What is JavaScript?

Getting Started · Lesson 3 ·


Let's make sure we're both on the same page! In this lesson we go over some definitions of terms and concepts that will be used in the course. We start with what programming entails, look at JavaScript and also go over other frontend technologies such as HTML and CSS.

Javascript is one of the few, the proud, the front-end programming languages. What's a programming language, I hear you ask? Basically, a programming language is a set of instructions to solve a problem. Just with code, so that computers can help us solve those programs. 

There are three front-end languages. They're all about how things look in your browser, and they each have a purpose. 

  • HTML = Structure. Content and images, what's on the page. In grammar terms, a noun. 
  • CSS = Style. Size, color, fonts. In grammar terms, an adjective. 
  • Javascript = Behavior. Clicks, how things move. In grammar terms, a verb.