JavaScript is one of the most crucial technologies of World Wide Web content production besides HTML and CSS. Nowadays, more and more HTML and CSS developers are starting to take an interest in JavaScript coding. The contribution of JavaScript to the field of technology has been remarkable – it has made it possible for us to use touchscreen devices, enabled websites to use tap, scroll, zoom and other finger gestures. Apart from resolving cross browser compatibility issues, JavaScript has also made it convenient for developers to create cross-platform websites to cover a wider range of users.
The true signs of a programmer’s skills are shown in how he deals with bugs and errors. If you’re trying your hands in development and need to practice coding, make sure you test and debug your code simultaneously. Here is a compilation of some of the best websites that provide you the platform for running, testing and debugging your JavaScript code or code snippets which you can integrate to your main website code later. But before moving further, you may also check our post on “Resources to learn JavaScript for beginners“.
1. JS Bin
JS bin is a website designed particularly for JavaScript and CSS folk to help them test their code snippets within some context. It allows you to collaborate with your peers and debug the code. You can edit and test for JavaScript and HTML and once you are satisfied, you can send the URL to your colleagues and ask them for their reviews or help.
2. JS Nice
JS Nice is an advanced statistical de-obfuscation and de-minification agent for JavaScript. It can make obscure JavaScript code readable and remove all the unnecessary characters from the code.
It suggests identifier names and types automatically for a given JavaScript program. It does so by implementing some advanced machine learning techniques on open source projects.
3. JS Hint
JS hint is a community driven tool. It can detect errors and tell you about the potential problems in your JavaScript code and keeps you in compliance with the teams coding conventions. It can be easily adjusted to the particular coding guidelines or the environment.
4. JS Fiddle
JS Fiddle is a shell editor that creates custom environment based on popular JavaScript frameworks to make coding easy. You can choose the framework and the version and can also add a complimentary framework. It has the ability to generate a unique URL for the code created.
5. Codepen
Codepen is a website for front end side. It is a playground for inspiration and education and allows you to share your work. It highlights popular demonstrations and refers to them as pens.
6. Liveweave
Liveweave is a playground for JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3, which allows real time editing for web designers. Here you can test and practice your work on resizable panels. It comes with a context sensitive code-hinting for CSS3 and HTML5 tags.
7. JS Lint
JS Lint is a static tool for code analysis and checks whether the source code is in compliance with the coding rules. It is an online tool developed by Douglas Crockford.
8. Kodtest
Kodtest is the same as JS fiddle or Liveweave in terms of features and functionalities. The only difference is in the interface; it has an attractive GUI.
9. JS Beautifier
JS beautifierwill do the reformatting and reindentation of bookmarklets. It unpacks and de-obfuscates java scripts processed by www.javascriptobfuscator.com. It can be used in the web browser or in command line.
10. JS.do
JS.do is for editing your JavaScript code online. It shows a screen where you can post and run your code to check whether it is working fine.
11. Scripted
Scripted is a lightweight and fast editor which is mainly focused on JavaScript editing. It is browser based and is served from a Node.js server instance running locally.
12. Ideone
Ideone allows you to compile as well as debug your JavaScript code online. It can do compilation for source code in more than 60 programming languages. You can begin with entering you source code along with an optional input data.
Writing codes in JavaScript might be the most lucrative activity to adopt and these platforms help you write better by providing you a productive environment that encourages you to code neatly. A big advantage is that you can collaborate and share work with others online, be it for reviews or inspiration. You can select any of these playgrounds to test and debug your JavaScript code based on which environment meets your requirements the best.
The number of such playgrounds keeps growing with new functionalities and features embedded in them. If you know other cool websites that we’ve missed, do leave a comment and share it with us.