Pros and Cons of JavaScript Development

JavaScript has long been the most popular programming language worldwide, used by professional developers and enthusiasts alike to create applications for desktop, mobile, and web environments. Its integration into every web browser and mobile device has cultivated a vast community of developers with highly valuable skills. Leveraging JavaScript's rich ecosystem can be incredibly powerful in the tech industry.

However, this power comes with the need for careful moderation. JavaScript's design allows for rapid development with few constraints, which can encourage bad habits. While this flexibility is great for beginners and small projects, it can lead to significant issues in larger, more complex solutions.

Inexperienced developers may inadvertently make critical mistakes that only become apparent late in a project. Therefore, despite its many advantages, JavaScript must be used thoughtfully, especially at an enterprise level.

Here, we outline the key pros and cons of JavaScript development to consider before investing in its ecosystem.

Advantages of JavaScript Development

Inherently Fast

Speed is at the heart of everything JavaScript does. As an interpreted language, it doesn’t have to be compiled every time it’s run, making development and debugging faster to start with. Additionally, JavaScript finds more speed by running as a client-side script—executing in the browser without connecting to the server and saving valuable resources for every additional user.

The speed and savings of JavaScript are individually small, almost trivial, but add up to great effect across large teams and hundreds of thousands of users. Still, looking for the right team for your project? If you need help selecting the right company, tell us what you need. We can do the work for you and connect you with up to 5 companies within 72h that match your need- all for free.

Simplicity

JavaScript is designed from the ground up to be easy to understand and learn. This simplicity pays dividends in reducing the time required to onboard and familiarise new developers with the code—even for large and complex projects. In software development, the simplest solution that works is always the best one to go with.

Inherent simplicity makes build-systems and testing more straightforward too. These features allow developers to cut down the time required to create applications and improve the reliability of the finished product.

Interoperability

JavaScript is often used as a small part of much larger systems. It works well with other programming languages, easily exchanging data with related systems.

In  mobile development, JavaScript can be used as a cross-platform layer that interacts with the native language only when required, for example. In web development, Javascript can be embedded into a web page, communicate with server-side code, or be used inside the script of another language.

These features make it a powerful tool used to solve many pressing problems across industries.

Popularity

JavaScript is ubiquitous across many platforms today. Some of its most popular use cases amongst developers include:

• Server-side programming with Node.js
• Cross-platform mobile application development
• Desktop applications using frameworks such as Electron

The large number of uses for JavaScript code has, no doubt, played a significant role in escalating it to be one of the world’s most popular programming languages.

Reduced Server Load

Javascript is capable of running code on the client-side, i.e. in the web browser itself. This makes tasks such as data validation or calculation possible without sending data back to the server. Client-side operations save valuable server resources and make services inherently more scalable.

Rich Interfaces

JavaScript gives developers the tools required to create engaging interfaces to interact with users and provide added value.

The abundance of strong interface design has, however, been something of a double-edged sword for service providers. As interfaces have improved and grown over time, users have come to expect a much higher standard of design. Now, rich interfaces and highly-engaging design has become standard for services to attract new users.

The bar for web developers to meet when it comes to user interfaces in the current state of the internet is consistently rising.

Versatility

Both front-end and back-end web development can now be accomplished entirely in JavaScript, if desired. Many libraries, frameworks, and tools exist to help with both. If you are interested in knowing more about the available frameworks, make sure to check our guide to JavaScript frameworks.

Node.js provides a back-end runtime environment that executes code on the server-side, while many front end frameworks such as Angular and ReactJS exist to assist in front-end development.

Disadvantages of JavaScript Development

Permissive Nature

As programming languages go, JavaScript is considerably more ‘laid-back’ than most. The language itself is less strict on conventions and rules such as assigning types to variables. Unfortunately, this can lead to bad habits to stick around if developers aren’t extremely careful about applying rules of their own.

Businesses can solve these challenges by hiring experienced developers and employing a more rigid approach than traditionally required for JavaScript development. Doing so will only save time, money, and frustrations in the long run by creating a more stable and reliable program for engineers to build on. If you need help selecting the right company, tell us what you need. We can do the work for you and connect you with up to 5 companies within 72h that match your need- all for free.

Client-side Security

In programming for the web, JavaScript code is by design available to be viewed at the client’s side. This can open up avenues of attack for malicious parties looking to gain access to related systems, do damage, or deny others access.

Developers should take care not to expose sensitive information or leave access details or debugging codes on paper.

Debugging on the web can be Inherently Tricky

Simply building something and running it in a browser offers limited tools for solving problems and debugging code. Since the web browser is not first and foremost a developing tool, it’s more limited than the suites and tools afforded to other languages such as C++ or Java.

This problem is becoming less and less significant over time, but it still merits some consideration. The amount of JavaScript tools available for developers has nevertheless continued to increase in recent years.

Browser Inconsistency

When developing for the web, there are many cases where JavaScript is interpreted differently depending on the browser it is being viewed on. This may happen within a single platform, and the problem only exacerbates from using browsers on other platforms also, such as mobile devices or tablets.

This results in users receiving inconsistent experiences when accessing the same server. Often users need to be asked to try the same action on a different browser or platform when an error occurs during an operation on the website. It is a clumsy workaround at best that will leave your services seeming unprofessional and unorganized.

Some mitigation, by employing extensive testing and quality assurance, can help to alleviate these issues. The costs of these measures are going to rise as services grow.

Weighing Up JavaScript Development

With all the advantages that JavaScript brings, it’s not hard to see how it’s grown so popular over time. The ability to build at speed and deploy to the web almost instantly alone makes it one of technology's most powerful tools.

How JavaScript can work for you is dependent on the kinds of services and platforms you intend to build. The language is ideally suited to rapid production and deployment. It suits firms looking to consistently innovate and improve in multiple areas at once.

If it sounds like JavaScript is right for your project, don’t forget to see our article on best practices for hiring JavaScript developers, so you can start building your team.

With an experienced team and good coding practices, developers can easily overcome many of its drawbacks. Yet, there are areas where the limitations of the language and currently available browser support may warrant an alternate approach. Weighing up the pros and cons of JavaScript development with an expert eye can inform whether it’s an ideal fit for your organisation’s requirements.