It was the number 1 most common programming language in 2022, and also the most common language every year for the last 10 years. With an accolade like that it’s no wonder why so many people choose to learn JavaScript as their first programming language. But should you learn it? Let’s consider the facts:
Nearly all of the websites and web applications I’ve worked on use JavaScript to some degree, whether it’s just a couple of lines here and there or the entire codebase is built with it. And for that reason it is a good thing to know because it’s almost certainly gonna pop up at some point in your new coding career.
By the way, when I say “popular” I mean that JavaScript is a very common language used on the web, not that the majority of developers love using it (in fact, most developers seem to dislike using it from my experience).
JavaScript was traditionally used just on the front end but these days it’s common to have JavaScript running both the front and the back. This could be great if you’re just getting into coding and don’t know if you want to become a front or back end developer because you’ll have the chance to try both the front end and the back.
Because JavaScript is so ubiquitous having it on your CV will make you more attractive to employers because it’s likely that their app uses it. Even if you’re not a JavaScript expert and not going for a pure JavaScript role, knowing the basics of the language can certainly help land your first professional developer job.
Even though many developers are keen to ditch JavaScript and move on to a more modern solution (in fact in 2022 the creator of JavaScript himself said “the best thing we can do with JavaScript is retire it”), the reality is that it’s probably not going anywhere soon. If you choose to start learning JavaScript today then it’ll probably see you through for the rest of your career, and even if it does get replaced the newcomer will probably be similar so switching your skills to the new technology should be fairly painless.
Most coding languages require you to set up your computer with a development
environment before you can even write “hello world”, but JavaScript is already
installed and ready to go on your computer right now. If you want to try
learning some JavaScript you can just write a .js file then open it in your
web browser, simple as that. Or if you want to learn the JavaScript command line
your web browser will have one built in. All very convenient and avoids
potential complications with getting your computer set up to start learning.
In the last few years there has been huge progress with some really great JavaScript based frameworks so knowing JavaScript will give you a huge head start when using tools such as React and VueJs. It’s possible to use such tools without a strong knowledge of JavaScript but you’ll definitely learn faster with one, so if you fancy making cool apps in Angular or Meteor, or Polmer, or whatever the new thing happens to be then maybe JavaScript is for you.
JavaScript is known for having faults and inconsistencies which people on the internet love to scream and shout about, and these often catch out both new and seasoned developers. However, that is no reason disregard JavaScript as your first language because learning any programming language (or or anything new for that matter) can be confusing at first.
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