Execution and Development Environments

We have seen that Javascript is the language of the web, and it can run on every major modern browser. In addition to that, depending on the framework used, it can run on Windows, Max OS/X, Linux, tablets, smartphones and probably a bunch of additional places.

In order to keep things simple, we will limit the number of execution environments. We will use an environment that allows Javascript to run as a server on Windows, Macs, and Linux, but since one of the big strenghts of Javascript is running on browsers, we will have a taste of that too.

To run Javascript in a "standalone application" context, we will use Node.js. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime, designed to build network applications, like web server ones. It is a very popular open source platform that can run on Windows, Mac, or Linux. So popular, in fact, that on the Stackoverflow Developer Survey of 2018, Node.js is the most chosen answer in the "Framework, Library, or Tool" category.

To run Javascript on the web we will use a web site that is a combination of development and execution environment: Plunker. Plunker bla bla bla

Node.js

To run Node.js you have to first download and install it. You can obtain the most recent version for your computer at the official website nodejs.org. Use all the defaults for the installation.