The Birth of JavaScript - How JavaScript Came to Be

Wondering where JavaScript came from? Surprisingly, it was created in 1995, ~27 years ago. Read on to learn how JavaScript came to be.

This ten-day-created language would grow to be one the most popular and sought after skills in technology twenty some years later.

Brendan Eich, Netscape, and JavaScript

Before we begin, it’s worth mentioning that JavaScript is not related to Java, though the name was borrowed as a way to get this new language accepted and gain immediate credibility. Brendan Eich, the co-founder of Mozilla (1998), and now the creator of the Brave browser, created the language in 1995, in ten days, as a programming language for the Netscape Navigator browser, the most popular browser during the time; formerly known as mocha, then LiveScript, JavaScript was inspired by the Scheme programming language. It functioned the same, while it’s syntax was inspired by Java.

Meant to make the web an application platform, JavaScript has come a long way. In the beginning, JavaScript wasn’t taken serious by many people; they usually spoke about it in a negative way, and some still do. They had good reasons for their disposition, some of which we’ll speak of in later lessons, but a lot has changed since then, and it seems that more people are beginning to embrace it.

This ten-day-created language would grow to be one the most popular and sought after skills in technology twenty some years later.

ECMAScript and Ecma International

You might see JavaScript and ECMAscript used interchangeably. They refer to the same language; you may also see JScript mentioned, which is Microsoft’s legacy dialect of the ECMAScript standard version of JavaScript (although it’s now considered obsolete by many people). People typically refer to ECMAScript as a means to describe the specifications of the language, while JavaScript is used to describe the language itself.

ECMAScript has the goal of defining the ways in which the language is to be used; each browser may either support these specifications, or not. Some may even go beyond them, providing a platform which allows features of the language which haven’t yet been released to be used. It is sometimes advised to use the previous version of the specifications as most, or all browsers typically support them.

Formerly ECMA(European Computer Manufacturers Association), Ecma International changed its name to reflect the organization’s global reach. The Ecma organization is a technological means to describe how technologies should be used.

A Glimpse of JavaScript Today

As per the above, we’ve learned that JavaScript has come a long way; though it is much more than what it was initially created for. Going beyond animations on websites, JavaScript can be found everywhere. It’s used for server code, databases, mobile applications, and there’s even a JavaScript framework for creating virtual reality applications (React VR). As Atwood’s law states: “Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript.”