As a language, JavaScript receives more than its fair share of criticism. Its default global variables, prototypical inheritance, and dynamic typing are often considered flaws that can lead to sloppy code. But I’m here to defend JavaScript, not as the ideal language, but as a great choice for beginners.
Its syntax is familiar, borrowing from Java and C
Which language does this code look like to you: C, Java, or JavaScript?
for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
total += i;
}
That was a trick question: it could be any of the three! With semicolons terminating statements, a classic three-part for loop header, braces to declare blocks, and an addition assignment operator, JavaScript code is familiar right away.
Now, to be clear, if you haven’t written a single line of code before, you won’t see any immediate benefit from this similarity, but it will help in the long term. Switching languages is much easier when they share syntax, and you’re preparing for a future path towards Java, C, or any other similar language (PHP, Perl, and Go all use a C-like syntax too).
No compilation makes it quick & easy to iterate and experiment
If you’re new to programming, compilation can seem unnecessary at best, and confusing at worst. To understand the magic that’s going on under the hood, you’ll waste a lot of time learning about some tricky concepts. Otherwise, you’ll have to hold your nose and trust the process.
Compiling a C program produces an a.out file, which is an executable that you can run. Meanwhile, the Java compiler will spit out a .class file you’ll need to run with a whole different program: java, not javac.
As an interpreted language, JavaScript runs your code immediately, without any intervening steps:
It’s free and instantly accessible to anyone with a web browser
The previous example shows the node program executing JavaScript code. This command-line interpreter is great for quickly running code, but you may not have it on your system.
Bun is another example of a JavaScript interpreter that you can run on the command line.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to learn, write, and run JavaScript if you’re reading this article (unless you’re on mobile): your web browser. Most browsers have supported JavaScript since the early 2000s, and they’ve been improving ever since.
What’s more, browsers have innovated heavily in the development tools they offer for web development:
You can run arbitrary JavaScript against any web page you’re looking at, set breakpoints for debugging, and inspect objects all right in the console.
Integration with the browser makes beginner projects highly practical
I still remember the thrill of learning to program. Getting a computer to do what I wanted, controlling what appeared on the screen in front of me, seemed like pure magic. Too often, this sense of wonder is overlooked by tutorials that focus on low-level language features and basic math.
JavaScript has an enormous advantage here: your web browser includes an ecosystem of APIs that you can use with just a tiny snippet of code. First and foremost is the DOM, which lets you access and manipulate almost any aspect of any website. Don’t like the font or colors that a specific site uses? Can’t stand that font? Just write some JavaScript and transform your experience.
Key to this workflow is an extension like Tampermonkey. Using this tool, I’ve written JavaScript to reduce clutter on Hacker News, add a link focus style when websites remove it, and fix my Reddit feed.
Even without Tampermonkey, though, you can break out your browser’s console and run whatever JavaScript you want, instantly seeing the effect on the web page you’re viewing. You can make many simple changes to a web page using a few lines of JavaScript.
You don’t have to use advanced/obscure features off the bat
OK, I’ll admit it: JavaScript can be a scary language. If you go digging too deep, you can uncover some awkward features like prototypes, variable hoisting, and some very unintuitive type coercion.
But you don’t have to use any of those. Take this simple snippet as an example:
let style = document.createElement(‘style’);
style.textContent = “a { outline: 2px solid; }”;
document.head.append(style);
Run that in your browser, and you’ll immediately see an outline drawn around each link on the page. It may not be the most useful code you’ll ever write, but it can definitely act as a basis for further work. And this programming style is as simple as it gets: three statements, run one after the other. There’s no tricky logic or function definitions to get caught up in here.
But just from these three lines, you can learn about variables, the DOM, function calls, and properties. With a tiny bit of JavaScript, you can go much further than you might expect.
It’s the most popular programming language, so support is always available
For many reasons, including those I’ve already covered, JavaScript is a very popular programming language. In fact, according to Stack Overflow’s 2025 Developer Survey, it’s the most popular of all programming, scripting, and markup languages.
It’s much easier to learn a language that everyone is using than an obscure, long-forgotten one. The JavaScript community has a big network effect that produces a wealth of video tutorials, how-to articles, and sample code.
You’ll also benefit from the vast number of libraries and supporting code that exists as a result of JavaScript’s popularity.
