Javascript

We could imagine JavaScript as a kind of digital sommelier. It’s a coding language that provides the user of a web page with different options that are optimised for the way they want to use that web page, in the same way a sommelier offers a diner wine that matches their choice of food from a restaurant’s menu.

Alongside HTML and CSS, JavaScript is one of the most important programming languages in the World Wide Web. It is particularly important in controlling how web pages behave as we interact with them. 

JavaScript originated as a coding language specifically for web browsers. As internet technology evolved, it became a central technical element of many servers, and is also used in a wide range of software applications. 

Over the two decades since it first rose to prominence with the growth of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser in the early 2000s, JavaScript has become dominant as the so-called ‘client-side scripting language’ of the World Wide Web. Client-side scripting describes the process whereby different interfaces within a specific web page, for example a navigation menu and a shopping cart, can change as a result of specific actions from a user’s input device. For example, when a user adds an item to their shopping cart on an e-commerce site, the navigation menu may change (or even disappear) to direct the user towards the checkout. Such a process will very likely, although not always, be controlled by JavaScript. 

At Modular we believe anyone can understand how websites, apps, and other digital technologies work if we talk about tech in plain English. The core technologies that underpin the World Wide Web can actually be quite fascinating if we switch off the jargon, grab a cup of coffee, and take a closer look.  

You can reach out to me for jargon busting advice or to pick my brains on whatever is causing you Tech Angst and confusion on 07584 652854 or email emma@thisisismodular.co.uk

Written by Emma Millington, Head of Customer Relations