, JavaScript gives web pages interactive elements that engage a user. Common examples of JavaScript that you might use every day include the search box on Amazon, a news recap video embedded on The New York Times, or refreshing your Twitter feed.

Incorporating JavaScript improves the user experience of the web page by converting it from a static page into an interactive one. To recap, JavaScript adds behavior to web pages.

What is JavaScript used for?

JavaScript is mainly used for web-based applications and web browsers. But JavaScript is also used beyond the Web in software, servers and embedded hardware controls. Here are some basic things JavaScript is used for:

1. Adding interactive behavior to web pages

JavaScript allows users to interact with web pages. There are almost no limits to the things you can do with JavaScript on a web page - these are just a few examples:

Show or hide more information with the click of a button

Change the color of a button when the mouse hovers over it

Slide through a carousel of images on the homepage

Zooming in or zooming out on an image

Displaying a timer or count-down on a website

Playing audio and video in a web page

Displaying animations

Using a drop-down hamburger menu

2. Creating web and mobile apps

Developers can use various JavaScript frameworks for developing and building web and mobile apps. JavaScript frameworks are collections of JavaScript code libraries that provide developers with pre-written code to use for routine programming features and tasks-literally a framework to build websites or web applications around.

Popular JavaScript front-end frameworks include React, React Native, Angular, and Vue. Many companies use Node.js, a JavaScript runtime environment built on Google Chrome's JavaScript V8 engine. A few famous examples include Paypal, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Uber!

3. Building web servers and developing server applications

Beyond websites and apps, developers can also use JavaScript to build simple web servers and develop the back-end infrastructure using Node.js.

4. Game development

Of course, you can also use JavaScript to create browser games. These are a great way for beginning developers to practice their JavaScript skills.

Why use JavaScript over other programming languages?

Aside from the unlimited possibilities, there are many reasons for web developers to use JavaScript over other programming languages:

JavaScript is the only programming language native to the web browser

JavaScript is the most popular language

There's a low threshold to get started

It's a fun language to learn

For more reasons, see our blog on why JavaScript is the best coding language to learn.

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Want more coding insights like this? Check out the Hack Reactor coding bootcamp. Or for information on our software engineering programs, visit our website.

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Have you ever wondered, 'what is JavaScript used for?' You're not alone. Hack Reactor breaks down what JavaScript is, what JavaScript is used for, and why we use JavaScript as a programming language. JavaScript is a text-based programming language used both on the client-side and server-side that allows you to make web pages interactive.

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What is the difference between JavaScript and the other programs such as Python?

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What is the difference between JavaScript and the other programs such as Python?

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All programs are created for a purpose. Some to type dynamically while others statically. Just to let you know, dynamically typed is just meaning that the code that you typed gets checked as you run it to see if there are errors. On the other hand, for a statically typed program, it tells you the errors of the code typed when you are getting ready to compile the code or completely finish it.
JavaScript was designed to run code and create web pages that are interactive not exactly just sitting there like a quiet audience doing absolutely nothing. While others run a bit differently. Check out this website to find out the differences between each of programs.

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When JavaScript first appeared, it was just an extra Turing-complete option that Netscape added to its browser. Many programmers dismissed it as a toy, a vehicle for double-checking the data in the form or adding annoying popup windows. They didn't see the promise. Few noticed the value of its forward-thinking features such as lambdas and functions as first-class objects until it brought them into the mainstream.

It's now more than 20 years later and everything has changed. Web applications are the dominant way that people interact with the computing universe, and JavaScript is the foundation. Even server applications are increasingly written in JavaScript as programmers turn to Node.js for increased speed and the freedom to run the same code on the server and the client.

Here's a short, bulleted list for comparing JavaScript with some of the other major programming langauges.

JavaScript compared with C

C is compiled in advance. JavaScript is interpreted and sometimes compiled at runtime with a just-in-time (JIT) compiler.

C is statically typed. JavaScript is dynamically typed.

C requires programmers to allocate and reclaim blocks of memory. JavaScript handles this automatically.

C code must be recompiled when moved to a different processor. JavaScript doesn't need to be.

C is designed to work directly with the computer's memory through pointers. JavaScript hides this power.

C is commonly used for embedded computers and applications that require high performance such as operating systems. JavaScript was first embedded only in web pages, but it is finding a new role in server applications developed through Node.js.

C offers explicit control of threads, while JavaScript encourages users to juggle multiple jobs by splitting tasks into asynchronous functions that are called when data is ready.

JavaScript compared with Java

Java is compiled to a bytecode that is an intermediate form to be run by a JIT compiler. JavaScript was only interpreted at one time but is now often run through a JIT compiler.

Java is statically typed, while JavaScript is dynamically typed.

Java is strongly typed, while JavaScript isn't.

Java is designed to support large applications with a robust namespace. JavaScript doesn't offer it directly, so programmers have synthesized it.

Java once ran in browsers and servers but is largely limited to servers today. JavaScript once ran only in browsers but is now increasingly used on the server side too.

Both Java and JavaScript support many other languages. Cross-compilers convert many languages to run on Java's JVM or JavaScript engines.

Java 8 now includes a mechanism for embedding JavaScript so Java can leverage several of JavaScript's benefits.

Java gives the programming explicit control over threading. JavaScript hides much of this with its call-and-response function structure.

JavaScript compared with C#

C# is compiled to a bytecode that is an intermediate form to be run by a JIT compiler. JavaScript was once only interpreted but is now often run through a JIT compiler.

C# is statically typed, while JavaScript is dynamically typed.

C# is strongly typed, while JavaScript isn't.

C# has LINQ, a powerful .NET component that adds native data querying capabilities, but JavaScript has separate libraries that can cover this functionality, one being Underscore.js.

C# gives the programming explicit control over threading. JavaScript hides much of this with its call-and-response function structure.

C# has operator and conversion overloading. JavaScript does not.

JavaScript compared with Python

JavaScript was originally designed to support HTML pages in the browser. Python was made to run from the command line to support servers (and desktops).

Both languages are now supporting larger communities. Python is popular as a data processing language in the social sciences. JavaScript is found now on servers and other locations.

JavaScript uses curly brackets to designate blocks of code. Python uses indentation and whitespace.

Python offers flexible parameter blocks for methods, while JavaScript insists that all parameters must be specified.

JavaScript code is often driven by events such as mouse clicks or keystrokes. Python responds to function calls.

Many Python libraries are focused on data processing and analysis, while many JavaScript libraries are designed to manipulate HTML in the browser.

JavaScript compared with PHP

Both are scripting languages that were originally interpreted at runtime but are now often transformed by a JIT compiler.

Both offer dynamically typed variables.

In the beginning, PHP was designed for servers to assemble HTML files and JavaScript ran inside the browser on the client. Now JavaScript is also building HTML files on the server too.

PHP is rarely used for anything but assembling HTML. JavaScript is the foundation for increasingly complex interfaces in the browser and server-side stacks integrating business logic and databases.

PHP is a relatively simple language focused on retrieving information from databases and formatting it as HTML. JavaScript is becoming a more general language used for both browser interaction and more general computation.

JavaScript compared with Ruby

JavaScript was once limited to running in the client's browser, while Ruby ran on the server with the Rails framework.

JavaScript running in Node.js on the server is borrowing many ideas from the Ruby on Rails framework.

Both Ruby and JavaScript are dynamically typed.

JavaScript uses curly brackets to delineate blocks, while Ruby uses the keyword "end."

JavaScript borrows much of its syntax from Java and C, while Ruby borrows more from Perl and Smalltalk.

JavaScript is becoming a general-purpose language, while Ruby is generally limited to server applications using its Rails framework, although some administrators prefer Ruby for their server-supporting command-line applications.

As you can see, JavaScript is very different from many of the other popular languages. Its initial version was written in just 10 days, but it had a lot of forward-thinking innovations that helped it survive into the current decade.

Despite its many warts, it looks like it will continue to be a primary language for front-end developers as long as it continues to be the only language that all browsers understand.
Any comparisons or addendums you'd like to add? Share them in the comments.
Keep learning

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JavaScript compared to C, Java, C#, Python, Ruby, and PHP-in bullets

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Learn about JavaScript in this succinct bulleted list that compares JavaScript to other top programming languages, according to software industry popularity.

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Will JavaScript open up my knowledge to other programming languages?

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Will JavaScript open up my knowledge to other programming languages?

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Most likely! Though it might not be the exact same as all the other programs, it will give you some experience on how to write code. I advise you to try different coding programs so that way it will enable you to have a better understanding of what each program is designed for.

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How has it been developed over the years? Have the codes changed throughout the years?

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How has it been developed over the years? Have the codes changed throughout the years?

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The web wasn't really a thing until the 90's. Reading this will help you better understand how JavaScript enhanced itself as more and more people began to better understand and improve how JavaScript work.

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When you look around the software development world today, one language that seems to be everywhere is JavaScript. JavaScript has gained a lot of popularity over the years, and, despite facing various stumbling blocks, this language has gone on to become the most popular language in the world today.

For this reason, I am interested in the evolution of the language. The low points, high points, and its strength. Without further ado, let's dive into it.

Pre-JavaScript Days

Before the mid-1990s, the web was not much of a major force. No primary language, with HTML being the major means of making web pages.

However in 1995, the National Center of Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) made moves to change this, they released the world's first popular web browser.

It was called the NCSA Mosaic.

To challenge the NCSA Mosaic, Marc Andreessen brought in a majority of the developers who built NCSA Mosaic to a company called Netscape.

At Netscape, the developers built another web browser called Mosaic Netscape without any of the code used in building NCSA Mosaic.

Mosaic Netscape challenged NCSA Mosaic, and in order to avoid copyright issues the company renamed the product.

Its new name: Netscape Navigator.

Inspiration

After the success of Netscape Navigator, Marc Andreessen felt the web still wasn't complete.

It lacked a primary programming language. In his terms, the web needed a "glue language."

To overcome this challenge, Netscape entered into a license agreement with Sun's Microsystems the owner of a popular programming language Java.

The "glue language" would not any relation to Java, except a bit of similarity in syntax.

Brendan Eich was employed in May 1995 to help with creating this language and he created a prototype in 10 days.

After the development of the prototype, this newly created language was called Mocha.

A better release was made in September 1995 and a name change was made as well, with the new name being LiveScript.

The final name was agreed upon after the beta 3 release in December 1995: the language would be called JavaScript.

It should be known, though, that this did not bring about any copyright infringements as Sun's and Netscape had entered into an agreement earlier.

The name JavaScript, however, did help the language feed on the popularity of the Java programming language itself.

Adoption and Version Releases

In the hope of getting adopted by programmers, Netscape passed JavaScript to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) for standardization in 1995.

This brought about ECMAScript which uses a majority of JavaScript's original syntax and has served as the standard for JavaScript ever since. Therefore, ECMAScript could be used in place of JavaScript.

While the language was being known for client-side development, a server-side implementation of JavaScript was released in December 1995 and was called Netscape Enterprise Server.

In 1996, Microsoft developed a JavaScript implementation in ASP and .NET on the Internet Information Services (IIS) web server and it was named Jscript.

Jscript served as a reverse-engineered implementation of Netscape's JavaScript.

About two years after passing JavaScript to ECMA, the first standard version of JavaScript, ECMAScript 1, was released in June 1997.

ECMAScript 2 was released the next year, with minimal changes to the previous version to keep up with the ISO standard for the language.

While JavaScript was now beginning to be adopted by programmers, it was difficult building websites for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Programmers intending to build cross-platform websites started having issues with developing such websites with JavaScript as the browser reacted differently to code for development.

In December 1999, 18 months after the release of ECMAScript 2, ECMAScript 3 was released with lots of changes. ECMAScript 3 saw the introduction of the language's regular expression and exception handling features.

Immediately after the release of ECMAScript 3, plans to come up with ECMAScript 4 began in 2000. However, the whole process died down with the closure of this project confirmed in 2003 after ECMA released an interim report containing some of the functionality intended for ECMAScript 4.

In 2005, Eich and Mozilla joined ECMA so as to be able to assist E4X (ECMAScript for XML), which then lead to a collaboration with Macromedia. Macromedia decided to adopt JavaScript and use E4X in ActionScript 3.

Later that year, the adoption of JavaScript skyrocketed further after Jesse James Garrett's paper was released where he described the technologies JavaScript supported as the backbone for the web, introducing the term Ajax as a way of building modern websites.

While ECMAScript 4 was abandoned, the successor to ECMAScript 3 was finally released in December 2009. This was a decade after the release of ECMAScript 3 and was called ECMAScript 5 and came with lots of new features including support for the parsing of JSON files.

In 2013, plans were made for the release of the ECMAScript 6 but just as in the case of ECMAScript 4, the process slowed down. However, the project did not die out completely as it was released in June 2015.

ECMAScript 6 was renamed to ECMAScript 2015, and this naming pattern has continued for the latest releases of the JavaScript standard.

ECMAScript has further seen the ECMAScript 2016, 2017, and 2018 versions all released in the month of June of their various years.

Today, JavaScript is widely adopted as you can barely see any website without its client-side being powered by JavaScript with big companies like Google and Facebook relying largely on the language.

As at the time of writing ECMAScript 2018 is the latest version of JavaScript, with new features such as asynchronous iterators, asynchronous generators, and new regular expression features.

JavaScript Frameworks

While JavaScript has proven to be a powerful language, it's frameworks have been a key part of its evolution and popularity.

In 2000, the first popular JavaScript framework was released. It was called Dynamic HTML (DHTML). DHTML was used to make basic changes to web pages. The sort of changes you would make with CSS easily these days. DHTML was released in 2000.

In 2006, a lot of frameworks and libraries were released. The most popular being jQuery.

jQuery was created to help developers build sophisticated web pages. This framework is quite powerful, challenging the issues faced by developers with the subtle differences in browser implementations. jQuery also abstracted all of the complexity of client-side web development at the same time, making it easy for developers to learn and use.

Since the Netscape Livewire Proweb (Enterprise Server) implementation of JavaScript for server-side development in 1995, no other implementation existed for such purposes until 2009 when Node.js was released.

Today, Node.js serves as one of the most used server-side development technologies in the world, bring more dynamism to JavaScript's client-side focused nature.

In 2010, Backbone was created by Jeremy Ashkenas.

Single Page Applications have had a huge impact on modern day web applications. Backbone is one framework that helped push the prominence of SPAs, with Backbone developers being able to build Single Page Applications easily.

AngularJS was also created in 201 by Adam Abrons and Misko Hevery. Angular is one framework that helped bring more popularity to JavaScript, as it provides a complete architecture for front-end applications for its developers.

In 2013, Knockout, Meteor, and React came into the limelight. These three frameworks gave JavaScript more popularity, though React remains the most successful of the three. Owned by Facebook, React has become one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks ever, boasting a large user community.

Conclusion

JavaScript has really come a long way, from a language with a prototype written in just 10 days to the most used programming language in the world. Fortunately for JavaScript, the web will continue to blossom and the language will continue to get better.

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The Evolution of the JavaScript Programming Language - DZone Web Dev

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When you look around the software development world today, one language that seems to be everywhere is JavaScript. JavaScript has gained a lot of popularity over the years, and, despite facing various stumbling blocks, this language has gone on to become the most popular language in the world today.

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Can you translate programming languages to different programming languages?

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Can you translate programming languages to different programming languages?

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Yes! Thanks to better technology, you can translate to different programs to help make the process much faster. An app would probably be able to do this kind of activity, but it won't be able to fully and precisely do code for code, if it is a fully complicated website or software you created and wanted translated.

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Programming languages, regardless of just how different they seem to spoken languages, do share some similarities with the language humans speak. But can they be interpreted or translated in the same way natural language is interpreted or translated into different languages?

To answer this question, we need to take a deeper look at what programming languages are and if there's a universal coding language that programmers use to communicate with each other!

What Are Programming Languages?

Programming languages are formal languages developed to specify instructions that result in various outputs in a computer. They are vital in the development of programs or software and the implementation of specific algorithms.

There are many programming languages in use. In fact, thousands of programming languages have been created, and more continue to be developed. However, only a fraction of them emerge as the commonly used and studied programming languages. Many need computation to be in a sequence of operations (imperative form) while others simply specify the desired results (declarative form).
Here's a quick look at some of the most popular programming languages:

JavaScript is believed to be the most popular programming language, especially on the web.

Swift is an Apple programming language used for creating native apps for iOS and macOS devices.

HTML is not exactly a programming language (it's a markup language), but it serves as the foundation for the structure of websites.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets is also used for the designing of websites as well as in the development of apps created for use on browsers.

SQL or Structured Query Language is used for handling large amounts of data. It's used for creating systems to access and manage databases. It is usually used along with other programming languages such as PHP.

Java is one of the most popular languages used for developing applications for the Android operating system.

Python is a programming language known for its highly readable code. Many regard it as the most accessible programming language to get started with.

C# is a programming language developed by Microsoft and is mainly used to build business software.

PHP is suitable for the development of websites and applications that are data-heavy. It is the programming language used in creating platforms such as Facebook and WordPress.

These languages are similar to English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Chinese, and other major languages of the world, except that machines and not humans use them. They were created by humans to be used by devices. Programming languages enable communication among computers or applications within the same computer or across a network of computers. It is also the language used by humans to communicate with machines.

What Are the Differences Between Programming and Natural Languages?

It's not wrong to say that programming languages have been derived from natural language, particularly the English language. Humans are responsible for the development of programming languages, after all. But, there are notable differences between programming and natural languages.

For one, programming languages are meant to be straightforward and unambiguous. Nuances are almost absent, unlike what can be observed in natural languages. Words cannot have more than one meaning in programming. Slight differences in the use of a programming language can result in significant differences or an error in the program being developed.

Computers, when executing programs or the output of programming languages, cannot guess what the programmer intended if there are misspellings or syntactic problems in the code of a program. Unlike in natural language, people can guess to a certain extent the intent of the sentences or words uttered or written by someone if there are spelling or grammar mistakes committed.

To be clear, Google's Autocomplete feature or its ability to guess what you want to search cannot be used as a counterargument here. This ability to guess what a person using Google wants to search is not a manifestation of a computer's ability to guess intent in a programming language (in case of misspellings or syntactic errors are committed) but the result of a well-coded program's ability to analyze interaction with a human. In other words, it is the result of a fully functional software developed with a specific programming language being used by humans. There is no programming language interpretation involved.

Another notable difference is that natural language is much more accessible than a programming language. It can easily change depending on what users decide. In a programming language, the structure, spelling, and syntax need to be strictly followed for the language to become comprehensible. Programs or software will not function as expected if programming language rules are defied even to the slightest extent.

Can Programming Languages be Translated or Interpreted?

It's essential to point out that virtually all programming languages are based on the English language. Because of this, it is expected that programmers know some basic English to be efficient at what they are doing. It is not impossible to learn programming without knowing basic English, but it will be more complicated since it would entail more memorization.

Programming frameworks or libraries are virtually all in English. They consist of many objects whose function or purpose can be deduced by simply looking at their names. Without English language skills, a programmer will have to exert more effort in remembering the uses of these programming objects.

These don't mean, however, that the interpretation or translation of programming languages entails the need for English proficiency. It's not a matter of translating programming language to English and then to another natural language. The question on the translatability or interpretability of programming languages is about how one programming language can be translated to another programming language, from Python to C++, for example.

Yes, programming languages can be translated. A program written in one language can be translated into another programming language. The source code in one language can be converted into a code in a different language. Interpreting a programming language, however, is unnecessary and not possible at present. Humans can't interpret programming languages for machines, but they can debug, troubleshoot, or tweak codes if they have issues with them.

Porting: Translation of Programming Languages

The translation of a program's code from one programming language to another is also known as porting. It's the process of adapting software for execution in a different computing environment. For example, software or an application can be ported from Linux to make it work in Windows. Android apps can be ported to iOS. It can also be done in the coding of a website or blog templates. You can find WordPress blog templates ported to Blogger (Blogspot) or other platforms. The word porting also applies to the process of adapting software or an application for a different hardware or computing architecture.

Ported software, however, is different from portable software. The latter does not involve any "programming language translation." It is a program or application created to run without being installed. It exists as a standalone program file that can be copied or moved from one computer to another (within the same platform or OS) and instantly run without undergoing an installation process.

Who Translates Programming Languages?

Tools that can translate or convert program codes from one language to another do exist. However, you can't expect them to work well enough to convert an iOS app for use on Android, for example. They don't even compare to the performance of their natural language counterparts. The program code translators available at present are limited in their abilities and incapable of fully and accurately porting an entire software unless they are only converting a simple or basic program.

Human programmers still have to do tweaks and tie up some loose ends for machine-translated program codes. Again, the output is not going to be perfect or usable out of the box unless if it's for a simple program. Don't expect a tool that would let you dump a code in C on one end and get a code in Java on the other.

You can find good programming language translation tools, but the most they can do is help reduce the time it takes to complete a software porting project. They can adequately convert certain parts of a software's code, so everything does not have to be done manually, but you can't expect even the best program code translators to do everything independently.

In Conclusion

As you can see, programming languages can be translated, but not in the same way we translate spoken languages. Software, program, or app codes can be rewritten (by human programmers) from one programming language to another so they can work in a new platform, operating system, or architecture.

Programming language translators (machine translators), however, are still unreliable when it comes to converting entire programs or apps for use in another operating system or platform. On the other hand, interpreting programming languages (by humans) is not being done and is deemed unnecessary at present.

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Our company has an extensive network of human translators in different parts of the world to handle all kinds of translation and interpreting needs. We can confidently guarantee customers of high precision and prompt services for an extensive list of languages. Our experienced professional human translators are always eager to serve you. today to find out how we can help you cross the language barrier!

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Can Programming Languages Be Translated or Interpreted?

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Programming languages, regardless of just how different they seem to spoken languages, do share some similarities with the language humans speak. But can they be interpreted or translated in the same way natural language is interpreted or translated into different languages?