Over the past 20 years or so since when JavaScript was released, it has become the most popular programming language for web development today. You can understand the importance of JavaScript as a web development language from the fact that as per the recent reports, JavaScript is currently being used by more than 94 percent of all the websites.
JavaScript is a client-side programming language which helps web developer to do Web Application Development and make dynamic and interactive web pages by implementing custom client-side scripts. Developers can also use cross-platform runtime engines like Node.js to write server-side code in JavaScript. Developers can also create web pages which works well across various browsers, platforms, and devices by combining JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3.
There are many JavaScript Frameworks available in the web market like AngularJS, ReactJS, NodeJS etc. By using these frameworks, you can reduce the amount of time and efforts required for developing JS based sites and apps. JavaScript allows the programmers to build large-scale web application easily. It simplifies the whole process of developing large-scale web applications.
SlashData’s Developer Economics is one of the leading research programs on mobile, desktop, IoT, cloud, Web, AR, VR, game, and machine learning developers. It tracks the developer experience across platform based on thousands of developers annually. As per its 14th Developer Economics global survey, the following developers trends for 2018 emerged:-
- SlashData report says the future is AI and the related emerging technologies like self-driving cars, brain computer interface etc will make biggest impact in the next 5 years.
- Developers now adopting serverless platforms to reduce cost by paying for only what they use.
- AR is an emerging as hot technology for developers with both companies Apple and Google releasing inbuilt AR on their smartphone platforms. For AR/VR both companies are targeting the devices that customers already use i.e smartphones and desktops.
- SlashData also presents an estimate for the number of active software developers using various programming languages used across the globe.
This report says, JavaScript is the most popular programming language used by about 10 million developers worldwide. At second place is Java and Python is also catching up with 6.3 Million active developers. The rise of machine learning is pushing Python up.
Why a WordPress Developer Needs to Learn JavaScript?
JavaScript is extensively used by the web developers to create various web applications and to add interactive features to them. Most of the internet browsers support JavaScript, which allows dynamic content to get displayed beautifully on web pages. WordPress is the most popular CMS today and JavaScript also plays an important role in WordPress development. A web developer with good knowledge of JavaScript can make different applications robust and scalable. If you want to be an expert WordPress developer then you need to learn JavaScript so that you can make smart decisions right from the beginning.
Also, many of the WordPress themes and plugins have been created with extensive use of JavaScript. JavaScript also comes bundled with WordPress in the form of various JavaScript libraries, such as jQuery, JSON, Backbone.js, and Underscore.js. Hence if you know JavaScript then you can understand, customize and use them better in your WordPress website development.
JavaScript is also being increasingly used in WordPress admin in recent releases and this trend is likely to continue in future. Recently Calypso, an entirely JavaScript powered version of WordPress admin was released.
You can use the below tips to make your work lot easier:
Learn Basics of JavaScript
Learning the basics of JavaScript will help you to understand the required JavaScript skills that are utilized in WordPress development.
Choose the Right JavaScript Framework
You should have basic knowledge of different JavaScript frameworks. Popular JavaScript Frameworks are:
- Angular
- ReactJS
- Ember.js
- Vue.js
Using JavaScript Framework, you can finish the creation of JavaScript applications quickly. If you are an active WordPress developer then you should have sufficient knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can use any of the JavaScript frameworks but initially, you should choose React or AngularJS to perform web development work.
The needs of WordPress developers can be divided into two main categories: backend and frontend. If you are into frontend development, you have many options to choose from but if you are a backend developer then you can choose Node.js easily.
Become Proficient in JavaScript
Although you can start WordPress development even with a little knowledge of JS, you should soon aim for becoming proficient. This will help you to develop user-friendly web applications.
Overall it’s clear that JavaScript is a great option for WordPress users.
Now let’s discuss the advantages of using JavaScript for your next web application development project and to know why it still remains the most popular web application development language.
JavaScript is Cross Browser Compatible
One of the good things about JavaScript is that it is supported by multiple web browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera etc. Hence the users can access the web applications on any web browser of their choice easily. They can just enable the JavaScript language if it is disabled and can enjoy all the functionality of the site.
JavaScript comes with lots of Libraries and Frameworks
JavaScript Frameworks and libraries make it easy for web developers to build large, JavaScript-based web applications. There are many dynamic JS frameworks like AngularJS, ReactJS, EmberJS etc. Using these frameworks, developers can easily, quickly, and efficiently develop highly interactive and professional looking web applications. JavaScript also has lots of libraries which you can use as per your requirements. For example, you can do GUI development using widgets like Bootstrap, jQuery or AngularJS.
Easy to Write JavaScript Code without using any Specific Tool
You can write the JavaScript code easily without using any particular type of program or tool. You can just open a notepad and write your JavaScript code. You can use many editors to find out the mistakes in the JavaScript code. The editor reformats the JavaScript code and allows you to discover the bugs and error quickly and easily.
Simplify Complex Web Application Development
JavaScript is an interpreted programming language still it simplifies development of complex web applications by allowing the developers to simplify the application’s composition. The developers can use JavaScript libraries to create DOM boundaries. This shadow DOM further makes web browsers deliver documents with widely used HTML tags like select, div and input.
Responsive Web Design
Nowadays most developers do responsive web design to make a website accessible and work well across multiple browsers and devices like smartphones and desktops. Responsive web design enables the developers to optimize the site for both computers and mobile devices using the same code. The developers have to combine the CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript to make the web pages responsive. The developers can use JavaScript to optimize web pages for mobile devices.
Google AMP Project
Google has started the Accelerated Mobile Pages(AMP) project to create websites which deliver richer user experience across various mobile devices. Google has implemented many optimization techniques to increase the loading speed of the mobile web pages and it requires developers to integrate AMP technology into the web pages by using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Means the developers have to use JavaScript for optimizing websites for mobile devices for AMP.
Conclusion
As we have discussed, there are several reasons why JavaScript has become the most popular programming language in the world among various type of developers including WordPress developers. JavaScript is a robust programming language that helps developers in building large scale web applications easily and quickly.
JavaScript not only lets you build a highly interactive web app but it also helps in enhancing the speed, performance, functionality, usability, and features of the application without any hassle. Now developers and programmers are increasingly using JavaScript to make their web applications deliver best and optimal user experience across various devices, browsers, and operating systems. Developers should also learn about various JavaScript libraries, frameworks, and tools and combine multiple libraries and frameworks to use the JavaScript as per the requirements of the projects.
Judi Toledo
Being an experienced software developer at Xicom Technologies, Judi Toledo is passionate about web & mobile technologies. Researching on new technology that could help to enhance software functionalities. She keeps eye on the latest happening in the software industry to remain updated with the current market trends.
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