JavaScript is a general purpose scripting language that runs both in the web browser and on the backend using technologies such as NodeJS. On the web, we can use JavaScript to create interactive applications that do not need to reload the entire page plus other cool things. On the backend, we can use it to access the database, create APIs, chatting apps etc. Javascript Online Tutorial

Lesson Prerequisites

For you to successfully complete this lesson, you should have the following requirements

NodeJS - we will be executing JavaScript files directly using NodeJS from the command line. Alternatively you can execute the files in the web browser but that takes a a little more time and involves working with multiple programs.

Web Browser - a web browser can be used as an alternative to executing JavaScript files that we will be working with.

Visual Studio Code - we will be using it as the code editor. It comes with a built-in terminal that will allow us to easily execute JavaScript code from within the text editor. You can also use any code editor that you prefer.

Jobs Available for JavaScript Developers

You basically have three (3) major categories as follows

Front-end Developer - as the name suggests, you will work on the front-end. That is to say the user interface.

Back-end Developer - you will be doing cool backend staff like writing APIs, Business Logics, Data access and storage etc.

Full-stack Developer - the best of both worlds, you will be doing what the front and back-end developers do.

What applications can you develop with JavaScript?

Gone are the days when JavaScript was considered a toy language that you use to make web pages interactive. It is now a mature language with the support of big tech companies like Google, Facebook, etc. JavaScript can be used to develop the following types of applications

Web Applications - well this one is obvious but we still have to mention it. Most web applications use JavaScript to make them interactive. We have online applications for running source code, graphics designing, playing videos etc that heavily depend on JavaScript to work smoothly

Mobile Applications - frameworks such as PhoneGap, Sencha Touch etc. making use of JavaScript as one of the components that allow developers to create cross-platform mobile applications.

Real-time network applications - features of JavaScript enable us to create real-time applications in a networking environment that allow users to communicate with one another. For example, you can use web sockets to create two way communication apps that deliver messages instantly and much of it depends on JavaScript.

Utility Tools - you can use JavaScript to create utilities like Command-line tools. A good example of a command line tool that is written using JavaScript is NPM. NPM is a command line tool for NodeJS that is used to manage packages.

Games - everybody loves games. You can use JavaScript to create games that run in the web browser or on Desktops supported by NodeJS.

Read more: Vuejs Tutorials Online

Desktop Applications - Visual Studio Code is a popular text editor that is created using NodeJS. As you already know, Node allows us to run JavaScript on the backend and create cool apps.