Let’s compare Javascript vs Dart to see which one is better

We will compare two of the most competing programming languages in cross-platform mobile application development Javascript vs Dart, to find out their pros, cons, and specialty features.

JavaScript and Dart, both are great choices for cross-platform mobile app development as is evident in React Native and Flutter respectively. Dart is fairly new in comparison with JavaScript, but it has some incredibly useful features and great support from Google.

Presently, it is very difficult to choose one best out of the two, but at the moment it is great going for Dart as it has taken off very strongly.

Let’s understand them separately, before checking Javascript vs Dart in detail:

Dart

To compare Javascript vs Dart, let’s find out what Dart is first.

Dart started its journey in 2011 but was not much popular until Google gave it a stable release in 2017. Dart was initially used internally at Google to build web and mobile applications. Dart compiles the source code similar to JavaScript, but the standalone Dart SDK is shipped with a Dart VM and it has its package manager called pub.

After Google announced Flutter beta for cross-platform mobile app development in 2017, Dart’s popularity is continuously on the rise. Developers having previous experience with OOPs (Object-oriented programming), can easily pick up Dart but other mobile developers have to learn its concepts to get started with it.

Dart is a fairly new language for most of the developers outside of Google. Although Google has put a lot of effort into documenting the Dart programming language, it’s still hard for developers to find solutions for specific problems. In terms of coding style and syntax, it has Java-like syntax, so developers from OOPS backgrounds can master and use Dart easily once they learn the basics. There is a comparatively small community and some online groups for Dart and Flutter.

While writing the Dart code, it always compiles the code both in ahead of time(AOT) and just in time (JIT). That means, as you are writing the code, Dart is simultaneously compiling and executing it in the background and you get real-time results. No more waiting to compile!

As a solid alternate to JavaScript, Dart has almost all the flexibility and ease of use that JavaScript offers. In one of the JAXenter polls last year, Dart won the highest votes for most loved languages. There are many cool features of Dart which makes it an absolute favourite, programmer-friendly language to learn.

Main features of Dart:

• Fully object-oriented:- Just like JavaScript, this one also relies on objects and if you love OOPs concepts, then you will enjoy developing with Dart. Additionally, it provides support for interfaces, mixins, abstract classes, and static typing.
• Easy to learn:- Dart has an easy-to-understand syntax and will remind you of C and JavaScript. You just need to learn a few of its concepts thoroughly to build your first project on Dart as it has a shorter learning curve.
• Portability:- Dart can easily work in any operating system, there is no such specific hardware configuration or architecture requirement to run this language. Pure Dart written applications can smoothly run in most of the major mobile operating systems and the web applications will run in any browser.
• Great productivity:- A good programming language that can complete a mammoth amount of difficult tasks in a shorter period with supreme ease of effort, and this is where Dart excels from most of the other languages. From its syntax to behind-the-scenes work scenarios, everything is perfectly suitable to increase the developer’s productivity. Also, if you encounter something that the language is not capable of handling on its own, then it has a large collection of libraries and packages on its official platform.
• One language, many platforms:- Dart can single-handedly manage many platforms like mobile apps, web apps, a desktop app, scripting tasks, and server-side/ client-side work. Of course, you write once and it will be executed on different platforms with ease.

Tools that Integrate with Dart-

• Flutter-The cross-platform mobile UI framework by Google.
• Aqueduct– Multi-threaded server-side framework.
• Dart Webdev– A framework to build web apps with Google’s services integration.
• Angular Dart– Another popular alternative to Dart Webdev.

Companies using Dart:

• Google
• Blossom
• Adobe
• Health Dynamics
• Soundtrap

Javascript

JavaScript became the most loved popular language when Facebook launched the React & the React Native frameworks for web and mobile application development. JavaScript being dynamic in nature doesn’t require compilation of the code at the client side and it has its package managers like NPM.

JavaScript supports both OOPS and functional programming and it is the most preferred technology amongst professional as well as regular developers.

JavaScript has been around longer in the industry and is a mature and stable language. JavaScript is very easy to use and has numerous frameworks and libraries available online, so developers can use the existing code for developing apps faster. However, to learn the JavaScript syntax, we need to have a basic technical knowledge of programming in general.

As there is a need for developers to share and distribute code, there are thousands of JS packages available online. With the use of an existing package and the experience of the developers, it’s easy for new developers to learn and adopt the JavaScript programming language.

JavaScript has countless libraries and frameworks available but not all of them are equally good. Also, new JavaScript frameworks are released after a regular interval, so the developers constantly need to learn new frameworks, which hinders their productivity.

If you thought JavaScript is about game, desktop, mobile, and web app development, you are wrong here. This language goes all the way from IoT to Machine Learning and back to Robotics. You can train machine models in the browser using TensorFlow JS and use the Cyclon JS framework to change the lighting color of Philips Hue.

Javascript is highly popular as the client-side scripting language for web browsers. In any web application, javascript can be used to implement simple features like rollover of images as well as to make asynchronous requests to the server using ajax.

Main features of JavaScript:

• Browser Support:- All browsers accept JavaScript as a scripting language and provide integrated support.
• Functional Programming Language:- In Javascript, functions could be assigned to variables just like any other data types. Not only that, but a function can accept another function as a parameter and can also return a function and can have functions with no name as well.

• Can be used on both the client and server side:- JavaScript has access to the Document object model(DOM) of the browser, where you can change the structure of web pages at runtime. Due to this, JavaScript can be used to add different effects to webpages. Also, JavaScript could be used on the server side as well.
• Object-oriented Programming:- Javascript is an object-oriented language, the way javascript handles objects and inheritance is bit different from conventional object-oriented programming languages like Java. Due to this, JavaScript supports most of the object-oriented concepts while being simple to learn and use.

Tools that integrate with JavaScript-

• Auth0-A token-based sign-up tool for your apps or APIs.
• Yarn-A package manager and a good alternative to NPM.
• Gatsby JS– An open-source framework to build websites or apps with React JS at a faster rate.
• Parcel– A fast web application bundler.
• ESLint-A popular JavaScript linter.
• Azure Cosmos DB– Microsoft’s globally distributed database service.
• Algolia– An API for building search results.
• Lodash– A library that provides utility functions for common programming tasks.
• CircleCI– A popular continuous integration and delivery platform.
• Jetpack– It wraps webpack to create a smoother developer experience.

Companies using JavaScript:

• Instagram
• 9GAG
• Square
• Airbnb
• Reddit

Javascript vs dart: detailed comparison

Why choose JavaScript vs Dart?

After understanding the core differences between Javascript vs Dart, one may raise the question: Which one should I choose?

Downsides of javascript vs dart

Quick Wrap up on Javascript vs Dart

After going through this detailed comparison of javascript vs dart, we cannot decide in favor of one technology, as both are equally useful and competent in their own right.

One thing is a key takeaway from this discussion JavaScript is the undisputed King of client-side and server-side development and Dart is also picking up slow but very strong as it has almost all the flexibilities and ease of use as JavaScript. So, it is a win-win for the developer’s community, that they get to choose the best of both worlds, as per their project and expertise requirements.