JavaScript is a very powerful but lightweight front-end development language for web applications. Looking at the history of JavaScript, it was created in 1995 by Brendan Eich while he was an engineer at Netscape. JavaScript was first released with Netscape 2 early in 1996. It was originally called LiveScript, but it was renamed JavaScript to cash on the popularity of Sun Microsystem’s Java language which was taken over by Oracle Plc.

JavaScript is sometimes confused with ECMAScript which is the European Computer Manufacturers Association known for setting standards for the Information Technology Industry. The ECMAScript merely refers to the organisation’s approval of JavaScript. Since that edition, there has been many revisions and editions of the Script and are published annually. The most and current ones are the 2019 – ECMAScript 2019 (ES2019) and ECMAScript 2020(ES2020), which is the 11^th edition and released in June 2020.

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language and as such cannot handle the backend work, Node.js was developed to handle this task. There are other scripting languages but they are platform-dependent – that is to say that they are not cross-platform. There is Bash for the Unix Operating System and the Visual Basic for the Microsoft applications.

As JavaScript is an integral part of web development and applications, all browsers and web editors are embedded with the JavaScript engine. You can read, write, code and run on any editor and web browsers such as Firefox, Goggle Chrome, Internet Explorer and the host of them without the need for installing and configuring the JavaScript engine. There is also Lau which used as an extension language and widely used.

JavaScript is as popular as the World Wide Web because it is used in almost all websites and apps all over the world. The first point of contact of the world wide web is HTML and followed by CSS and thirdly the JavaScript. It is a dynamic language and used by creative organisations for movies, games, animations, imaging and other interactive applications such as emails, live chats and other applications.

JavaScript engineers are sought all over the world and there is no limit to what you can do with JavaScript with a creative mind. It is in the top five programming languages in the world. I can say that every website and apps run JavaScript which is the subject and HTML and CSS.

The most advantageous thing about JavaScript is that the learning circle is very short because it is very easy to learn and understand compared with other programming languages. It is used by front-end developers and as such, there will be the need to learn HTML and CSS which are mark-up languages. The mark-up languages structure the look, feel and readability of your web pages and apps while JavaScript brings dynamism to your web pages.

You can learn it from any university or other providers. The difference between us and them is that we put in the maximum effort to teach you online or onsite at a very reasonable price. If you chose our online course, there will be tutors in the background to support you by zoom or slack.

When you qualify with us, we will keep supporting you until you secure the job of your dream. There are always employers looking for JavaScript developers and on average, you stand to get work quicker than others trades or professions and earn as much as 47 per cent more than other professions. If you have a creative mind, you can start your own business and exploit it.

ES6 – ECMAScript 2015

Formerly, variables were declared with ‘var’. The ES6 a new standard that was introduced in 2015, now allows the use of ‘const’ and ‘let’ in the declaration of variables. They are more restrictive than the ‘var’ and we shall introduce some examples to show you how they work.

Declaration of Variables

We can declare a variable with:

var // global

const //constant

let //Used within the scope

var name; //declares the variable name.

var name = “Conqueror”; //declared and assign the variable

Note: It is case sensitive = name and Name are not the same.

The best way is using camelCase – firstName.

Strings are written with quotes.

Numbers are written without quotes.

Examples of Declaring and assigning the Variables

const fname = ‘Conqueror’;

Const lname = “Emperor”;

let age = 30;

Note: Note that a String can have single or double quotation marks while numerics do not have. It is a good practice to end your code with a semi-column but is not a requirement.

Now open your text editor and practise this exercise by typing and running the following exercises:

//practice examples

Using Var

<script>

var name = “Conqueror”;

console.log(name); //Output: Conqueror

</script>

Now, let us change the code to output a different name – Emperor.

<script>

var name = “Conqueror”;

name = “Emperor”;

console.log(name); //Output: Emperor

</script>

Using Let

<script>

let name = “Conqueror”;

console.log(name); //Output: Conqueror

</script>

With the ‘let’, we can get the same result as above.

<script>

let name = “Conqueror”;

name = “Emperor”;

console.log(name); //Output: Emperor

</script>

Using Const

<script>

const name = “Conqueror”;

console.log(name); //Output: Conqueror

</script>

In this case, we cannot get the same result instead we have error because a constant cannot be changed. You use it when you do not anticipate to change it and not very soon without reworking it.

<script>

const name = “Conqueror”;

name = “Emperor”;

console.log(name); //Output: Error

</script>