What Is JavaScript Used For?

If it happens on a screen near you, JavaScript is probably involved. A tour:

🌐 Every interactive website. Menus that open, feeds that scroll, games that play, forms that check your typing — the interactive half of every page you've ever visited is JavaScript.

📱 Apps. Many "native" phone apps are JavaScript wearing a costume (React Native). Desktop apps too: Discord, Slack, and even the editor many programmers use — VS Code — are built on JavaScript.

🖥 Servers. Since Node.js (2009), JavaScript also runs the machines behind websites — Netflix, PayPal, and LinkedIn run JavaScript on their servers.

🎮 Games. From browser games to full engines, the instant shareability of a game-in-a-link keeps JavaScript game-making alive and huge.

🤖 Even hardware. Drones, robots, and smart-home gadgets can be scripted with JavaScript.

javascript

let uses = ["websites", "apps", "servers", "games", "robots"];

console.log("JavaScript powers: " + uses.join(", "));

Output

Press Run to see the output.

Did you know?

JavaScript is the only language with a birthday deal like this: it was written in 10 days, yet today more JavaScript runs every second than any other language — every browser tab on Earth counts.

The pattern: JavaScript is the language of reaching people — whatever you build is one link away from anyone.