Programming JavaScript Applications

Chapter 1. The JavaScript Revolution

JavaScript is arguably the most important programming language on earth. Once thought of as a toy, JavaScript is now the most widely deployed programming language in history. Almost everyone with a computer or a smartphone has all the tools they need to execute JavaScript programs and to create their own. All you need is a browser and a text editor.

JavaScript, HTML, and CSS have become so prevalent that many operating systems have adopted the open web standards as the presentation layer for native apps, including Windows 8, Firefox OS, Gnome, and Google’s Chrome OS. Additionally, the iPhone and Android mobile devices support web views that allow them to incorporate JavaScript and HTML5 functionality into native applications.

JavaScript is also moving into the hardware world. Projects like Arduino, Tessel, Espruino, and NodeBots foreshadow a time in the near future where JavaScript could be a common language for embedded systems and robotics.

Creating a JavaScript program is as simple as editing a text file and opening it in the browser. There are no complex development environments to download and install, and no complex IDE to learn. JavaScript is easy to learn, too. The basic syntax is immediately familiar to any programmer who has been exposed to the C family syntax. No other language can boast a barrier to entry as low as JavaScript’s.

That low barrier to entry is probably the main reason that JavaScript was once widely (perhaps rightly) shunned ...