Let's begin by saying that JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages would be an understatement. In 2019, StackOverflow reported that JavaScript was used more than any other language by 69.8% developers. Even more staggering is that JavaScript is used as a client-side programming language by 97% of all websites in 2020.
Why Is JavaScript So Popular?
The popularity of JavaScript is probably down to its speed, allowing for faster websites and applications. Maintenance and upgrades are simple for developers to carry out, and this enables quicker, easier debugging. JavaScript can also be run with other programming languages for a great range of possibilities.
Despite JavaScript celebrating its 25th birthday recently, it is still an incredibly important programming language in modern development. Without features like client-side scripts, server-side code, and integration with HTML5 and CSS3, MEAN Stack, and evolving Java version, developers can't create software that will meet client demands.
What Are the Best Uses of JavaScript?
Thanks to the wide range of JavaScript libraries and frameworks, this language can be used for a variety of software projects, such as:
Web Development & Web Applications 💻
JavaScript is essential for web development as it is a language that web browsers can understand, unlike other languages that need to be on a server. Furthermore, JavaScript can be understood by all browsers, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc. Developers can write JavaScript code and open it on a browser.
JavaScript is frequently updated with updates for Modules, Module loaders, Symbols, Unicode support, libraries, and frameworks, meeting developers' requirements. The latest version of JavaScript, ECMAScript 6, is a perfect example as the tools have been simplified to use web applications.
When you look at modern JavaScript frameworks, you can see how it is now incredibly simple to create complex single-page web applications. Look at frameworks such as Angular, React, and Vue.js, as well as the massive range of tutorials to make it even easier.
Mobile Applications 📱
Originally, developers had to learn one language for Android app development and another for iOS. By using JavaScript, you only need to focus on one programming language regardless of the operating system. Developers can use the combination of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML to focus on UI/UX for different platforms.
Another advantage of mobile applications is that you can execute on the client-side and therefore save bandwidth. If you are looking to include dynamic animation, JavaScript has the solutions.
Web Servers & Server Applications 🧳
Node.JS is an ideal solution for web servers. Node.JS is event-driven, and servers don't buffer data being transferred, so it speeds the process up. Node. JS is also used in creating scalable network applications. Lightweight apps use the server to be distributed over systems.
Game Development 🕹
Once again, as soon as you combine JavaScript with HTML5, you can create some amazing games. Ease JS library enables rich graphics and 2D bitmaps (Sprites). The API offers a hierarchical display list, and after creating a Stage, you can render the display list in the target canvass. As we are talking about graphics, art projects can also be created with JavaScript and HTML5 with 3D shapes drawn on a canvas and opened in the browser to be used as a new medium in any digital art project created.
Smartwatch Applications ⌚️
It's not just mobile and web applications that are using JavaScript. The Pebble JS library can be used to develop smartwatch apps, and considering the ease of use that comes with JavaScript, it can also be used for the applications of other devices.
Presentations & Slideshows 👨🏻🏫
If you want to create a presentation as a website, Reveal.Js and Bespoke.JS libraries can create web-based slide decks. There are different transition styles, themes, backgrounds, and a plugin with extra features. Presentations can be viewed on mobile devices and tablets.
As JavaScript is regularly updated and evolving along with the demands of technology, there are endless possibilities for its uses. JavaScript is being used to develop flying robots, so it's a case of watching this space for what it will be used for in the future.
The Best Apps Built with JavaScript
Creating a list of the best websites that use JavaScript is difficult, considering its vast use. The apps we have listed are the best in terms of user experience and the sheer volume of traffic they handle.
- Netflix- Whether you subscribe or not, you can't help but marvel at its growth to become the most popular video streaming service in the world. Node.JS greatly helped its success in reaching more than 148 million subscribers. Separate APIs written in Node.JS reduced the total development time, lead to faster loading times and intuitive movie previews.
- Candy Crush- In 2018, Candy Crush was bringing in over $4 million per day. Candy Crush was developed with JavaScript and then added React Native to enable users to invite friends and share scores, significantly increasing user engagement.
- Facebook- With 2.45 billion monthly users, Facebook has experienced incredible growth since the developers created React Native. React Native resolved quite a few problems for Facebook. The user experience (particularly for mobile use) was improved, as was the design, and real-time event loaded faster.
- Uber- Uber has services in 178 countries, and thanks to Node.JS, the company is able to process 2 million requests per second! The principal reason for choosing Node.JS was because of the amount of data it can process, and fast.
- LinkedIn- When changing to JavaScript and HTML, LinkedIn combined the front and backend team, saving time and money. The speed of the app increased, along with performance and memory usage. The company saw a 23% increase in mobile usage.
JavaScript Trends in 2020 and Beyond
There is no doubt that JavaScript is going to remain popular as we go into the new year. Interestingly, there are some trends we have noticed that will also continue for the foreseeable future.
TypeScript Will Become More Popular ✍️
In 2012, the superset of JavaScript—TypeScript was developed. A with JavaScript, there have been huge improvements, and more companies are starting to move over to this language, even tech giants like Facebook. We have seen it enter the top 10 lists, and it is likely to rise up on these lists.
Rivalry Between Libraries 📚
The title of the best JavaScript library has a few top runners. React has been the favorite for a while, being used by big names like the BBC and WhatsApp. Some swear by Angular. Don't be surprised to see Vue slipping into first place for some developers soon.
Greater Use of Web Components 🧩
If you have seen how Facebook and Twitter now work far better on mobiles, it is because the developers chose to use web components. These components don't require as much runtime and allow for more flexibility.
Competition for REST 🥇
GraphQL is considered the future of query languages and is an efficient way of collecting data. As companies continue to gather more massive amounts of data, there will be an increasing demand for GraphQL.
The New Framework, Svelte 🕸
This is a component-based UI framework for JavaScript. Its main advantage is the ability to generate code that can manipulate the DOM. Developers are left with enhanced runtime performance as well as lots of other rich features.
Reusable Code 🔢
It is logical that developers want to reuse code as it is going to save time compared with writing code from scratch. Bit allows you to turn components into building blocks and then share them with different applications and projects.
JavaScript Projects That Are Making a Difference
Each year, the JavaScript Open Source Awards recognize open-source projects that are considered impactful. Here are some of the winners from 2020.
The breakthrough of the year 🧪
Svelte (as mentioned before) and Deno won this category. Deno is a runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript, and it is both easy and secure. It took two years to create, and the 1.0 version was released in May. As Deno supports WebAssembly, it can be used to run native libraries to write in complies-to-WebAssembly.
Most Exciting Use of Technology 🤖
Mock Service Worker or MSW is an API mocking library. It uses the Service Worker API to intercept a request so that it can be cached. It will respond to captured requests with the mock definition on the network level, and the app doesn't know anything about the mocking. API mocking with MSW can be carried out during development, testing, and debugging, and there is no need for mocking fetch or backend.
Fun Side Project of The Year 😃
If you have ever wanted to transform yourself into a vector character, now is your chance with Pose Animator. Your 2D vector illustration takes 436 3D facial landmarks for facial recognition thanks to MediaPipe FaceMesh, and with TensorFlow.JS, real-time pose estimation brings your character to life.
Most Impactful Contribution to the Community 💥
Another product that is related to data and the use of data efficiently, Perfume.JS is a web performance library that measures user-centric performance metrics. High-Resolution Time is one of the APIs used to gather data based on the experience of real-world users. Collected data can then be sent on for analysis.
Productivity Booster 🧠
Snowpack leverages JavaScript's ESM to build web applications in constant time, less than 50 ms. It supports bundled production builds via plugins and has built-in support for JavaScript and TypeScript as well as JSX, CSS, and Vue and Svelte with plugins.
There are many products, especially in technology, that have evolved to the same extent as JavaScript. Not only that, but it has managed to continue to meet user needs while remaining simple to use and fast. Most would agree that the possibilities for JavaScript beyond 2020 are very promising.
Wrap-up
JavaScript, is a well known and established programming technology that is here to stay. With the dozens of applications and limitless capabilities, JavaScript will grow, it's the community will expand, and we will see more and more use cases over the incoming year 2021. Hopefully, we were able to give you some interesting info about the upcoming trends in the JavaScript ecosystem. Being a software house that employs this language extensively, we are, of course, ready to help you out in particular challenges you may face when thinking about making a JavaScript-based web app. If that's the case - don't hesitate to contact us! The button is just below the article! 👇🏻
