![]() ![]() Like many, my introduction into the pleasures of JavaScript came through the warm and friendly world of jQuery. JavaScript might have it’s problems but I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. What started out as a quick & dirty language knocked together by Brendan Eich in just 10 days has become the world’s most widely supported programming language. ![]() There is a JavaScript interpreter on almost every web-enabled device. The buzz of a language on the move is both exciting and addictive - go to any JavaScript conference and you’ll see what I mean.įinally, there is the sheer ubiquity of the language. ![]() There seems to be a new testing framework or MV* framework cropping up each month, and that’s not to mention the lightning pace of Node.js’ evolution. JavaScript, by contrast, is the top language on github (at the time of writing), and it shows. Despite the appearance of new frameworks like Play, and new features to the language itself with version updates, Java felt quite slow moving to me. The second aspect to JavaScript development that tempted me across is the rapid evolution of the language. I know that this is a personal preference, but for me this feedback is important. Coding in JavaScript, on the other hand, usually involves active changes to the DOM - changes that you can see and interact with, changes that feel more tangible somehow. Aside from the green bars of passing tests, or the steady stream of logs in the console, positive feedback needs to come from the internal knowledge of a job well done. Coding with Java can be deeply rewarding, but you don’t really get to see very much. Firstly, and most importantly, there is a more direct connection with the thing I’m creating. In contrast, although JavaScript first appeared in Netscape 2 way back in 1995, it wasn’t until the appearance of rich web applications like GMail and the proliferation of AJAX a decade later that people started to sit up and take notice.įor me, there were three main reasons why JavaScript is well worth considering as a primary language. Java is a very established and well-respected language, and I believe that despite the growth of languages such as Ruby and Python, it still has many years ahead of it. The challenges of multi-threading, the security of strong typing, and the maturity of frameworks such as Spring and Hibernate are not easy to turn one’s back on. There is still a part of me that considers Java to be a ‘proper’ programming language compared to JavaScript. I feel a real sense of flow when I’m flying through an inheritance hierarchy refactor, the NetBeans keyboard shortcuts burned into my finger muscle memory. From BlueJ at University through to Technical Lead on a suite of web apps in my previous company, I’d always thought of myself as a Java developer. Ignoring brief educational forays into Visual Basic, ActionScript and even ADA, Java is the first language I truly knew. Even up until a few months ago I hadn’t seriously entertained the idea of giving up Java. I must confess, if you’d asked me a couple of years ago I may well have thought the same. To those that still view JavaScript as a toy language which isn’t for serious programmers, this may seem like a bit of a foolish life decision. I’m turning my back on the language and have accepted a job as a full-time JavaScript developer. I’ve been a professional Java developer for five years now, and I’ve decided to take a bit of a gamble. Secondly, I have started on a new stage of my career, and I want to share my thoughts and experiences. Firstly, I recently read this excellent post outlining the benefits of blogging, such as improved clarity of thought and more effective communication. I’ve finally got round to starting it now for two reasons. It’s been on my todo list to start this longer than ‘sort out the photos under the bed’, and that’s saying something.
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