Is JavaScript an interpreted or compiled language, and how does this affect its execution?

JavaScript is traditionally considered an interpreted language because the code is executed directly by the engine (e.g., V8, SpiderMonkey) without explicit pre-compilation into machine code.

However, modern engines use JIT compilation (Just-In-Time), which compiles frequently used code sections into machine code during execution to improve performance.

This affects execution as follows:

• Fast startup, since the code does not need to be pre-compiled.
• Optimization during program runtime, which enhances speed.

Thus, JavaScript is a hybrid of interpreted and compiled languages, providing a balance between development convenience and performance.