10 Facts About JavaScript Every Developer Should Know

JavaScript has been around since the mid-90s, and it’s still going strong! It’s such an important component of the web and digital programming that almost every website uses it in some capacity.

Developers often have a love-hate relationship with JavaScript.

On the one hand, it is a powerful and versatile language that makes creating web applications easier than ever before.

On the other hand, its unexpected behavior can be frustrating and time-consuming to debug. From developing complex interactive user experiences to managing data efficiently, JavaScript provides developers with endless opportunities though it sometimes requires patience and extra effort to get things working correctly.

Despite the occasional challenges posed by this language, many developers still find joy in mastering its intricacies and applying them to solve real-world problems.

But how much do you really know about this versatile programming language? Here are 10 fun facts about JavaScript that you probably didn’t know. 

10 Interesting Facts About JavaScript

1. Javascript was created in just 10 days. In 1995, Netscape asked developer Brendan Eich to create a scripting language for its web browser. He did it in just 10 days! What he created would become known as JavaScript. 
2. It was originally called Mocha. When Eich first presented his new language at Netscape, they decided to call it Mocha instead of JavaScript. Thankfully, this name didn’t stick around for long! 
3. JavaScript was probably named after Java. JavaScript is often regarded as an entirely different language from Java, but this wasn’t always the case. At one time, there was support for running Java applets in the browser – making it possible to access powerful Java code without needing to install an application. With this in mind, it made sense for the developers of JavaScript to borrow from the popularity of Java and ride on the already-established success.
4. JavaScript can be used on both client-side and server-side applications. While most people think of JavaScript as only being used on client-side applications (i.e., websites), it can also be used on server-side applications as well! This means that developers can use it to create entire web applications from scratch – no other language is required!  
5. JavaScript has been standardized across all major browsers. Back in 1997, Microsoft and Netscape collaborated to come up with standards for scripting languages like JavaScript so that they could work across all major browsers without issue – this led to the development of ECMAScript (the official standard). Every major browser supports ECMAScript 5 (the latest version) which ensures compatibility across platforms and devices.
6. JavaScript can be used to create games. Thanks to its versatility and support from all major browsers, developers are able to create full video games using only HTML5 and JavaScript. There are many game libraries such as ThreeJS and BabylonJS available that make this process even easier! 
7. JavaScript has been around longer than Google. Google wasn’t founded until 1998 – three years after Javascript made its debut on the web! That means that Javascript has been around longer than Google itself – pretty impressive considering how much power Google now holds over the internet today!  
8. jQuery was created to simplify JavaScript. The popularity of JavaScript in the early 2000s led to a huge influx of new developers who were unfamiliar with the language. To help newer developers work with it more easily, jQuery was created – a JavaScript library that makes tasks like DOM manipulation and event handling simpler than ever before.
9. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that adds additional functionality. As the popularity and complexity of JavaScript have grown over the years, so have the needs of developers who work with it. One popular language that aims to cater to these needs is TypeScript – a superset of JavaScript that adds support for optional static typing, class-based object orientation, and more.
10. NodeJS is a server-side JavaScript runtime environment. NodeJS is an open-source project that aims to bring the popular JavaScript language to the server side. It provides tools for building scalable network applications and services and features such as asynchronous I/O and non-blocking I/O which make it really efficient for use in this context.

Whether you’re a seasoned web developer or just getting started with coding, understanding how powerful javascript can be is essential for any modern programmer or coder today – not only does almost every website utilize javascript but many popular apps use it too – making understanding javascript essential knowledge if you want to build great products or services online today.

As we’ve seen here today there are lots of fun facts surrounding javascript – hopefully, these have helped spark your interest in learning more about this powerful programming language – happy coding everyone!