5 Reasons You Should Learn JavaScript in 2021

JavaScript is the most used and popular programming language in the world, which makes it an excellent choice for a newbie.

I am often asked which programming language you should start learning to program with. The answer to that question is very simple: The programming language does not matter. The important thing is logical reasoning and your first contact with a programming paradigm. The rest will come step by step as you immerse yourself in the industry.

However, the truth is that I have encountered many who oppose learning JavaScript because of its notoriety in the industry. It is true that JavaScript was born with a purpose and the industry has used it to solve problems for which it was not originally intended. This has caused it to have a bad reputation among veteran developers or those who come from other programming paradigms.

But we cannot ignore that JavaScript has been receiving annual updates for more than six years (2015). Also, it has a large community that is giving it support and reviewing possible improvements.

In this article, I am going to give you reasons why you should learn JavaScript in 2021 — apart from the fact that you do not want to dedicate yourself to the frontend, where it is its first execution environment.

Read more: Ruby on Rails vs Javascript: Which is Better?

1. Beginner-Friendly

I want to talk about my beginnings in computer science. When I began to develop software at the age of 11 (approximately), I first learnt the Pascal and C programming languages without tools or the help of a compiler to know what was happening. In fact, it was quite hard to start learning to develop software and you needed a mentor to guide you a bit on this path.

Today, there are many facilities to start developing software, but JavaScript is a language that allows beginners to start developing software. Of course, this software will not be the best solution to the problem at hand, but a novice will be writing lines of code and starting their career in software development.

The next step is to not stop learning, to consider how to improve day by day, but you will already be in the world of development. In other words, JavaScript is a novice-friendly language that allows new developers to enter the field.

It is the task of veteran developers to guide newcomers on the right path of development. Newbies must listen and learn from the experience of the veterans. But that’s another topic that we can discuss at another time.

2. Most Popular Programming Language in the World

This statement can harm lovers of exotic languages who improve performance or security compared to other languages but are in the minority. In our case, JavaScript is the most used and popular programming language in the world, which makes it an excellent choice for a newbie.

This happens mainly because in the frontend world (on the web), there is no rival language. There is a monopoly of programming languages. In the past, it competed against VisualBasic Script, Action Script (Flash), or even Java Applets. But none of these languages have survived JavaScript. In fact, the only language that is beginning to occupy a prominent position on the frontend is TypeScript, which is a JavaScript superset. Therefore, it is highly recommended to know how JavaScript works in depth.

3. An Abundance of JavaScript Jobs

In any field or software development environment, we find several programming languages that solve the same type of problems. However, we have commented that JavaScript has a “monopoly” on the web application frontend market. That fact already places it in a privileged position compared to other languages.

The most interesting thing about finding jobs in JavaScript is that all the frontend tools/frameworks today are based on JavaScript, and it is highly recommended to know how JavaScript works in depth. In other words, if you want to opt for a job in React, Vue, or even Angular (it uses TypeScript as a language), you will need to have a knowledge of JavaScript.

Therefore, learning and understanding JavaScript will allow you to get a good and well-paid job. In fact, there is a big problem in the web development industry that will allow us to get a good job: There is a lack of professionals with solid knowledge of the JavaScript language.

At the time of writing, Indeed indicates that there are over 67,000 jobs requiring JavaScript in the U.S.

Not only is there a large number of jobs available, but the average salary is appealing too: $109,803 per year.

4. It’s Everywhere

When I was a university student, I heard that Java was the revolution because we could write the code only once and it ran on all devices — and it is true that Java managed to abstract us from the operating system with its virtual machine. I fell in love with the idea behind Java, and today, we have much easier and more comfortable “virtual machines” (i.e. web browsers) that execute JavaScript code. Therefore, in all the environments where a web browser is installed, we will have JavaScript. This means that we can have practically all the devices that an end-user can use.

This does not end here. For more than ten years, JavaScript has been able to be executed on servers thanks to Node.js. In fact, this allows us to have code written in JavaScript on small devices without the need for a graphical environment.

5. Community

Being unique in the world is something that humans have sought for years. In fact, in the fashion, automotive, and jewelry industries, it is something that has an extra cost for users.
In our context, being unique or being alone is a danger. Our work is collaborative. It is a field of work in which you have to be totally synchronized with your colleagues, and this is when there is strength in numbers. If the community of people who use the programming language create libraries, solve doubts, and help keep the language alive with revisions, these are advantages.
The size of the community is very important, and JavaScript’s community is possibly the largest in the world compared to other languages.
Here is some data that can help us deduce that the JavaScript community is one of the largest in the world:

Largest StackOverflow community — Stack Overflow is the largest platform for programming Q&A, and this is where you can see how the community helps to solve the problems of other colleagues.
Largest Meetup community — Meetup is a platform that allows you to connect with people who have the same interests as you. In terms of programming languages, the number of communities dealing with JavaScript is the largest on the platform (approximately 3,600 and more than 1.5 million members worldwide).
Most tagged language on GitHub. GitHub is the main open source repository that exists today (acquired by Microsoft). In this platform, JavaScript is the most tagged programming language of all the projects that are hosted on this platform.

Conclusion

This article is not about whether the JavaScript programming language is the best option to solve your problems or whether it needs to transform or not. We looked at why you should learn JavaScript in 2020 and even for years to come.
It is an analysis considering the positive points for you as a software developer. Of course, there may be another language or environment that will replace JavaScript in a few years, but you can transfer what you have learned in this language to the next.
In my opinion, you should not miss the opportunity to learn JavaScript because of its interesting advantages over other languages.

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