Features of JavaScript

Are you aware of the capabilities of JavaScript? JavaScript language does have certain unique characteristics that contribute to its popularity. Today, practically every website employs JavaScript, making it a highly useful language to learn. The best thing about JavaScript is that it does not require any prior programming skills, all you need is a basic understanding of it, and you are all good to go.

This post will discuss the Features of JavaScript. So, let’s start!

Features of JavaScript

According to Github, JavaScript is a top programming language. In order to properly appreciate what it can achieve, we need to understand the features of JavaScript.

So, now, we will briefly discuss the main features of the JavaScript language.

LightWeight Scripting Language

JavaScript is exclusively designed for handling data in a browser. Therefore, it is a “lightweight”, “specific-purpose” scripting language that offers several libraries utilized for different purposes. Also, the lightweight nature of JavaScript is a fantastic attribute meant for execution on client-side web applications.

Platform Independent

JavaScript is a programming language that does not depend on platforms. Its applications are called “WORA” (Write Once Run Anywhere) because JavaScript offers the functionality to execute the added code on any browser or platform without changing the script.

Dynamic Typing

JavaScript language supports “Dynamic Typing,” which signifies that the stored value determines the variable types. For instance, if you declare a variable named “str”, then it is up to you to store any type of value in it, such as string, array, or int. This concept is called “Dynamic Typing”.

In languages such as Java, you must explicitly specify the “type” of a “variable” while declaring it. However, JavaScript does not restrict developers to mention the data type at the time of declaration. So, to create a variable in JavaScript, utilize the keyword “let” and “var” and then store the required data type value.

Functional Style

JavaScript is based on “Functional Style” programming, which states that objects are defined using the constructor methods, where each constructor indicates a different object type. Also, JavaScript functions can be utilized as objects and passed to other methods for further processing.

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) support

OOP principles have been more refined in the “ES6” JavaScript version. Principles such as “Encapsulation” and “Inheritance” are considered the key aspects of OOP in JavaScript. These features are available for everyone to explore.

Language Interpretation

The JavaScript interpreter is a core browser component that runs the script line by line. Therefore, JavaScript is also known as an “Interpreted Language”. However, most modern engines of JavScript utilize “Just-In-Time” compilation to execute code.

Prototype-based Language

JavaScript is a scripting language that is based on prototypes. Instead of classes or Inheritance, prototypes are also used for creating objects for a specific class and multiple objects can be declared with the specified prototype. However, in Java, firstly, a class is created, and then you are allowed to declare an object according to the class type.

Client-side validations

Every website includes a form where it is required to enter data. To ensure that the user submitted the correct value, it is needed to implement the proper validations on both the server and client-side. In such a scenario, the client-side validations are implemented with the help of JavaScript.

Async processing

When an asynchronous request is made via “Promises”, JavaScript does not wait for its response, which sometimes becomes a reason for blocking the request. “ES6” also embeds “Async functions” that execute in parallel, which affects the processing time in a good way.

More controls in Browser

JavaScript supports several tools which help the developers in distributing the workload between browser and server through different activities such as basic validations and temporary data storage in cookies. In addition to it, the following useful features are also introduced in the JavaScript latest version:

• JavaScript has an extensive collection of built-in libraries with many advanced functions for data type conversion, validation, and string operations.
• It can detect browser name, type, operating system version, and other related client information for analysis.
• It also supports complex data types such as maps, arrays, lists, collections, and built-in methods for their manipulation.

That was all essential information regarding the features of JavaScript. You can further research as needed.

Conclusion

Different features contribute to the increasing popularity of JavaScript. From being a lightweight, object-oriented, platform-independent, and interpreted language to its functional style, dynamic typing nature, async processing, and client-side validations, these features make JavaScript an extremely useful language to learn. In this post, we have talked about the main features of JavaScript.