JavaScript is a ^{prototype-based scripting language with dynamic typing and has first-class functions. Its syntax was influenced by C. JavaScript copies many names and naming conventions from Java, but the two languages are otherwise unrelated and have very different semantics. The key design principles within JavaScript are taken from the Self and Scheme programming languages. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functionalHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript"[1]HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript" programming styles.}

The ^{application of JavaScript to use outside of web pages—for example, in PDF documents, site-specific browsers, and desktop widgets—is also significant. Newer and faster JavaScript VMs and platforms built upon them (notably Node.js) have also increased the popularity of JavaScript for server-side web applications. On the client side, JavaScript was traditionally implemented as an interpreted language but just-in-time compilation is now performed by recent (post-2012) browsers.}

JavaScript was formalized in the ECMAScript language standard and is primarily used as part of a web browser (^{client-side JavaScript). This enablesprogrammatic access to computational objects within a host environment.}