What Makes JavaScript Special?

Every programming language runs somewhere. JavaScript's superpower is where: it's the only language every web browser speaks natively.

That means JavaScript code runs, right now, on essentially every phone, laptop, TV, and tablet on Earth — no installation, no setup. Open a page, and it's already running.

javascript

let devices = ["phones", "laptops", "TVs", "watches"];

for (let device of devices) {

console.log("JavaScript runs on " + device);

}

Output

Press Run to see the output.

Where you'll use this

Anything you build in JavaScript, you can share with a link. No downloads, no app store — your friend taps it and your program runs. No other language can promise that.

More JavaScript superpowers:

Instant feedback. Change code, refresh, see it — the browser is the fastest playground in programming.
It escaped the browser. With Node.js, JavaScript also runs servers; with Electron, it becomes desktop apps. Discord, Slack, and VS Code are largely JavaScript.
The world's biggest library shelf. npm, JavaScript's package registry, has millions of ready-made building blocks.

Did you know?

JavaScript was created in just 10 days in 1995 by Brendan Eich. Despite the name, it's unrelated to Java — that was 90s marketing. The 10-day language now runs on more devices than any other in history.