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Did you know that JavaScript was invented by Brendan Eich in 1995? He is a co-founder of the Mozilla project, the Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla Corporation.
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Introduction
Few programming languages have had as much of an impact on the modern world as JavaScript. The popularity of JavaScript has only grown in recent years, and it’s now considered one of the most important programming languages in the world. But like all programming languages, JavaScript has a history. In this article, we’ll explore the origins of JavaScript to see how it became the powerful language it is today.
JavaScript was invented in 1995 by Brendan Eich, a programmer who was working for Netscape Communications Corporation at the time. Netscape was one of the most popular web browsers in the early days of the internet, and Eich was tasked with creating a scripting language that could be used to create interactive web pages. He decided to base the language on another programming language called Java, which was designed for more general purpose use. However, he also added several features that were specific to web browsers, such as support for dynamic HTML and CSS.
Early History
While it is not known exactly who invented JavaScript, it is widely believed that it was created in the early 1990s by Brendan Eich. JavaScript was originally developed for use in the Netscape Navigator web browser.
Pre-JavaScript
Pre-JavaScript, there were two widely used programming languages for web development: HTML and CSS. HTML was used to structure content on a web page, and CSS was used to style that content. However, these two languages were not very well suited for programming complex web applications.
In 1995, Brendan Eich was working for Netscape on a new programming language that would make it easier to develop complex web applications. This new language was originally called Mocha, but was later renamed to JavaScript.
JavaScript was released to the public in 1996, and quickly became the most popular programming language for web development. In 2005, JavaScript was standardized by the Ecma International standards organization.
The First JavaScript Program
The first JavaScript program was written by Brendan Eich in 1995. It was originally called Mocha, and was later renamed to LiveScript, then finally to JavaScript. The original JavaScript program was very simple — it just added two numbers together.
The Modern History of JavaScript
JavaScript was invented by Brendan Eich in 1995 while he was working for Netscape. Eich was inspired by the programming language Self, which was developed at Xerox PARC. JavaScript was originally known as LiveScript, but was renamed to JavaScript after being licensed by Sun Microsystems.
The Rise of JavaScript
In the early 1990s, the World Wide Web was still in its infancy. Netscape, one of the first web browser companies, realized that the web needed a programming language that could make websites more dynamic and interactive. And so, JavaScript was born.
Netscape originally called this new language Livescript, but renamed it to JavaScript in an attempt to piggyback on the popularity of Java (another programming language that was taking the world by storm at the time).
Despite its name, JavaScript has very little in common with Java. In fact, it’s actually quite different. Nevertheless, JavaScript quickly became the most popular scripting language on the web.
Today, JavaScript is used not just for building websites but also for powering server-side applications (with Node.js) and mobile apps (with React Native). It’s even used for building desktop applications (with Electron). In other words, JavaScript is truly ubiquitous.
The Fall of JavaScript
From its humble beginnings as a web scripting language to its modern incarnation as a robust, cross-platform development tool, JavaScript has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. In fact, JavaScript has only been around since 1995—a mere 25 years.
Still, in such a short time, JavaScript has managed to make quite a name for itself. It is now the most widely used programming language on the web and is supported by all major web browsers. It is also used in many server-side environments and is increasingly being used for desktop and mobile app development.
Despite its widespread popularity, JavaScript has not been without its share of challenges. In particular, the language has faced criticism for being too easy to misuse and for being poorly designed—a legacy of its rushed development process.
In recent years, however, JavaScript has undergone a renaissance of sorts. Thanks to the efforts of the open-source community, JavaScript now has both an elegant syntax and a robust standard library. What’s more, new tools and frameworks have emerged that make it easier than ever to build complex applications with JavaScript.
Conclusion
So, who actually invented JavaScript? It was created by Brendan Eich, who was then working for Netscape. However, it was influenced by many other programming languages, including Java, Scheme and Self.
