A pleasant experience is always a dream for developers who are working with JavaScript as there is always room for errors. Also known as LiveScript, JavaScript cannot be compared to a programming language, as the name itself suggests that it is a scripting language. One thing to be noted is JavaScript should not be confused with Java even though both are derived from OOPs language.
Today the dynamic web applications are becoming the fast adopted approach to catch maximum interests. Not only they promise better user-experience but are giving a better leverage on the overall business management. Even though Developers get to work with unique features, the basic pitfalls in JavaScript is making them look otherwise. Some of the fundamental limitations of JavaScript are as follows,
- Defining Functions– Since, JavaScript allows defining identical function names, the chances of overriding is more.
- Small Library– JavaScript offers very less options to support code reusability. Building large scale applications will be a hefty job for developers.
- Null & Undefined– Also represented as typeOf null == “object”, this statement implies that the values of an object is null and the data is not defined. The chances of developers getting confused between null and undefined are greater.
typeof null; // object
typeof undefined; // undefined
- Defining Semi-colon– Since JavaScript is an interpreter language, the need to have semi-colon at the end of each line is necessary. But, if a programmer fails to perform this action, interpreter instead of outputting errors will add the semi-colon automatically which, can lead to design errors.
- Global Variables– A variable cannot be considered as global unless it is defined locally. A programmer who misses this procedure may have to face with more number of bugs than he can count. The only way to avoid this situation is by making the variables local by default, for which additional steps are to be followed that may increase the overall complexity.
- Operators– Programmers are sure to get exhausted while using a ‘+’ operator under JavaScript. Under this language a ‘+’ means both concatenation and addition of two strings and is sure to enhance the calculation time.
Even though these are the most basic flaws, JavaScript is getting the maximum beating. Google rolled out DART to counter these drawbacks effectively. Also known as Dash, DART is an application programming language considered as the best option for developing larger web applications.
Unlike JavaScript, DART can provide an extensive set of libraries and tools to make the tasks easier for a programmer. Through async/await feature dealing with asynchronous code is much resilient under DART. Also, code optimization is a breeze through DART as it supports static type annotations. In spite of all these advantages, DART requires a separate browser and needs to be precompiled to JavaScript to run on a browser.
DART has not yet completely replaced JavaScript since the latter is still the favorite one among developers irrespective of its flaws. Eventually, time will provide us a better answer, where one can choose between DART and JavaScript.
