The Future of JavaScript Programming

OK!!! I am not known for my prognostication skills. 10-years ago I remember standing before a Flash technology group and declaring JavaScript as dead. I also stated that the future was Flash and related technologies. I even wrote several books on the subject. Then, in 2010, Steve Jobs declared Flash as being dead and everything changed.

The future is, indeed, with JavaScript and the many related technologies being built around it.

Few can dispute that JavaScript is the fastest growing language today. A recent study by StackOverflow showed that JavaScript is used for 62.5% of new projects while Java (no relationship to JavaScript) is used 39.7%. In other words, JavaScript is quickly replacing nearly all other programming languages.

In the past JavaScript was confined to the browser. Today, JavaScript related technologies like Angular, React, Vue, and many more have taken JavaScript out of the browser and even created server-side capabilities traditionally held by programs like Java, C#, PHP, and Python. Today, there are, on average, 2 new JavaScript related technologies coming into existence a year.

At the heart of JavaScript related technologies is a concept called Single Page Applications or SPAs.

In traditional web applications you call up an HTML page like Amazon.com’s home page. You type into a form what book you are looking for. That request is then sent to Amazon’s servers. Those servers find what you are looking for and use that information to create a new HTML page which, in turn, is sent back to your browser. If you make 5 requests that process is repeated 5 times.

With a JavaScript SPA page, you once again call up the HTML home page of Amazon. But, when you request the information, it is sent directly back to your browser and JavaScript creates the new page right in your browser. This means faster and more efficient responses, both important for today’s mobile technologies.

JavaScript also gives you the capability of developing Progressive Web Applications or PWAs. These are web applications that look and feel like native applications and can even work if you are offline.

As a development language JavaScript by itself (called raw JavaScript) does have its weaknesses. But those weaknesses are being addressed by new development languages like TypeScript. They take raw JavaScript and add additional capabilities that address the underlying weaknesses. As a matter of fact, many of the new JavaScript technologies, like Angular, are built over TypeScript which, in turn, is built over JavaScript.

You may be asking now how you can get onboard with all of this new technology.

I will be releasing a basic JavaScript course here at the Learn Programming Academy in a few weeks. This will be the most comprehensive JavaScript course available. From there, I will be releasing a TypeScript course later this year. These 2 courses will give you the foundations needed to learn most of the emerging JavaScript technologies like Angular, Vue, and React.

In 2019 I will be releasing courses in these 3 technologies. All together, they will give you everything you need to be a complete and powerful JavaScript programmer.

I will also be writing regular blogs here to supplement the information.

As I say at the end of each of my videos…..SEE YOU THERE!!!!!!