When it comes to web applications, developers are ruined for choices. With too many languages and frameworks, one trend to think about which one would be perfect for a given application. Recently past the debate of Java VS JavaScript is taking majority. According to us, JavaScript is swiftly overtaking Java, which would be the one language that a web developer should learn. In this article we will discuss reasons to choose JavaScript over Java for web development and why JavaScript is getting popular day by day.
When JavaScript was introduced it was perceived just an extra option that Netscape added to its browser. Many programmers initially dismissed it, but later on, they noticed its forward-thinking features such as lambdas and functions as first-class objects until it brought them to the mainstream. Now after 20 years, everything has changed. Web applications are the most prevailing medium for people to interact with the computing world. It is presently used by 94.5% of all websites and more server applications are also written using JavaScript.
Let us now see the top 5 reasons that why you should choose JavaScript over Java.
Reason 1: One Language for Frontend and Backend programming
JavaScript was originally introduced as a frontend interpreted language. Its main goal is to bring interactivity with users by bringing features like event handling, forms, browser handling, and document (HTML) handling. This continues to be true with 94.5% of the world’s top 10 million websites use JavaScript in the frontend. We can even go to the lead and say that JavaScript is the only interpreted language which is unanimously accepted by all web applications and browsers. The most interesting part of JavaScript is, it doesn’t stop here. Developers of JavaScript are constantly adding more interesting features which have resulted in JavaScript started ruling the backend programming as well.
When it comes to backend there were already many languages presented (PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, etc). So, the norm was to learn one programming language for frontend another for backend. With these exclusive compensations, JavaScript scores significantly higher than Java.
Reason 2: Develop Faster and Smoother
From writing fewer numbers of lines to re-using packages, there are many features that make JavaScript development a draft. Let us take a look at them one-by-one:
1. Re-usability:
In the server-side JavaScript programming, there is a huge library available in the form of Node Package Manager (NPM). It has more than 7 lakh packages or libraries available for reuse, thereby emerging as the biggest repository in the world. Such wide-ranging support is not available for Java, which speeds up the development.
2. Lines of Code:
In JavaScript reduced lines of code helps to achieve more functionality, unlike Java. This is mainly due to the interpreted nature of JavaScript, which provides a higher level of concept. Availability of many rich features and library developers can achieve the same functionality with a lesser number of lines than Java.
3. Scalable:
JavaScript is a scalable language. It has an event-driven framework that lessens the consumer’s amount of resources than Java. This makes it lightweight and efficient, thereby reducing the load on the backend. Joined with non-blocking I/O, JavaScript enabled developers to create scalable web applications.
4. Tools:
There are various tools available for JavaScript developers. It gives an Open source ecosystem support for best-in-class editors/IDE. It also makes some excellent tools available at zero cost. Such tools increase the productivity of developers.
Reason 3: Easy to Learn, Faster to master
Java is an object-oriented programming whereas JavaScript is an object-based scripting language. Many of their programming structures are similar. Although, JavaScript consists of a much smaller and simpler set of programming constructs than Java. Also, it can be easily read and understood by the developers than many programming languages. As a developer, an individual gets started with JavaScript in the front-end and makes a transition into a full stack developer. It offers many easier aspects in the frontend that makes JavaScript having one of the smoothest learning curves when it comes to developers.
Reason 4: Most Popular Language
JavaScript has emerged as a flexible and powerful programming language, implemented constantly by various web browsers. By foraying into backend JavaScript has become very popular because it has turned web browsers into innovative technologies like virtual reality, gaming, animation, and rendering. Many breakthroughs in JavaScript are rising as it makes into device or embedded systems programming thereby playing a significant role in the Internet of Things, thanks to upcoming JavaScript frameworks like Cylon.js.
In summary, it is becoming a Swiss army knife of programming languages, where it can be used for many different purposes in different contexts. No wonder it continues to be one of the most popular programming languages.
Reason 5: Great Statistics
Last but not least- Numbers and Numbers! JavaScript has the best statistics; here are some of them for your reference.
A. More than 900000 servers expanded Node.js which is the highest growth rate among all.
B. Job opportunities for those who have excelled in JavaScript has increased vastly. There has been more than 25000% growth in job opportunities all over the world for JavaScript developers and more companies are finding it difficult to hire JavaScript talent.
C. More than 10000 companies are trying to include Node.js as the key skill to hire people which even includes the top 5 companies. JavaScript is the most trending and popular language among all the Full Stack web developers globally among all surveys, thereby demonstrating a great future.
Conclusion:
JavaScript has emerged are more adaptable programming language than Java. It is due to many reasons- continuous development, backend usage, multiple domain growth, ease of use, efficiency, tools, etc. On the other hand, Java has not achieved this level of growth even though is still widely used. So, these were some reasons to choose Javascript over Java, let us know your feedback by posting a comment below.
