Universal JavaScript is an affordable, efficient and scalable solution for small businesses and startups
Ruby, Python, C#, Java, PHP, Go and other programming languages are able to build fast, robust and scalable web applications. Before Node.js, JavaScript was the common denominator for enhancing the front end experience. It was always paired with one of the listed back-end programming languages.
With the advent of Node.js, JavaScript can now be also written on the back-end just like Ruby, C#, Java, Python, PHP, etc. This is what Universal JavaScript is. The technical definition would be isomorphic JavaScript, but universal JavaScript is easy to grasp and understand. It basically means the server side and the client side can be both written in JavaScript. What is the big deal with this and why is this important for small businesses and startups? This means that web application tech stacks can be written in purely JavaScript on the front-end and the back-end.
One Language To Rule Them All
Going with a universal JavaScript stack is a great way for a small company or startup to get started with their product or service offering. They can focus on getting strong JavaScript programmers. For example if the back-end of company’s application is PHP, they would have to hire PHP developers and JavaScript developers for the front-end. They can reduce costs or hire more JavaScript developers if they were using JavaScript for both the back-end and the front-end. If they hire a few JavaScript developers, they could save the money and allocate it somewhere else in the business. If they hire more JavaScript developers they can have a stronger development team and develop faster.
Universal JS Is Mainstream
Netflix, Uber, PayPal, LinkedIn, New York Times, and other major companies are using Node.JS. It’s in production and it’s proven to be just as good as the traditional back-end languages and frameworks. The community is growing and getting stronger. There are over 190,000 packages in Node Package Manager (NPM). If you don’t know what packages are they are basically plugins, extensions and additional functionality that can help speed up development of the application.
Web, Native, And Even Desktop
With frameworks/libraries like PhoneGap, Appcelerator, React Native and others, developers can write JavaScript apps and compile it into native mobile apps for iOS, Android and others. Electron from GitHub allows developers to build desktop applications for Windows and Mac.
Nothing Wrong With Traditional Back-End
With all that I have said, I will still say the traditional stacks from Ruby on Rails, Django, .NET, the many PHP frameworks and the rest are still applicable and still relevant for today in building web applications. There is nothing wrong with deciding to choose that for your company’s next product or for a new startup company. Do your own research and see which will be best for you from a technical, economic and scalable perspective. I hope you decide to go with Universal JavaScript though! 🙂
