Even Wikipedia thinks JavaScript sucks. Here’s why.

Throughout the world of web development, there is no language more universally despised than JavaScript. This is how WordPress defines JavaScript:

JavaScript, often abbreviated as JS, is a high-level, dynamic, weakly typed, prototype-based, multi-paradigm, and interpreted programming language.

Confused already? We thought so. Let’s take you through each of those terms step by step.

 

High-level

Webopedia defines a high-level language (HLL) as “a programming language such as C, FORTRAN, or Pascal that enables a programmer to write programs that are more or less independent of a particular type of computer.” These are generally “closer to human languages and further from machine languages.” Programmers have debated this topics for more than a decade, stressing that a language that is human-like will deteriorate with time.

Dynamic

Sure, JavaScript is a dynamic language and is known for affecting the behavior of a website. Some animations are dependent on JavaScript, although there are numerous alternatives — CoffeScript, TypeScript, and Babel, just to name a few.

Weakly typed

Computer science is filled with an awful number of puns, but this one means what it says. According to Wikipedia, “a weakly typed language may produce unpredictable results or may perform implicit type conversion”. Unpredictable is certainly not a word that programmers, or even clients for that matter, want to hear.

Prototype-based

C2 Wiki states that in prototype-based languages, “every object is an instance of a class. An object contains its own data (instance variables), but its class holds its behavior (methods). To make a new object, you ask a class to ‘instantiate’ itself.” This process seems unnecessarily complicated, and would exhaust any programmer.

Multi-paradigm

A multi-paradigm language can freely mix with other frameworks. This can come in handy if the user has not decided on a framework yet. In this language, the computer is told what the problem is, rather than how to do so — this can come with its consequences.

Programming language

Yes, a programming language — not even close to a web script. Most web developers aren’t hardcore programmers and will shy away from the word once they see it, another reason why it is so universally despised.

We’d love to hear what you think about JavaScript in the comments below!

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