Why is JavaScript the most popular programming language?

According to Stack Overflow's 2020 Developer Survey, JavaScript is the world's most popular programming language (69.7%), followed by HTML/CSS (62.4%), SQL (56.9%), Python (41.6%), and Java (38.4%). It is also the most popular programming language among US hiring managers (PDF, 2.4 MB). In this article, we will see what JavaScript is, what it is used for and why it is the most popular programming language in the world.
What is JavaScript?
JavaScript (often abbreviated to JS) is a lightweight, interpreted, and object-oriented language with many features. It is best known as a scripting language for web pages but can also be used in applications other than browsers. is also used in a variety of contexts. It is a multi-paradigm, dynamic, prototype-based scripting language that supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
JavaScript is used on the client side of the web to design/program how a web page behaves when events occur. JavaScript is a powerful scripting language that is simple to learn and widely used to control the behaviour of web pages.
JavaScript, contrary to popular belief, is not "interpreted Java." JavaScript is a dynamic scripting language that allows for prototype-based object construction. To reduce the number of new concepts required to learn the language, the basic syntax is intentionally similar to both Java and C++. If statements, for and while loops, switch and try... catch blocks all behave exactly (or nearly so) as they do in these languages.JavaScript is a procedural and object-oriented programming language. In contrast to the syntactic class definition used in compiled languages such as C++ and Java, objects are created programmatically in JavaScript by attaching methods and properties to an empty object at runtime. Once built, an object can be used as a blueprint (or prototype) to create similar objects.
Why is it the most popular?
JavaScript is appropriate for beginners, intermediates, and advanced users. JavaScript does not require any environment variables to be set. Launch a browser such as Chrome, navigate to the developer tools, and begin coding. It's as simple as this to write a "Hello World" programme:
console.log("Hello World");
JavaScript's flexibility is perfect for advanced developers. The language only helps developers get things done by allowing them to focus on solving problems. Developers can use a combination of plugins and their own code snippets to make their applications work. JavaScript is relatively easy to learn but not easy to master. If you want to reach an advanced level, here are some of the concepts you need to know.
JavaScript's cross-paradigm nature: JavaScript supports both functional and object-oriented programming (OOP).
Apply design patterns in JavaScript: The Model-View* (MV*) design pattern is the most popular and has led to the development of several modern frameworks.
Inheritance via prototype chain: JavaScript cannot implement OOP in the traditional Java class-based model due to its dynamic nature. His OOP in JavaScript is achieved through a prototypical inheritance model.
Close: Closures provide access to the outer function's scope from the inner function.
Curry: Currying is the conversion of a function from being callable as f(a,b,c) to be callable as f(a)(b)(c).
Promises and Observations: These are useful when working with asynchronous functions.
TypeScript: This adds static typing to JavaScript.
2. Omni-platform
JavaScript can be executed anywhere, including Mobile phones, tablets, and laptop computers on both the client and server sides. JavaScript is a universal language due to its ability to run anywhere.
3. Open standards and community
ECMAScript is an open standard language that is a standardised version of JavaScript. Enterprises can create JavaScript implementations using ECMAScript. "An ECMAScript engine is a programme that executes source code written in a specific version of the ECMAScript language standard, such as JavaScript," according to Wikipedia. V8 and SpiderMonkey, two of the most popular engines, are open-source projects. JavaScript has been around for 25 years and has a large user base. Developers can choose. Because the community has created so many plugins and frameworks, the term "framework fatigue" was coined.
4. Modern frameworks
Modern frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue.js are stable and performance-optimized. Most frameworks are developer-friendly and have a strong community behind them.
5. Event-based programming
Event-based programming is one of JavaScript's most impressive features. There are built-in events on the website, such as 'onClick' and 'onHover' that wait for user interaction before executing a specific segment of code. For example, when you click the night mode toggle, an event is triggered that causes a piece of JavaScript code to change the CSS from light to dark across the site.
JavaScript can also be used to generate dynamic content for your website. Various HTML tags can be generated based on user input. For example, if you're on Facebook and click on the comment box to leave a comment on someone's post, that click is an event that executes a block of JavaScript code, resulting in the generation and display of an HTML tag. We welcome your feedback.
**6. Active community **
According to Stackoverflow, JavaScript has one of the most prominent programming language communities. Node.JS, along with this community, has been downloaded over a billion times globally, making it one of the most widely used technologies.
Takeaways
In this article, we learnt: What JavaScript is in detail, Some reasons for its popularity: it caters to beginner, intermediate, and advanced developers, Omni-platform, Open standards and community, Modern frameworks, Event-based programming, and Active community.
**Conclusion **
JavaScript was created as a pure browser language, but it is now used in various contexts. JavaScript is now the most widely used browser language that is fully integrated with HTML/CSS. Many languages are "translated" into JavaScript to provide specific functionality. Once you've mastered JavaScript, I recommend at least skimming through these.
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