the Expressions

[Nakul Arora6283]

do i need to learn how to use javascript which is used in front end development, for writing expressions of it in after effects

[ShiveringCactus]

After Effects expression engine is based on Javascript, but there are some minor differences. You can't include jQuery for instance.  I'm a front-end developer in my day job and to be honest I don't think you need to become one to use AE, it's just that if you know how to code in Javascript a little, then it helps.

For instance, if you want to break up a word and make changes to each letter, then something like:

var word = text.sourceText.split('');
for (var i = 0; i< word.length; i++) {
var letter = word[i]
// do something
}

Will help, but then again Javascript does not have wiggle(), time or linear() - so approaching AE as a pure front-end dev might not help.  The major benefit to AE using Javascript is that you can often find solutions on Stack Overflow 😄

TL:DR

Not really, but it doesn't hurt to know a bit

[Nakul Arora6283]

I read the whole😅

please tell me like why there is a need of making expressions in after effects 

when a lot can be done without them 

and in which cases there will be a requirement of expressions 

[ShiveringCactus]

I use expressions for two things:

• to calculate numbers for me, so that I can convert 2D effects into 3D ones, without having lots of keyframes
• to create randomness 

Others on here will talk about using expressions to automate elements so you don't have to, which is a valid use, but you can still use After Effects very well without a single expression

[Nakul Arora6283]

Thankyou a lot 

my most basic queries regarding the expressions got resolved today 

[OussK]

Some basic examples are if you want to create a counter or time, or maybe you want to animate some infographics graphs so instate of animating the graph each time you can use the expression.