Myth: Javascript is an interpreted language

Javascript is an Interpreted Language

Huh! What the fuck! Show me a single interpreter that can run javascript? But it has been drilled into our heads that JS is fucking interpreted language.

Also, it is inaccurate to state that a “language” is Interpreted or Compiled. Unless the specs dictate, which they usually don’t, implementation of a language processor has nothing to do with the language itself.

The javascript spec (ecma-262/ES 5.5) doesn’t talk about implementation. However, if you have read it or at least, understand how JS scopes work, then it is damn obvious that it is not conceivable to write an interpreter for this language.

I can empathize with anyone who gets confused because we distribute JS in source format. Just because it gets compiled on every run, it does not mean it is Interpreted.

Javascript compilers have been around for a very long time.

Interpreters

Interpreters execute source files sequentially, from top to bottom (there are some gotos and loops). Essentially, interpreter when running line 6 has no idea about what’s on line 7.

An example of an Interpreter is the “Bash Interpreter”. It is very feasible to write an interpreter for a relatively simple language like Bash.

How does it matter?

It does not unless you are interested in mastering the language. Because people who have managed to code in JS for over a decade, without ever understanding the “Advanced Basics.”

Thanks to its ubiquitous availability in browsers, C-like syntax, and general simplicity of the language, has made it very intuitive to work with it.

Until the time, when the shit hits the fan, it does not matter.

The language itself is relatively tiny, and there are very few core concepts that need to be understood to master the language. However, it will not happen automatically, by just writing JS code, even after a decade.

I will be covering more of “Advanced Basics”, stay tuned.