When we think of Web development, we think of JavaScript programming language. The latter came to rule the Web to a point where we consider it as its assembly language. 93.0% of websites use JavaScript and its popularity continues to grow among software professionals. But how about the future? Will JavaScript continue to remain on top of the Web? Will it continue on its way to rule every software?

1. Will JavaScript continue to
rule the Web?
Hassan LÂASRI, March 2016

2. JavaScript today
When we think of Web development, we think of JavaScript programming language
The latter came to rule the Web to a point where we consider it as its assembly language
93.0% of websites use JavaScript and its popularity continues to grow among software
professionals
Year after year, we see new books, new tutorials, new jobs, new developers, new libraries,
new websites, and new codes
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3. JavaScript rules the Web’s client-side today
But how about the future?
Will JavaScript continue to remain on top of the Web?
Will it continue on its way to rule every software?
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4. JavaScript, a fragmented ecosystem since its inception
Since May 1995, we have more than 200 dialects or transpilers, 27 frameworks... and
still counting
Since June 2015, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla work on WebAssembly, the next
assembly language of the Web
Since February 2016, to benefit from Google’s AMP tech, publishers have to slim
JavaScript code for the browser
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5. Rationale behind the initiatives around JavaScript
The claim behind these dialects, transpilers, and frameworks was either to fix the syntax
or the performances of JavaScript
For people with a background in languages “closer to the human” such as Python, Ruby,
and Haskell, JavaScript was awkward
For people with a background in languages “closer to the machine” such as C, C++, and
Java, JavaScript was slow
For all, something had to be done, and that was the starting point of the proliferation
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6. Open Source pros and cons
It’s nice to have a large community surrounding a programming language but it’s better to
have it not going in every direction
JavaScript has too many dialects, too many transpilers, and too many frameworks
Coding in one of these dialects, transpilers, and frameworks is a bet, as you don’t know if
it will continue to be maintained
Open source offers you free software but doesn't guarantee continuity
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7. TypeScript: Microsoft’s polished version of JavaScript
JavaScript needs one dialect; one that is user-friendly, performant enough, and with a
high quality to become the standard
TypeScript developed by Microsoft could be that dialect to keep JavaScript ruling the
Web for many years to come
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8. JavaScript on the server-side
The situation is much clearer when it comes to the server-side
It’s the realm of PHP and ASP.NET with respectively 81.9% and 15.8% of websites
followed by Java with 3.1% of websites
Through its server-side version NodeJS, JavaScript is present but it is not so widely used
(0.2% of websites)
A new entrant could be Google’s Go language that it has developed
as a replacement to C++ and Java in its high-scale servers
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9. JavaScript and the application layer
When we go deeper in the technology stack below the client and server layers to the
application layer, we find Java, .NET, and C++
They are the languages that rule the corporate internal and client-facing systems: ERP,
CRM, e-commerce...
There is no rational reason to see JavaScript or its server-side NodeJS taking foot at the
application layer
If there is one new language that may enter this layer, it could be Go,
as it comes with performance and concurrency
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10. JavaScript and the data layer
When we go down to the data layer, it's the world of data analytics and machine learning
ruled by R, Matlab/Octave, and Python
The only new entrant could be Julia language developed at MIT
While R, Matlab/Octave, and Python are mainly used during prototyping, with Julia the
code goes from prototyping to production
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11. JavaScript in the era of mobile first, cloud first
The Web is going mobile for the front-end and cloud for the server-side
This gives an opportunity for new languages to become alternatives to the established
ones
In 2014, Apple released Swift whose purpose is to replace Objective-C as the
programming language for iOS
Google is porting Go to Android and is considering Swift as an
alternative to Java
Whether Java and Objective-C or Go and Swift, JavaScript will not
be alone to rule the new Mobile Cloud Web
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12. Yet, JavaScript will not vanish from the Web
Programming languages either change as C++ did or fade as Pascal did
Years ago, who even have thought that mobile cloud computing would put a
supercomputer into our pockets?
This happened thanks to a chain of generations of fantastic programming languages
JavaScript is one of them but not the last one. The chain will continue bringing us new
ones…
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13. Author
Hassan LÂASRI - President & Consultant
HB & MJ Partners SAS - Executive Consulting & Project Management - Cloud, Digital & Data
Website: www.hbmjpartners.com - Blog: www.hassanlaasri.com
LinkedIn: https://fr.linkedin.com/in/hassanlaasri - Twitter: @hassanlaasri
Longer version of this presentation available on LinkedIn
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