What is it
JavaScript is the programming language of the web browser, covering DOM manipulation, event handling, and asynchronous programming (promises and async/await) — undergraduate study extends into modern frameworks and server-side JavaScript via Node.js.
Why it matters
JavaScript is the only language that runs natively in every web browser, making it unavoidable for any web development work, and Node.js has extended its reach to server-side and full-stack development, making it one of the most broadly employable languages to learn.
Exam tip
Understand how JavaScript's asynchronous event loop actually works (not just the promise/async syntax) before writing complex asynchronous code — misunderstanding the execution order of asynchronous operations is the most common source of confusing bugs in JavaScript.
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