Ravi Shankar Pratihast’s Post

Going back to basics 🌱 How Javascript executes your code inside the JS Engine ? Let’s say you have a "landing page" that needs a bit of interactivity maybe a "button click". So, you add a JavaScript file to make it all work smoothly. Now, these are are steps that will occure behind the scene - 1. The "Javascript engine" first reads your code from top to bottom, checking if there are any "syntax errors". Then it converts the code into a structured format called an "Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)" basically something the computer can understand. 2. Interpretation : This is where the Javascript engine’s interpreter (like "Ignition" in Chrome’s V8 engine) turns your code into "bytecode" for faster execution. (No need to stress about these , just know this step helps your code run faster, we will explore it more later.) 3. Optimization (JIT) : If you remember, we already discussed "Just-in-time (JIT)" Compilation in an earlier post that’s exactly what happens here. While your page is running, the Javascript engine keeps an eye on which parts of your code run frequently for example, a function that executes every time a button is clicked. When it notices such patterns, the JIT Compiler steps in and converts those parts into machine code, so the next time they run, it happens much faster. 4. Execution : Now, whenever you interact with your page like "clicking a button", the engine runs the already optimised machine code directly. That’s how things happen when you add Javascript to your page. But...but..but , if there is no Javascript file, will the JavaScript engine still work???? #Javascript #Frontend

  • Most used JS engines

Nice coverage of internal working of JavaScript execution. If no JavaScript code is present at all, I guess the engine just waits until it's needed, but it's still "running" in the background and ready to execute. In case code is present it runs inline, external as well code added within HTML attributes as well ✌️

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