In 2018, career growth is probably one of your key goals. With this in mind, should you be learning JavaScript? Also known as JS, JavaScript, is used to make web applications more interactive, rather just just being static, plain pages. It’s used by 94,5% of all websites. And here’s the kicker: you can use JavaScript for both client-side scripts, which integrate seamlessly into HTML, and for server-side code by using a cross-platform runtime engine like Node,js. So what JavaScript trends can we expect in 2018?
Popularity of JavaScript in 2018
The TIOBE index looks at the popularity of various programming languages. This is determined by looking at the following variables: number of skilled engineers in a particular language world-wide, courses offered in that language and third party vendors. This information is combined with popular search engine results for the different languages on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, etc., For April 2018, same as April 2017, JavaScript was ranked as the 8th most popular language.
Source: https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/
This is substantiated by the PYPL, Popularity of Programming Language Index, which looks at how often language tutorials are searched on Google. JavaScript inches up to third in this survey, according to data from March 2018. The PYPL index is useful for helping you decide which language to study or to use in a new project. Here are their top five most popular languages:
Source: http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html
And in case you needed any more convincing to learn Javascript in 2018? The State of the Developer Nation report, which analyses more than 21,700 developers in 169 countries, found that JavaScript is the most popular programming language, used by 9.7 million developers. This was 2.4 million more developers than the second most-popular language.
Why is JavaScript such a popular language?
According to Mashable, if you’re thinking of picking up a programming language, you can’t go wrong with JavaScript for these reasons.
- JavaScript is comparable to English in the sense that it’s universally recognised. It’s also everywhere on every platform imaginable, including browsers, mobile and desktop application, IoT device, etc.
- It’s a great foundational language for newbies. Script languages are generally easier to learn than compiled languages like C++, states Business News Daily.
- Many of the world’s top websites and apps – including Paypal, Netflix, LinkedIn and Uber – all run on JavaScript, or more precisely Node.js, the JavaScript environment that executes the code.
- There is great demand to learn JavaScript from developers themselves! This year’s 2018 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, based on responses from 101,592 developers, found that when it comes to languages that are wanted – i.e. developers are not yet using that language, but they are very keen to learn it – JavaScript came in at #2, with 19% of all respondents wanting to learn this language.
Here’s a graph showing the five most wanted programming languages, according to the 2018 Stack Overflow Developer Survey.
Source: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#most-loved-dreaded-and-wanted
It’s clear that JavaScript is one of the most popular languages this year, but let’s discuss other JavaScript trends in 2018 including demand for JavaScript developers, salary expectations and other important factors.
Salary Expectations for JavaScript Developers in 2018
According to Glassdoor, the average JavaScript developer salary, as of March 2018, was $72,500. The range extended from $51,000 to a high of $120 000 per annum. Python, however, comes in above this. The average Python developer in the US receives $92,000 per annum. You can read more about why you should consider learning Python in 2018. When it comes to Java, the median annual developer salary, according to Salary.com, as of March 2018 in the US, is $89,603. The range is between $74,844 and $101,025.
Source: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/javascript-developer-salary-SRCH_KO0,20.htm
Demand for JavaScript Developers in 2018
One way to calculate developer demand is to analyse job postings data. CodingDojo looked at the 7 most popular job posting ads on Indeed.com. JavaScript comes in at number three, although the number of job postings have decreased by 2000 from 2017.
Source: http://www.codingdojo.com/blog/7-most-in-demand-programming-languages-of-2018/
In conclusion, in 2018, JavaScript should continue to enjoy its prominence as far as popularity, developer demand and high salaries are concerned. If career growth is your aspiration for 2018, JavaScript is an excellent initial coding language to learn. If you’re keen to learn JavaScript, consider doing a Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp, which includes studying both JavaScript and Node.js.
