Is Javascript coding?

What is JavaScript?

JS is a programming/scripting language that lets developers implement lots of complex stuff on web pages. This dynamic language enables you to make interactive and highly responsive web pages. A web page developed using JavaScript has many outstanding features, including interactive maps, timely content updates, animated 2D/3D graphics, etc. The common JavaScript examples you might use on the web are refreshing your Twitter, a search box on a website, or a news recap video on a news website. 

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It’s worth noting that JavaScript works alongside HTML and CSS programming languages. HTML and CSS give structure and style to the webpages, while JavaScript injects the exciting aspect. 

• HTML: this is the markup programming language that lends structure and gives meaning to the web content – for instance, defining headings, paragraphs, and data tables or embedding videos and images on the page.
• CSS: this is a language of style rules used to apply styling to the HTML content. It is primarily applicable when setting fonts and background colors and laying out our content in many columns.
• JavaScript: This language enables you to develop dynamically updating content, control multimedia, and animate images with just a few lines of code. 

These three layers are nicely built on one another resulting in a functional website. 

JavaScript Data Types: The basic data types that JavaScript supports are Number, String (paragraph, sentence, or word found between quotes), Boolean, Array, Object, Function, and Null. 

JavaScript Variables: these hold values of any data type such that when variables are used, JavaScript utilizes values they represent for that operation. Variables can be assigned or declared.

JavaScript Functions: the functions let you store a code block to use in other places in your code. 

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Is JavaScript and coding the same?

Coding is the act or process of writing scripts in a dialect that your computer understands. Remember, computers do not understand human language, and so, if you want to see results, you must write it in a way that a computer understands. Coding is simply a way of creating instructions for your computers using a programming language—a computer code programs many things, including websites and other technologies. 

By contrast, JavaScript is a programing language conforming to the ECMAScript specification. This high-level programming language is multi-paradigm and is just-in-time compiled. Developers use JavaScript to create instructions for their computers in a process called coding.

Therefore, coding and JavaScript are not the same. While coding is the process of creating instructions for computers. JavaScript is one programming language in which coding occurs. 

Computer Code

Coding is a form of communication between humans and computers – humans use coding to instruct machines and computers on actions to perform. A computer features on and off switches called transistors. A binary code – 1s and 0s instruct the transistors to switch on (0) or turn off (1). Each transistor receives a 1 or a 0, and since thousands are working at once, it is possible to perform some computing.

Note that this process is slow, hence the need to develop high-level languages to help speed up the process. Instead of addressing individual transistors, it addresses the entire sections to perform a specific task with the machine code.

Programming languages, e.g., JavaScript, are rules that define how to write a code. The rules make machine language to be closer to human language. Computer coders use programming languages to develop computer programs. A computer program is simply a text file serving as an instruction manual for a computer. You instruct a computer to read a text file and execute its commands when you launch an app.

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What is JavaScript coding used for?

JavaScript programs have extensive use worldwide. Perhaps the most common place you’ll see JavaScript is on web pages. However, JavaScript codding goes far beyond that. By now, you know that JavaScript is one of the three technologies powering web applications, 

However, before you begin learning to code using JavaScript, you must understand what employs you can put that JavaScript code. Here are the typical uses of JavaScript:

Adding interactive behavior to web pages

JavaScript lends endless capabilities to make a web page super interactive. Among the various things you can do with JavaScript, here are a few:

• Changing a button color when a mouse hovers above it
• Show or hide more details with a mouse click 
• Animation display 
• Playing video or audio on a web page 
• Displaying a count down or timer on the home page 

Game development

You can create 2D and 3D video games using JavaScript. With more advanced JavaScript frameworks such as Phaser.js, you can quickly create more advanced games from your browser.

Front-end web development

JavaScript alongside HTML and CSS are used to create web page parts that users see and interact with within their web browsers. The best part of JavaScript is that it injects dynamism into pages making them more interactive.

Back-end web development

JavaScript is also powerful at creating code that runs on web servers. Commonly, the popular framework to develop robust server-side code in Node.js. 

Mobile development

JavaScript is currently a popular programming language in creating mobile apps. In the past, android developers preferred Kotlin or Java, while iOS developers used Swift or Objective-C. Mobile development frameworks, e.g., React Native and Ionic, have made it easy to create an app running on both platforms. 

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI libraries such as TensorFlow make it possible to use JavaScript in creating machine learning models to predict future events using data. 

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How do you code JavaScript?

JavaScript makes web pages react intelligently. Thus, developers can create intelligent web pages – such pages remind visitors what they have forgotten when filling in information. Besides, you can make elements move around a page or appear and disappear. But how do you code in JavaScript?

Console in a Browser

Most modern web browsers offer access to a Developer Console to allow working with JavaScript in an interface resembling a terminal shell. The part that understands JavaScript is a JavaScript interpreter, and it executes steps of JavaScript code. 

Remember, web browsers always expect HTML and XHTML; so, it is important to tell them that JavaScript is coming – use <script> tag.

The <script> tag act as a switch that welcomes the JavaScript code.

External JavaScript Files

An external JavaScript file is a nice thing to use when creating scripts to share with all of the pages on your site. An external JavaScript file simply contains JavaScript code and ends with the file extension .js. This file links to a web page using the <script> tag. When generating a code, the attribute src occurs, and it points to a file on a website. You can attach multiple external JavaScript files to a single web page. For instance, you can connect both files if you have external JavaScript files that control a dropdown navigation panel and another to add nifty slideshows to a page of photos.

JavaScript Program

Open your text editor and open hello.html. You must have a text editor, JavaScript installed, and a web browser. 

• Click an empty line before the closing </head> tag and type <script>, a HTML tag. 
• Press the return key and type alert(‘hello world’); – this is your first JavaScript code. 
• Press the Return key and type </script>
• Launch your web browser and open the hello.html file, and click OK

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What is JavaScript in HTML?

To add interactivity to a website, developers typically use a script. A script can do many things, such as generating a pop-up alert box message or a dropdown menu. A script can be written using JavaScript. However, any scripting language can be used to create small functions – event handlers and then you can trigger them using HTML attributes.

External JavaScript

You can use functionality within a file or in an external file. If you are using it in different HTML documents, keep the functionality in a separate JavaScript file. You will then need to include that file in your HTML documents. As earlier stated, the JavaScript file will have a .js extension, and it will be included in the HTML files using the <script> tag.

The HTML <script> Tag

To define a client-side script, JavaScript, use HTML <script> tag. The <script> feature has script statements. However, it can also point to an external script file via the src attribute. The common use of JavaScript on websites is image manipulation alongside dynamic changes of the content. JavaScript more often uses documents.getElementById() method to select an HTML element.

Internal Script

It is possible to write a script code directly into the HTML document. Here, you’ll keep the script code at the document header using the <script> tag. Else, there is no restriction – you can put your code at any place in the document but inside the <script> tag.

Event Handlers

Event handlers represent defined functions that can be called against an event – keyboard or mouse. Within the event handler, you can define your business logic, which varies in terms of the number of code lines. 

HTML tags create objects, while JavaScript allows developers to manipulate those objects. A typical example is using HTML and markers to create documents or web pages and then using JavaScript to interact with them. 

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Use of JavaScript HTML.

JavaScript and HTML alongside CSS work together to bring into life dynamic and interactive websites. HTML – HyperText Markup Language is a language that creates detailed instructions about the style, format, type, makeup, and structure of a web page before it’s presented to visitors/rendered. So with HTML, you can structure your page into elements like sections, headings, paragraphs, navigations, and bars, among others. So, think of HTML as a language that provides the skeleton of a web page. 

To give your web pages an excellent design, you will need to use CSS – it gives websites the appearance. So, it offers the skin of the website. On the other hand, JavaScript is a programming language that lets you program actions, conditions, network requests, calculations, concurrent tasks, etc. To access elements use, Document Object Model API (DOM), and you are free to make any changes. Ideally, JavaScript injects functionality (brain) into a website. 

Using JavaScript and HTML together results in creating highly functional stuff -as it makes it easier to manipulate them. By now, you know that the HTML tags are used to create objects, while JavaScript lends the ability to control the created objects. For instance, you can create a web page using HTML and tags and then use JavaScript to create interactions such as embedding videos. 

Therefore, the primary use of JavaScript HTML is to ensure that you end up with a highly functional website. 

Every website uses HTML. If you look beneath the hood, you will unravel the HTML code page. This page is written with an HTML structure editor, and it provides a structure for all the page’s components – header, footer, main content, and other inline elements.

The structure that HTML code creates can enhance, reference, and manipulate elements using JavaScript. Make all headings using HTML and pick a color and size to reflect your taste. 

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JavaScript vs. Java

The names Java and JavaScript can be a little confusing. Truth is the commonest thing between the two languages is the term Java. Although there may be other similarities, the two languages are very different in terms of structure and function.

JavaScript was developed by Netscape, Inc. Designed in 1990 as LiveScript; JavaScript is a powerful tool for interpreting the user’s commands. It hardly creates stand-alone applications or applets. Commonly JavaScript resides within HTML documents and provides a high interactivity level to web pages, something not achievable with simple HTML.

On the other hand, Java was created in 1995 and is a product of Oracle. Java powers over 3 billion devices. Its principal use is seen in android app, web apps, desktop apps, database connections, etc. Perhaps the biggest advantage of using Java is that it runs on different platforms and is fast, secure, and powerful.  

Similarities:

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). They both feature objects, which gives them access to various technologies, including encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.
• Front-end development. You can embed JavaScript directly into HTML and implemented it as a library or framework. You can use Java as an applet. 
• Back-end development. Java powers backend technologies, including JBoss, Apache, and WebSphere. By contrast, Node.js is the launchpad for JavaScript-powered servers.

The key differences:

JavaScript is an objected-oriented scripting language, while Java is object-oriented programming. Programs developed with Java execute in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This allows running the programs on different systems, platforms, and devices, i.e., cross-platform capabilities.

JavaScript lends the ability to create dynamic pages to make them more interactive when used alongside HTML. Again, it has a just-in compiler which drastically improves its performance. 

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Advantages of JavaScript

Here are the distinct advantages of using JavaScript:

Speed

JavaScript is faster to the client-side. Typically, this programming language was written for the client-side; thus, it does not require web server support for execution. The script is fast, and it runs it can run immediately within the client-side browser. Also, it is unhindered by the network call to the backend server unless outside resources are needed. 

Remember, you do not need to compile a script on the client-side, giving it a speed advantage. Results are usually completed almost instantly, but that depends on the task.

Simplicity 

Learning and implementing JavaScript is pretty straightforward. JavaScript uses the DOM model, which provides multiple pre-written functionalities to different objects on pages. This makes it very easy to develop a script to solve a custom problem. 

Versatility/ Interoperability

JavaScript blends excellently with another scripting/ programming languages, making it possible to use it in different applications. There are various ways to use JavaScript via Node.js servers. For instance, when you want to bootstrap node.js with Express, select a document database such as MongoDB and then use JavaScript on the front-end for clients. That makes it possible to develop a whole JavaScript app from front to back using JavaScript alone. 

Server Load Balancing

JavaScript is majorly a client-side programming language, which means that it reduces the demand on the website server. It means that the processes waiting in line to access computer processors are few. Thus, it increases performance and reduces downtime. Remember, JavaScript is usually used inside a script in another language. This reduces demand on the website server. 

Third-party add-ons

There are several add-ons available for JavaScript – for instance, Grease-monkey enables JavaScript developers to write JavaScript snippets that can execute on desired web pages to extend their functionality.

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JavaScript download

Some modern browsers have JavaScript built-in. That means that you don’t need to download 

JavaScript and install it f you are using such browsers. Note that JavaScript comes as a default; you can simply change your browser setting if you don’t want to use it. 

Internet Explorer supports VBScript in addition to JavaScript. To control the two programming languages, use the settings known as “active scripting.” Otherwise, you can control each one of them using specific settings. 

Even with the JavaScript already in your browser, you’ll need to download not the scripting language but rather the scripts that you intend to run on your web pages. 

Free JavaScript Downloads

Most scripts are free. However, you need to download them from a reputable site offering those sites for free instead of copying the scripts from any sites. 

Note that any JavaScript code that performs notable tasks has copyright – the author must permit you to use them. Also, ensure any free download comes with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to install and use them. 

Perhaps, the essential thing is ensuring that your free JavaScript downloads are up to date. Note that JavaScript keeps changing. New libraries and tools are added when the need arises. A script is usually created to work on popular browsers at that time. So, before downloading anything, familiarize yourself with what is currently considered the decent way of writing JavaScript. This way, you can choose a version that works well with the popular current browsers. 

Always update your JavaScript when more modern versions are released on the market. Some new releases are a direct replacement, making it much easier to replace. Always choose a JavaScript version that interacts well with the custom code within your web page. Even so, you can find versions that offer pieces that perform tasks that you want. Usually, they come with instructions on how to such the code pieces together to perform the task. 

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