JavaScript (js) - Application | Features | Limitations

Introduction:

                JAVASCRIPT – JS is a cross-platform, lightweight, object-oriented, and interpreted compiled programming language often known as a scripting language for websites. It is an imperative as well as a declarative type of language.

                It is globally used to make interactive, animated, beautiful, and elegant designed webpages. Nowadays, ECMAScript-6 is an extended version of JavaScript. is used to make mobile screens in React-Native Framework. Aside from designing user interfaces, JavaScript is used as a backend language too.

                In this article, the history of JavaScript, core usage as front-end and back-end technology, its frameworks, features, applications, limitations, and quick questions-answers would be followed.

JavaScript

History of JS:

                An Engineer of Netscape, Brendan Eich, created JavaScript in 1995. Originally, the “LiveScript” name was suggested for it.

JavaScript as Frontend Technology:

                JavaScript needs an environment to run on, a few of the popular ones are the v8-engine of chrome and monkey of Firefox. It was originally made for browsers to control the content rendering on it. It provides objects to control browser renderings and document object models (DOM).

                It listens to the events i.e., mouse hover, scroll, page navigation, mouse clicks, pagination, buttons events, and forms inputs, etc., and performs actions accordingly.

Internal JS:

                JS code is embedded within the HTML code inside the .html or .php etc. file using

                 <script>.. js ..<script>.

External JS: 

                JS code is written in a separate .js file and the link of the file is mentioned inside the header of the .html or .php file.

Frameworks / Libraries:

                JavaScript has many front-end libraries which are used to take the designing and functioning of the web app or webpage’s UI to the next level, for instance, Single Page Applications – SPA, etc. which enhance the user experience with the UI.

e.g.:

React JS – designed and maintained by Meta–Facebook.

Angular JS – designed and maintained by Google LLC.

Vue JS – designed and maintained by the community.

JavaScript as Backend Technology:

                What do you think if you learn just one language and become a Full Stack Web Developer? Happy! Exactly JavaScript comes with this feature to be used as a frontend as well as a backend developer. "Ryan Dahl" had put the v8-engine of chrome in a C++ Program and made the server as a JS environment known as Node JS.

                By creating a JS environment on the server, JavaScript became the server-side language and got the ability to communicate with a database, solved the routing, and many other server features.

Express JS: 

                It is a framework of node js or server-side js. It is often used for small size web-projects i.e., Messaging/Chatting (Peer to Peer) Apps, etc.

Features:

Popularity:

                JavaScript is the world’s most popular language as per a survey conducted by Stack Overflow.

Server – Browser Support:

                Become Possible with Node JS and v-8 Engine.

Libraries and core elements:

• Array, Date, and Math libraries
• Operators
• Control structures and Statements.

Functional Components (ES-6):

                Functional Components are the most powerful tools of ES-6 i.e., default lifecycle methods, can include other functions within themselves and are exported too for any referencing. Functional Components are used for small code sizes and many core features are present within it.

Easiness:

• No compiler is needed (even can run on the console of the browser)
• Easy code syntax
• Loosely typed nature.

Others:

• Can Handel HTML-Form Validations.
• Object-Oriented Nature (Objects and Classes)
• Functional Components
• Client-Side Scripting
• Case Sensitive i.e.   A! = a
• Objects and Arrays are Inter-Changeable (JSON – JavaScript Object Notation)
• Memory Management
• Exceptional Handling
• Fast Performance

Applications:

Web Development:

                JS is the frontend/browser scripting language used for Web Development since its birth.

Web Application:

                JavaScript is used to create Web Applications i.e., SPA – Single Page Applications with React JS or Angular JS, or Vue JS.

Server Application:

                Node JS, it is used as a server-side language. It is commonly used to create REST or SOAP - API (Application Programmable Interfaces).

Mobile Application:

                React Native Mobile Applications are the product of ES-6 syntax and run and debug on Node JS. This Framework is used to create Dual-Platform (Android and IOS) Applications with a single code.

Games:

                All web/browser-based games are built on JavaScript.

Machine Learning - ml5:

                The ml-5 library, it uses machine learning and AI algorithms with its programs.

Limitations:

Security:

                Its built-in script tags and use of external libraries i.e., AJAX make it vulnerable to Cross-Site-Script Attacks.

Performance:

                Its performance is normal but as compared to other programming languages of its age is slow due to its nature of architecture.

Weak Type Check:

                It is a loosely typed language which makes it debugging a bit complex and confusing when it comes to complex application usage. TypeScript is used to make it a strictly-typed language.

Week Error-Handling:

                Diagnose the errors of code, it got complex when the program size grows. Console.log and console. warn commands are not sufficient for advanced and complex projects.

Quick Questions-Answers:

Question-1: Is JavaScript a Server-Side Scripting Language?

Answer-1: By origin, it is not a server-side scripting language instead was created for the sole reason to make static webpages dynamic and bringing them to life. But with the development of Node JS, a JavaScript environment on a server created by embedding v-8engine in a C++ program, it becomes a server-side language too.

 

Question-2: Is it able to handle HTTP requests?

Answer-2: No bare JS can’t handle HTTP requests, but Node JS can handle HTTP requests. Aside from handling HTTP requests, it can also manage databases and routes too.

 

Question-3: What is the difference between plane JavaScript and ES-6?

Answer-3: Plane JavaScript, like all other languages, is a programming language. While ECMAScript is the standardization of JS. With ES-6 many new features were added to the language.

 

Question-4: Why JavaScript is known as a lightweight programming language?

Answer-4: It is often well-known that JavaScript is a lightweight language because it uses CPU in very small quantities. Its syntax of statements is minimalistic.

Conclusion:

                Therefore, it would be justifiable to conclude that JAVASCRIPT – JS is a developer-friendly language. One can use it for almost all fields of Computer Technologies i.e., Frontend/UI – Development, Backend/Server Side Development, Mobile - Development, and  Game - Development, etc.

                JavaScript with ES-6 Standard and TypeScript becomes the language of most useable language, and it diversifies its domain to multifaced technologies.