Is JavaScript the Right Tech For Your Next Software Development Project?

There are still a few programmers who claim that discussing the differences between JavaScript and PHP is pointless since both caters to various website development purposes. For web development or custom software development, that answer is pretty straightforward—PHP is a server-side scripting language while JavaScript is client-side.

Here, we focus on JavaScript and determine if it’s the right technology to use for your next software development project. What exactly is JavaScript? A client-side scripting language that’s lightweight and executes in the browser to create not just interactive but dynamic web pages as well.

It’s used widely for building web pages that are creative and user-friendly, and non-web projects as well, like mobile apps, software development, game development, and so on. Since it doesn’t require recompiling, it thus boosts time efficiency. Furthermore, there are advanced server-side JavaScript versions, such as Angular.js and Node.js that allow designing sites with more functionalities than simply downloading files.

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JavaScript — The Advantages

For any software application development, JavaScript provides several advantages.

1. Simplicity:

Inspired by Java, the programming language’s syntax is easy to learn compared to other programming languages.

2. Popular:

All over the web, you can find JavaScript, and with the Node.js advent, it’s increasingly used on the backend. Moreover, you can find countless resources to learn it. Both GitHub and StackOverflow show a growing number of projects using JavaScript, and the traction that it has acquired recently is only expected to grow and escalate.

3. Speed:

The JavaScript programming language has a tendency to be extremely fast. This is because it’s run often immediately within the client’s browser. Just as long as it doesn’t require any external resources, the speed of JavaScript will not be hindered by calls to the backend server. Major browsers moreover support the just-in-time compilation, meaning that there would be no need to compile code before it’s run.

4. Server Load Advantage

Since JavaScript is client-side, it reduces the overall server demand, and simple apps may not require a server at all.

5. Interoperability:

In contrast to other scripting languages, such as PHP, for instance, JavaScript could be inserted into any web page. Furthermore, it could be used in different applications because of the support in other languages, including Pearl and PHP.

6. Rich Interfaces:

The programming language could be utilized in building features, which include drag and drop, and components such as sliders as well. All of which boost both the user experience and user interface of a website significantly.

7. Functionality Extended:

By writing JavaScript snippets for third-party add-ons, such as for instance Greasemonkey, app developers are able to extend the web pages’ functionality.

8. Flexibility:

There are numerous ways to use JavaScript through the Node.js servers. You could make use of a database when you bootstrap Node.js with Express and use JS on the client’s frontend.

9. Upgrades:

ECMA International has been dedicated to annually updating JavaScript since the scripting specification ECMAScript 5 came about.

JavaScript — The Disadvantages

1. Support For Browsers:

In different browsers, JavaScript is interpreted by a browser in a different manner. The code, therefore, should be run on different platforms before publishing. Older browsers don’t support some new functionalities, and you should check them out too.

2. Client-Side Security:

JavaScript code could be seen by users; thus others may tend to use it for malicious intents. These practices could include using the source code without authentication. Moreover, placing some code into the website that jeopardizes data security over the websites is very easy.

3. Sluggish Bitwise Functionality:

JavaScript stores several 64-bit floating-point numbers and operators operating on 32-bit bitwise operands. JavaScript, therefore, converts the number to 32-bits signed integers, operates on them, and then converts them back to 64-bits JS numbers.

The continuous conversion takes in converting a number to an integer. This increases the time required to run the script and lowers its speed.

4. Scarcity Of A Debugging Facility:

While some HTML editors support debugging, it’s not as efficient as others. Moreover, there is no error shown on the browser, thus it’s hard for a developer to detect the issue.

5. Single Inheritance:

The language supports a single inheritance only, not multiple inheritances. Some programs may need this characteristic of an object-oriented language.

JavaScript and PHP — The Differences

In web and software development, among the languages that often come up are JavaScript and PHP. Which to choose for your software development project? Let’s try to determine the differences.

1. Availability:

Availability plays a huge role in determining the difference between the two. It defines who the owner of the script is, and who could modify them. PHP, being an open-source language has a source code available for free.

The web community is the owner of the language, and it could be altered from its original design. For PHP developers, this is helpful since there is a myriad of support provided by users. JavaScript is an open standard program maintained by Ecma International and the W3C and is a non-free program.

2. External Code Integration:

PHP code could be combined only with HTML code. JavaScript, on the other hand, could be combined with XML, HTML, and Ajax.

3. Concurrency:

This means that a task is not completed until all threads and sub-threads have finished processing. Thus, all the threads start and end at the same time. PHP has multi-threaded blocking input/output to simultaneously do several tasks with a systematic approach.

In contrast, JavaScript uses single-threaded functional scripting to achieve an event-driven model with the execution of a non-blocking input/output that ensures everything would concurrently run.

4. Simplicity:

The significant difference between the two is their simplicity to learn and use. JavaScript seems more difficult to learn because of its advanced features, complexity, event queue usage, and violation of some rules supported by other languages. Although PHP is powerful with a bigger library, using it is simpler.

PHP offers a function for every operation you come up with. A lot of popular websites, such as Facebook, use it due to its simple nature.

5. Runtime Environments:

Both encompass various runtime environments. Both, however, could be integrated effortlessly with HTML code. PHP adheres to a seamless installation approach and makes use of the Zend Engine as a run-time and compiler engine.

The extensibility, performance, and reliability of the Zend engine play a critical role in boosting PHP’s popularity. JavaScript could perform tasks that other server-side programming languages could not do with the introduction of Node.js. It could have controlled content access, customized user experience, and data analysis. Both Node.js and JavaScript could execute on the runtime engine of JavaScript Version 8.

Conclusion

Between PHP and JavaScript, when is it the best time to use JavaScript for your next project? JavaScript is among the most popular and used programming languages worldwide. While it was designed to help front-end web developers build interactive elements, its use has quickly expanded to include software, mobile app, game development, and so on.

If you are interested in all these things, then you should seriously consider learning and using JavaScript. Determining what the language is used for would open your eyes to the many advantages of learning how to code. JavaScript is a good option to consider for any software development project.

About the Author:

Jenny S is a tech geek and an enthusiast writer whose aim is to create informative and compelling content to help readers navigate through the vast and ever-changing IT Sector. Please visit here to know more about her company.