Use cases of JavaScript

The internet is a global network of interconnected computers which can send and receive data to other computers. You can request for a resource, and a computer will give it to you. For example, when you visit the URL, the HTML page will be served. Early days people used the internet for advertising their companies, with websites built using only HTML and CSS. Not a great one, but it did the job. But as time goes, people needed websites to be more attractive and interactive. So, some developers in Netscape (If you haven’t heard about it, it’s a big deal in the olden days) decided to write a language to manipulate the HTML elements in the browser. Thus, born JavaScript. Please understand JavaScript and Java are not related. It’s just named in that way for marketing the language. I hope this section gave you an idea of what requirement or need led to the creation of JavaScript.

Simply to put, JavaScript is a programming language for the web which can be used to update both HTML and CSS; it also performs all the logic, so you can do validations, calculations, manipulation of data.

It doesn’t need any compilation and rather needs interpretation. Why? When you compile a language, it will be converted into native code, and native code cannot be executed by other computers with different CPU architectures. But scripting language is written to compile by other programs, like a browser. So, send it as a code to any browser, which then reads it line by line and interpret and execute 

Common examples of JavaScript uses and applications include:

1. Presentations
2. Web Development
3. Server Applications
4. Web Applications
5. Games
6. Mobile Applications 

It is important that you learn how to utilize such a language for the benefit of your own business. Continue reading to learn more about when and where to use JavaScript.

What Is JavaScript?

In some ways, JavaScript is the programming language that made the World Wide Web what it is today.

While the World Wide Web was created in 1989 by a British scientist by the name of Tim Berners-Lee, its advent had little to do with how it is used today.

Lee, who worked at a research organization called CERN, simply wanted to share information with other scientists like himself. And after developing the first web browser in 1990, this tool, so to speak, was in fact rolled out to other research institutions.

The Mosaic browser, whose creators later founded Netscape, was the first web browser with a graphic user interface, marketing itself to non-technical consumers who played a large role in the World Wide Web’s exponential growth. This was in 1993.

From then on, Netscape decided to improve upon its initial innovation. At this point, web pages could not do much more than click and load. Netscape sought to change that.

In the process, they developed a new browser and started embedding programming languages to alter the user experience.

Finally, they determined that creating a new programming language would be the best solution, and so became JavaScript. JavaScript’s original legacy to make web pages come alive is demonstrated by its features.

What Are the Advantages of JavaScript?

Given an elementary knowledge of JavaScript, it’s not difficult to discern the language’s value.

But your business has to compare how it ranks with other languages.

Your business must factor in competitive brawn just as much as applicability in any strategic decision.

You must know what qualities permit JavaScript to rival and beat its competitors.

The following JavaScript examples explain in detail the varying uses of JavaScript.

1. Presentations

Developers have the option of recruiting two JavaScript libraries, RevealJS and BespokeJS, to generate a slide deck on the web.

RevealJS is an HTML presentation framework that implements touch into its programming.

Hence, online presentations can be accessed by those with mobile devices like phones and tablets. This framework supports all CSS color formats as well as miscellaneous themes, transition styles, and backgrounds.

The BespokeJS plugin is a feature-heavy framework that supplies rich properties such as scaling, animated bullets, and syntax highlighting whilst coding. BespokeJS is characterized as being lightweight.

2. Web Development

Web development involves all the behaviors enlisted to create a dynamic and interactive web page.

In addition to performing web page interactions, JavaScript can open PDFs, run widgets, and load web page content in the absence of a refresh.

3. Server Applications

Node.js is the most frequently used runtime environment for JavaScript, where developers can write, test, and debug code. Through Node.js you can write server-side software.

An example of a JavaScript server application is the Opera Unite feature of the Opera Browser.

Opera Unite lets users run server applications like file sharing and streaming straight from the web browser.

4. Web Applications

Angular and Vue.js are popular JavaScript frameworks that developers make use of during app development.

Netflix and PayPal were developed with AngularJS and APIs.

An application programming interface (API) is a protocol for accessing web-based software.

5. Games

Games in JavaScript tend to harness the EaselJS library, a library known for its rich graphics. JavaScript and HTML5 are a favored combo for creating games on the web.

HTML5 is designed so that you have full access to the web unaccompanied by additional plugins like Flash.

To that end, it’s cross-platform, so you won’t have to bother with switching devices to get a full web page.

6. Mobile Applications

Mobile applications are built to be stand-alone apps void of any web-based context. JavaScript developers look to React Native and ReactJS for this type of development.

• React Native

React Native serves the purpose of mobile app building well as it specifically supports the implementation of native features into hybrid apps. Though hybrid apps use web technologies, they can be launched from a mobile app platform without opening a web browser. 

• Virtual DOM

ReactJS is responsible for building user interfaces. It is often used for the base of mobile apps.

The document object model (DOM) is a chief component of ReactJS. Consider DOM as an API for HTML and XML documents, allowing the user to read and manipulate the content on a page.

Virtual DOM (VDOM) entrusts the cache to hold a virtual instance of the DOM in memory. VDOM works in place of DOM as a less intensive clone where developers can edit a single component of the DOM at a time.

Only the changes will be synced with the original DOM. In refusing to render the real DOM, VDOM solves the issue of building large applications where data changes often, speeding up operations as a whole.