JavaScript is Not A Computer Language?

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of working on a contract at Canadian Forest Products. I worked with a great group of people who had worked together for years, on a good project with clear requirements. While I was there, I used the remote scripting toolkit from Microsoft, which allowed me to communicate with the server without reloading the web page: we now call this technique AJAX. I wrote a lot of JavaScript.

While I was there, Terry French, team leader of Canfor’s e-business effort,  expressed an opinion. I am paraphrasing after years have passed – if I do not get it right, I hope Terry will forgive me: “You code as if JavaScript were a programming language.  It is not. It’s a scripting language. It’s great for providing simple form interactions, and validating fields on submit. That’s it.”

If this blog were a trashy daytime TV talkshow, it would be one of those look-at-me-now shows. You know the kind: people who were unpopular in high school, but who have made good, confront their tormentors. Terry was a great guy to work with, but on behalf of the much maligned computer language, JavaScript, I say: look at me now!

Server side JavaScript is making a comeback.  But, wait, there’s more.  JavaScript programmers now get to deal with sophisticated concepts such as currying, callbacks, closures, array comprehensions, and test driven development in JavaScript.

And then there are those lovely libraries: JQuery, Mootools, and YUI, just to name a few. JavaScript has come a long way. What do you think of JavaScript now, Terry.

If you are interested in Javascript, check out Douglas Crockford’s videos on JavaScript at Yahoo Video.