You can use almost any programming language in the cloud,
but there are a few languages that stand out from the rest.
Let's talk about one of those languages, JavaScript.
JavaScript was originally created in 1995. Despite its humble beginnings,
it has matured drastically and become a robust language that is used today in a
variety of different ways. In 1995,
Brendan Eich created JavaScript for Netscape Navigator,
the most popular web browser at the time.
JavaScript allowed web developers to make websites more dynamic,
changing visual elements on the screen in real time,
as users interacted with the website.
There were multiple name changes during JavaScript's first six months.
It was originally called Mocha and then LiveScript,
before being named JavaScript. Despite the name,
JavaScript is actually not related to the Java programming language.
The name came about as a result of a partnership that existed between Netscape
and Sun Microsystems, the creator of Java. Today,
JavaScript has grown into much more than just a scripting language for the web.
It is a robust and versatile language that can be used in a variety of different
ways. So whether you prefer imperative programming,
a more object oriented style, a functional approach,
or even an event driven model, you can do it all in JavaScript.
JavaScript can do a lot.
It remains number one when it comes to adding dynamic interactive content to
websites. Today,
it drives almost every page on the web and is almost as essential to the
web as HTML. But JavaScript does a lot more than just drive websites.
It is used to build fully featured web based applications and mobile apps.
And JavaScript isn't just client side anymore.
It's now often used to write server side code as well due to its
versatility and ability to run on many different kinds of devices.
JavaScript even has a major role in developing games.
According to the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey,
JavaScript is the most widely used programming language.
There are several reasons why JavaScript has become such a popular language.
One reason is the central role JavaScript plays when it comes to the web.
JavaScript is everywhere and it is supported by all widely used web browsers.
Many developers naturally become familiar with JavaScript through their
experiences with web development and many go on to use it in other ways, too.
JavaScript is also a relatively easy language to get started with.
It's fairly easy for a beginner to do things like print "hello world",
or add some dynamic elements to a web page.
Another reason JavaScript is so popular is its versatility.
JavaScript is fairly open and unrestricted compared to languages like Java,
C# and Go.
This makes it easy to code with JavaScript in a variety of programming styles
and to use it in a variety of different scenarios. If you want,
you can use JavaScript for both the front end and back end parts of your
applications. JavaScript also has a large,
helpful community and many powerful and robust libraries and frameworks.
Whether you want to make a website, server-side application, or a game,
you will find frameworks and communities that can help you along the way.
So why should you learn JavaScript? Well, it's essential to the web.
If you want to do any kind of web development, you will likely use JavaScript,
but it's also a very useful language outside of the web browser.
If you're familiar with JavaScript,
you can use it to build all kinds of applications.
If you're programming in the cloud,
all of the major platforms make support for JavaScript priority.
JavaScript is especially powerful in the context of serverless offerings like
AWS Lambda, Azure Functions and Google's Cloud Functions.
If you still need more convincing,
the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey lists the median salary for a
JavaScript developer in the US at $112,000 a year.
So if you're looking to learn a programming language that is powerful,
versatile, and cloud ready, JavaScript is a great choice.
Did you enjoy this video? Would you like to see more?
Be sure to leave a like on the video and let us know in the comments what other
cloud programming languages you would like to see us cover.