Easy introduction to JavaScript

By: Charlotte Bistodeau

There are around 1300 programming languages in existence today but there are only a few that are most commonly used. I’m going to take you through the base languages of coding (HTML/CSS) and the most popular coding language (JavaScript) to give you a better understanding of something few stop to learn about.

HTML/CSS

HTML or HyperText Markup Language, is a markup language that’s used to give structure and meaning to web content and is the standard markup language for creating web pages. HTML consists of a series of elements that tell the browser, or a web page, how to display content. For example, defining paragraphs, headings, data tables, embedding images and videos into the web page.

Example of HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>Page Title</title>

Etc. etc.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets, is a language of style rules that describe how HTML elements are going to be displayed on the web page or other media. Stated simply, CSS is a coding language used to style a Web page. CSS can also be used to control the layout of multiple web pages at once which saves the coder a lot of work. For example, CSS is used for setting background colors and fonts, and laying out content in multiple columns.

Example of CSS:

body {

    background-color: lightblue;

}

h1 {

    color: white;

    text-align: center;

}

Etc. etc.

JavaScript

JavaScript is an easy programming language to learn, the most popular and the most used in the world. JavaScript is a scripting language that allows you to give web pages interactive elements and implement complex features such as dynamically updating content, control multimedia, animate images, timely content updates, interactive maps, pop-up menus, clickable buttons, and a lot more. JavaScript uses a combination of basic HTML and CSS to make the web page function.

JavaScript isn’t only good at making web pages but it’s also a great tool to start game development. Because Javascript is easy to learn and understand and can be used just about anywhere, it’s a great way to start game development of smaller games. JavaScript is not only used by beginners, but intermediates and also advanced coders, making it a great starter language for coding and programming.

Example of JavaScript:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<button type=”button”

onclick=”document.getElementById(‘demo’).innerHTML = Date()”>

Click me to display Date and Time.</button>

<p id=”demo”></p>

Etc. etc.

Out of all 1300 coding languages, these three are the simplest and most basic programming languages to learn. There are plenty of better coding languages for specific things such as C++ being a much better option for developing an open world game than JavaScript because C++ was built exactly for that sort of thing. But if you’re looking to get into coding then I can wholeheartedly recommend JavaScript to you.