Going into learning Javascript I can’t say I had a good impression of it. I had heard in the past how shoddy Javascript code had caused security holes and other problems, and the loose way you can write still functional code sort of reinforced that view when I first learned a bit of it years ago. Learning it again now after gaining more experience, the loose way you can write code is still somewhat… disturbing, maybe. At the same time, it’s also refreshing. The same problem of shoddy code exists, but it’s not something purely the fault of the language. It’s more a symptom of how widespread and important it is on the web. Like when writing C, the code will do exactly what you tell it to do, even if you don’t actually understand what you’re telling it to do in the first place.
It’s a unique feeling not needing to type every variable, and how simple it is to create objects and functions is great; at the same time, it can be kind of scary to not deal with strongly typed variables. Things feel very unrestricted in Javascript and while that makes writing it relatively fun and easy, it also makes developing something to be used by others somewhat intimidating. I know what data I’m going to give the program, and what it’ll do with it (usually). When it’s out in the wild though, I have no idea what could happen that could muck things up. I haven’t gotten to the point in needing to do any data validation or error handling in Javascript, but I can imagine it being a major pain.
I still consider myself a novice when it comes to programming in general, but while there are some odd parts that I’m not totally sold on yet, Javascript has been fun so far and I’m looking forward to learning more, and hopefully, putting it to good use wherever I end up in the future.