Month: November 2021

Businesses must select the right technology for constant growth and progress. This applies in both the corporate world as well as while building websites or new software from scratch.

The right technology selection would help set a smooth and stable workflow while avoiding the common challenges that come in the way. This is particularly true in the case of web development and application.

As far as website building and designing is concerned, Java is the most preferred tool to produce the desired products within a short time frame. However, selecting the most suitable framework could be challenging as it would vary depending on the business proposition’s needs, expectations, and outcome.

The two most renowned frameworks for website development are Angular and NodeJS. Before selecting, having adequate knowledge of what both tools offer to its user would be a smart decision.

There are different attributes that developers consider, and expertise level is not the only factor that helps in selecting the right framework. All the programming languages are written in JavaScript, but they were developed during different phases of technological development.

Moreover, the one released first would be most popular among the developers, but that is not the case anymore.

Angular (In a nutshell)

Google released this framework in the year 2009. The primary aim of this tool was to enable developers to work on a single page while developing applications.

When drawing out the comparison between Angular and NodeJS, it is critical to realize that both frameworks were developed simultaneously.

Image source: trends.builtwith.com

Benefits of Angular

Angular is followed and supported by a huge community which can be helpful when facing a challenging situation during the developmental phase of any app or website. In addition, it comes with a vast option in the library along with multiple templating solutions.

The best thing about Angular is that it can be written as regular HTML while allowing the programmers to reuse the templates, thereby saving their valuable time and resources.

Angular is a very flexible platform that is highly suitable for developers in their learning phase. They can take advantage of Angular’s customizable user interface that helps save a lot in the total turnaround time.

Limitations of Angular

Even though Angular is helpful for novice developers, the learning curve can still be challenging and needs navigation. Some common challenges while setting up the framework for use are the need to install multiple third-party solutions and the overall requirement of debugging the platform.

Lastly, Angular poses some serious performance issues while integrating with DOM components.

Node JS (In a nutshell)

As previously discussed, both Angular and Node were developed during the same phase by Google in 2009. Node is built-in Chrome’s V8 Engine and is an open-source JavaScript Library.

It allows the designers to build attractive and highly compatible web applications which can be easily scaled in the market.

Benefits of Node JS

Users can reap the reward of the Node JS framework when they hire top Node.JS development companies as they hold the expertise and skills to make the best use of the platform with their programming efficiency.

Related: Check out esparkinfo.com for Node.js development

It is primarily important for reducing the complexity of large-sized web application designing and programming, and the designers can expand the horizon of the applications vertically and horizontally.

Node is often used as a server proxy as it can be run on different services. Because of the MIT license, the Node framework is an easy, free and open-source platform for application development.

Limitations of Node JS

When the library options for both Angular and Node are compared, the options for Angular are more varied than the ladder. Node is optimal for web development and is not made for tasks focused on the CPU as it is not a multi-threaded programming language.

Node also goes through frequent changes in APIs, which poses challenges among users in the form of incompatibility among different versions. Node is different in its functionality and mechanism compared to other renowned platforms such as Angular and React.

Instead of calling it a framework, professionals call it a server cast by the Google Chrome V8 JS engine.

Moreover, no other platform provides the facility of unlimited maintenance to the simultaneous connection without blockage. It is also very beneficial when it comes to data gathering from the point of view of the server.

Further, Node JS would come with Node Package Manager (NPM) while being installed, which handles and manages package management.

It is based on the Ruby Gems concept regarding the delivery and distribution of Node JS and library. Node JS has primarily used the most after the network of servers used by blue-chip companies such as Uber, Trello and Netflix. All three apps provide different services but run with consistent and unmatched efficiency.

Some common features of Node JS:

• It can be used as an open-source framework.
• Uninterrupted performance helps designers perform with dedication and the least distraction.
• Other than the development of API, Node JS can be used for creating TCP, DNS and more.
• Testing code for the framework named Jasmine is a highly convenient and easy testing platform.
• The performance can be boosted manifold through vertical and horizontal scaling of the platform.

Why Choose Node JS?

It is a great platform for coders as the platform is utilized for both back and front-end development. Even a driven approach is the unique selling point of this framework and helps with scalability. Before responding to an HTTP request, Node JS carefully tracks the network traffic.

Choosing the right solution would be entirely on the company’s discretion and the outcome they are hoping for. Both the frameworks are widely used and produce desirable results. The success rate with any of the platforms would depend on the developer’s expertise and how well it is aligning the business objectives.

The post Angular Vs. Node: Which One to Choose? appeared first on Hongkiat.

There is no doubt that JavaScript is an extensive programming language with plenty of helper libraries, frameworks, databases, and other extra functionalities. The piling up of new information can be intimidating for the novice programmer. As Kyle Simpson says in “You Don’t Know JavaScript”: “You write the code in JS first, and then you find out how it works.“

I’ve worked on projects built in both pure JS and have also worked with C# for several years. In my spare time, I also coach and teach new developers and give presentations at IT conferences. And based on my experience, I am going to help you figure out how to learn it.

In this article, I’d like to highlight the things that the novice JS learners need to know at the very begining of the learning process. These tips could ease the leaning curve and may even make it interesting for you to start into JS

So, let’s move forward.

Gradually educate yourself

At first sight, a developer’s roadmap will show you how extensive the JS ecosystem is and how much you have to understand. Seeing such an array of information, many novice developers trap themselves and mistakenly think they need to know it all at once.

They try to make sense of the entire JS ecosystem without delving into JS itself. They end up understanding a lot of stuff on the surface as they hop between topics. These developers will not become specialists in any field if they take this strategy.

Despite the fact that JavaScript is a fast-evolving and expanding programming language, it is based on a number of fundamental ideas and underlying themes. Any project of any complexity can be facilitated using these methods.

From my perspective, a roadmap for a new JS developer should look like this:

This is the method we use to understand the fundamentals:

• How the Internet works – I don’t think I need to explain why you need to know this
• Layout – yes, the JS-developer must deal with this on a frequent basis as well
• Basic JS – you should understand not just how to declare a variable, but also all of the language’s nuances
• Git – working on projects without a proper understanding of Git can lead to significant time wasted
• S framework – I would start with React, but I recommend looking through all of the options and selecting the most appealing one. Of course, there are more on the way.

Every stage in this process is supported by a massive amount of data. Determine the distinctions between client and server, delve into HTML and CSS, and decide which JS framework (Angular, React, or Vue) best suits your professional goals, and begin learning wisely.

This expertise will boost your chances of landing a job. Also, a solid mastery of the fundamentals of JavaScript will stick with you for the rest of your life. As a result, the first rule is to approach JavaScript methodically, rather than scattering your attention with the aim of learning everything at once.

Delve deep into the basic topics

You can find bottlenecks even in the basic themes that are not immediately noticeable, but which become apparent in the code of your actual project. And at this point, you need to grasp what’s going on and how to deal with it. Here’s a great example of an interview question for a newbie:

const resultA = 40 && 2 || 33;
const resultB = (4 * 2) && (3 * 6);
const resultC = 0 && 2

Often half of the novice developers make mistakes when answering the question of what will happen with variables a, b, c. Many believe that boolean values should be returned here – true or false.

But in this code, if all values are true, the last true value will be returned, or the first false value, if at least one of them is false. In our case, 2, 18, 0, respectively. Here is another example of the most mainstream task from the JS world:

for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
	setTimeout ( function ()  {
	console.log(i);
} ,  1000) ; 

If you fully grasp just the concepts in this example, you will also understand:

• Areas of visibility
• Closures
• The difference in how variables work
• Popping up variables
• How setTimeout and asynchronous JS work.

This leads to the second rule: while interpreting such cases, investigate deeper into the answers provided.

Beware of “standards”

On various resources, there is frequently a distinction between “old JS standard” and “new JS standard.” Features from ES6, ES7, and the following versions of JavaScript are allegedly new tools that may be learned by becoming part of a team.

Beginning programmers have the incorrect belief that they can be learned separately, however, this is not the case. Destructuring, arrow functions, Spread-operators, promises, and classes are all features that have long been used as a modern language standard. It is critical to understand how to work with them.

Without practice, JS is like a leaf in the wind

Assume you aced your first interview for a Junior JavaScript Developer position and showed exceptional theoretical comprehension. You are employed for an internship in the team and given your first task.

Then you find you can’t write a single line of code by yourself! Now is a good moment to mention a third crucial rule: put your theoretical knowledge into practice at all times. You will not only learn how to perform application tasks rapidly but also how to navigate into the fundamental JavaScript principles, through rigorous practice. This is a useful skill for potential customers.

Try to tackle the challenge, which you may meet in any test task. There is a list of objects, each with its unique price. Output to the user the final total of the goods in the shopping cart that has been selected.

const  goodsAddedToCart - [ {
	name:  'JavaScript' ,
	price:  20
} ,  {

name:  'React' ,
	price:  30
} ,  {

name: 'HTML/CSS' ,
	price:  202
} ] ;

I’m sure many newbies will easily describe the solution by creating the for loop and the result variable with a null value assigned to it. It doesn’t look very elegant, but it works, right?

var result = 0;
for  (i = 0;  i  <  goodsAddedToCart.length;  i++)  {
	result = result +  goodsAddedToCart[i].price;
} ;

But how can we reuse this method for a different sequence of selected goods – apparently it all has to be wrapped into a function, but why would we do that when JS has been providing tools for such tasks for a long time, here’s an example with reducing:

goodsAddedToCart.reduce ( (accumulator, ( price } ) => accumulator + price,  0);

One more example:

const getAllPeople = async  () => {
  const response = await fetch('https://swapi.dev/api/people/'};
  const result = await  response.json( );
  return result.results;
} ;

const displayPersonData = ( person, elementToDisplay) => {
const personWrapper = document.createElement ( 'div') ; 
elementToDisplay. appendChild (personWrapper) ;
personWrapper. style. margin = '10 px' ;

for (let [key, value] of Object. entries (person)) {
  const personInfoField = personWrapper. appendChild (document createElement( 'div')) ;
  personInfoField.innerHTML = 'S { key} : $ {value} : ' ; 
}

const displayPeople  =  async  ( ) => {
  const  people  =  await  getAllPeople( ) ;
  const  documentBody  =  document.querySelector( 'body' ) ;

document.Body.innerHTML  =  ' ' ;

people. forEach ( (person)  =>  {
   displayPersonData(person,  documentBody) ;
} ) ;
} ;

Of course, this code can be enhanced further. Even so, it is sufficient to practice working with searches, arrays, and objects. There are numerous free APIs available on the Internet that will allow you to practice dealing with this type of functionality. For instance, consider the following resources:

• The Star Wars API: SWAPI
• alexwohlbruck/cat-facts
• jikan.docs.apiary.io
• Google.

The importance of concise and clear code

Another blunder made by Juniors is failing to name variables in their code. The main requirement for being understood by other programmers on your team or after a few months of pause, including yourself, is readability. As an example, consider an array of users, each with a name and an age:

const  users  = [ {
	name: 'John' , 
	age: 20
	} , { 
	name: 'Alex' , 
	age: 30
	} , { 
	name: 'Thanos' , 
	age: 32432
} ] ;

Imagine you used the Map processing method when working with this array, which would make sense, but for some reason, you named the parameter of the anonymous function as itm:

users.map ( (itm)  =>  {
// There are 100 lines of code 
} ) ;

Why should this be considered as an error in this context, when everything will work with this or another variable name? Of course, the error here is logical rather than programmatic. Why not call each element of an array “user” if you’re working with an array of data users?

This way, you won’t get angry feedback from other engineers who just don’t comprehend what this or that variable in your code performs.

Here’s another example of code bloat:

const getPersonAppearance  =  (object) => { 
	const personShortDescription  =  object. name + " " +  object. surname +             
	" in his " + object. age + "looks awesome";

	// There are 100 lines of code 
	return { 
		personShortDescription, 
		...
	} 
};

By simply destructuring the array objects (name, surname, age) you can get a concise and understandable to every programmer text:

const getPersonAppearance  = ( person ) => { 
	const { name, surname, age} = person;
	const personShortDescription  =  ' S {name} S {surname} in his {age} looks awesome ' ;

	// There are 100 lines of code  
	return {   
		personShortDescription, 
		...
	} 
}; 

So here is the fourth rule: by developing good habits during training, you will not have to adjust them in the workplace.

Be a learner

It is critical in programming to never end there. The IT industry is rapidly evolving, with the appearance of new frameworks and measures for working with data.

If you don’t gradually master them, you risk becoming mired down in repetitive and monotonous chores for an extended period of time. That’s not why you got into the profession, is it?

Once you have fundamental JS programming skills, give yourself a pat on the back, take a deep breath, and return to studying a full-fledged JavaScript roadmap.

The post Learning JavaScript: Things to Know Before You Start appeared first on Hongkiat.

TypeScript is a statically typed programming language that bills itself as an extension of JavaScript. Typescript code is compiled into JavaScript code that can be run both on the client side (browser) and on the server side (nodejs). The quality of the generated code is comparable to the code written by a professional developer with extensive experience.

The TypeScript multiplatform compiler is fast compilation and is distributed under the Apache license and contributors from all over the world, leading to the tradition of releasing a new version every two months.

Despite this periodicity, the versions remain compatible for a long time, and after a long time, the obsolete behavior remains available when special compiler flags are activated.

Therefore, you should not be afraid that the project would be deprived of new language features due to TypeScript versioning differences.

Well, many compiler developers means that with each new version, the compiler receives updates in all areas, be it syntax constructions or optimizing the compilation and assembly speed of the project.

Advantages of Typescript

Strong static typing

JavaScript is not strongly typed. TypeScript comes with an optional static typing and type inference system over TLS (TypeScript Language Service).

The type of variable declared without a type can be determined by TLS based on its value.

Improved OOP

Both JS and TS have support for object-oriented programming: classes, objects, inheritance. However, TypeScript has taken a step further and takes advantage of more of the OPP capabilities.

There are various capabilities, for example:

• Defining fields in the constructor
• Type conversion
• Abstract classes
• Generalization.

Compilation

JavaScript is an interpreted language. Therefore, it needs to be run to check that everything is working well. This means that you are coding without the ability to detect errors. Hence, you have to spend hours trying to find errors in your code.

The TypeScript transporter provides error-checking functionality. TypeScript will compile the code and generate compilation errors if it encounters any syntax errors. This helps to highlight errors before running the script.

TypeScript’s components

TypeScript is based on the following three components:

1. TypeScript Compiler – (TSC) converts instructions written in TypeScript to its JavaScript equivalent.
2. The language composed of type annotations, syntax and keywords.
3. Language Service. This component layer sits on top of the main TypeScript compiler and provides the functionality you need to work in IDEs and text editors: statement completions, code formatting and outlining, syntax highlighting, and more. The language service also provides code refactoring: variable renaming, debugging, and incremental compilation.

Basics of TypeScript

Well, let’s take a look at the basic elements of TypeScript and explore them to understand how to work with this programming language.

Variables and constants

You can use the var keyword to define variables, just like in JavaScript. Another way to define a variable is to use the let keyword, added to JavaScript in ES 2015.

Using let is preferred because it avoids some problems associated with declaring variables. By using var, we can define a variable with the same name twice or more.

var x = "hi" 
console.log(x);
var x = "do";
console.log(x);

So, if the program is large, then we cannot track the fact that such a variable has already been declared, which is a source of potential errors. A similar problem can be solved with let, if the variable has already been declared, an error will be indicated.

let x = "hi";
console.log(x);
let x = "do"; // an error, variable x is already declared
console.log(x);

In addition to variables, TypeScript has constants, you can set a value for them only once. The const keyword is used to define constants:

const y = 1;
y = 2; // an error, you cannot change the value of the constant y

Access modifiers

Access modifiers allow you to hide the state of an object from external access and control access to that state. There are three modifiers in TypeScript: public, protected, and private.

If you do not assign any modifier, properties and functions are automatically determined to use the public modifier.

private. Elements with this modifier are available only from the class in which they are defined.

class Person { 
	private name: string;
	constructor(name: string) {
		this.name= name;
	}
	public print(): void {
		console.log(`Name: ${this.name}`);// cannot be accessed, cause name is private
	}
}
let bob = new Person("Bob");
bob.print();

The name property uses the private modifier, so we cannot use it outside the class, for example console.log (bob.name).

protected. Elements with this modifier are available from the class in which they are defined and from subclasses / derived classes.

Arrays

Arrays are defined using the [] expression and are strongly typed. That is, if initially the array contains strings, then in the future it will only be able to work with strings.

ReadonlyArray

TypeScript also allows you to define arrays whose elements cannot be modified. For this, the ReadonlyArray<> type is used, for which the type of array elements is indicated in angle brackets.

Unlike the Array type, for the ReadonlyArray type, we cannot accept a constructor. Instead, you need to pass the values as a regular array:

const colors: ReadonlyArray = ["Green", "Red"];

Tuples

With the tuple type, you can declare an array of known length with known types as its elements. When retrieving an element from such an array, TypeScript will automatically determine its type based on the description.

Unlike arrays, tuples can store values of different types.

The array syntax is used to define a tuple:

let user: [string, number]; // consists of a string and a number

Functions

TypeScript also defines a function using the function keyword, but it adds additional functionality for working with functions.

In particular, we can now determine the type of the passed parameters and the type of the return value.

function add(x: number, y: number){
let addition = x + y;
console.log(addition);
 }

Objects

An object is an instance that contains many key-value pairs. The values can be scalar values or functions, or even an array of other objects.

However, despite the fact that this is actually the same object that we could use in JavaScript, due to the strict typing of TS, we have limitations in this case. In particular, if we have the following code:

let cat = { name: "Bob", age: 4};
cat = { name: "Alex" };  // Error

TypeScript allows you to make properties optional. To do this, after the name of the property, you need to put “?”.

let cat : { name?: string; age: number }; // The name property is optional

Conclusion

If you haven’t tried TypeScript yet, it is highly recommended that you give it a try. For JavaScript developers, it will provide many features that will simplify the work: you will save a lot of time and significantly reduce errors.

The post TypeScript and How is it Different from JavaScript appeared first on Hongkiat.