JavaScript History

  • Created in 1995 by Brendan Eich as LiveScript to enhance web pages in Netscape 2.0
  • Renamed to JavaScript as a marketing ploy to capitalize on Java's popularity (despite the two having very little in common).
  • Standardized as ECMAScript since 1997.
  • ECMAScript 6 (2015) introduced a great many useful additions (Object-Oriented support, Modules, Strict mode, ...)
  • Old JavaScript: Some good ideas, lots of cruft.
  • Modern JavaScript (ECMAScript 6 and beyond): Good ideas alive and kicking, cruft (is gone/can be avoided).
  • Today, it is one of the most popular programming languages. (E.g, see StackOverflow 2020 Developer Survey, PYPL Index, IEEE Spectrum Top Programming Languages 2020)

In 2001, Paul Graham wrote1:

I would not even use JavaScript if I were you... Most of the JavaScript I see on the Web isn't necessary, and much of it breaks.

In 2007, Jeff Atwood coined Atwood's law2:

Any application that can be written in JavaScript will eventually be written in JavaScript.

This video summaries it:

Why Learn JavaScript?

JavaScript was originally developed to add functionality to web pages but it's now used for much more!

  • JavaScript is great for software prototyping and agile development.
  • JavaScript runs on pretty much any platform from web pages to server backends and even hardware.
  • There are some great build and deployment tools and frameworks written in JavaScript.
  • It's a great introduction to software construction and multi-paradigm programming concepts.
  • JavaScript is easy to learn. But beware—it's hard to master!
1

A revised version of the essay can be found at http://paulgraham.com/road.html. The original quote can be found in the book Hackers & Painters.