Teaching introductory programming with JavaScript in higher education

Abstract

As the Internet penetration rate continuously increases and web browsers show a substantial development, the web becomes a more general and ubiquitous application runtime platform, where the programming language on the client side exclusively is JavaScript. This is the reason why recently JavaScript is more often considered as the lingua franca of the web, or, from a dierent point of view, the universal virtual machine of the web. In addition, the JavaScript programming language appears in many other areas of informatics due to the wider usage of the HTML-based technology, and the embedded nature of the language. Consequently, in these days it is quite dicult to program without getting in touch with JavaScript in some way. In this article we are looking for answers to how the JavaScript language is suitable for being an introductory language in the programming related subjects of the higher education. First we revisit the dierent technologies that lead to and ensure the popularity of JavaScript. Following, current approaches using JavaScript as an introductory language are overviewed and analyzed. Next, a curriculum of an introductory programming course at the Eotvos Lorand University is presented, and a detailed investigation is given about how the JavaScript language would fit in the expectations and requirements of this programming course. Finally, the supported platforms and integrated development environments (IDEs) are also reviewed from the point of view of beginner programmers just started to programming.