Why I Still Love JavaScript

I’ve been writing JavaScript for over a decade now, and despite all the discourse, hot takes, and “JS fatigue” posts — I still genuinely love it.

It meets you where you are

JavaScript is one of the few languages that doesn’t gatekeep. You can open a browser console right now and start building. No compiler to install, no environment to configure. That accessibility matters more than most people give it credit for.

// This is a complete program
document.body.textContent = 'Hello, world';

The ecosystem is unmatched

Say what you will about node_modules, but npm’s ecosystem is a superpower. Need to parse markdown, resize images, validate schemas, build a full-stack app? There’s a well-maintained package for that — usually several.

Functions are first-class citizens

Closures, higher-order functions, and the ability to pass behavior around like data — JavaScript got this right from the start. Patterns that feel clunky in other languages are natural here.

const pipe =
  (...fns) =>
  (x) =>
    fns.reduce((v, f) => f(v), x);

const transform = pipe(
  (s) => s.trim(),
  (s) => s.toLowerCase(),
  (s) => s.replace(/\s+/g, '-')
);

transform('  Hello World  '); // "hello-world"

It keeps evolving

Optional chaining, nullish coalescing, top-level await, structured clone, array grouping — the language keeps getting better without breaking the web. The TC39 process isn’t perfect, but it works.

JavaScript isn’t flawless. The type coercion memes exist for a reason. But for me, no other language matches the combination of reach, flexibility, and sheer creative possibility. It’s the language I think in.