Intro to JavaScript History of JavaScript

Learning objective: By the end of this lesson, students will understand the history and evolution of JavaScript, from its origins at Netscape to its current status as a popular and versatile programming language.

JavaScript emerged during the browser wars of the 1990s. Developers at Netscape were looking for features that could make them more competitive with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which had a dominating market share.

At the time, websites were largely static. Implementing some sort of language that could be executed client-side would make websites far more dynamic.

In 1995, Netscape tasked Brendan Eich with developing a programming language that could run inside their browser. To meet the planned release date of Navigator 2.0, Eich created the first iteration of this new language in just ten days. The new language was dubbed JavaScript as a marketing ploy to associate it with Java.

In 1997, Netscape contacted the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) to assist in standardizing JavaScript. As a result of this standardization effort, JavaScript works in any browser. By the mid-2000s, several large companies had adopted JavaScript - one of the most notable being Google, in its Gmail and Maps products.

At the close of the 2000s, JavaScript leaped out of the browser with the introduction of Node.js. Finally, the introduction of ES2015 (ES6 at the time) added many requested features to the language and solidified JavaScript’s place in history as a versatile and powerful programming language.

Today, JavaScript is one of the most popular and in-demand programming languages. Alongside HTML and CSS, it is one of the foundational technologies of the modern web.

The JavaScript specification is typically updated annually, and is managed by Ecma International’s TC39 committee. While the specification is commonly referred to as JavaScript it is more technically known as ECMAScript.