JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic,
weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm
language, supporting object-oriented,imperative, and functional
programming styles.
JavaScript was formalized in the
ECMAScript language standard and is primarily used in the form of
client-side JavaScript, implemented as part of a Web browser in order to
provide enhanced user interfaces and dynamic websites. This enables
programmatic access to computational objects within a host environment.
JavaScript's use in applications outside Web pages — for example in
PDF documents, site-specific browsers, and desktop widgets — is also
significant. Newer and faster JavaScript VMs and frameworks built upon
them (notably Node.js) have also increased the popularity of JavaScript
for server-side web applications.
JavaScript uses syntax
influenced by that of C. JavaScript copies many names and naming
conventions from Java, but the two languages are otherwise unrelated and
have very different semantics. The key design principles within
JavaScript are taken from the Self and Scheme programming languages.
