Javascript, also known as JS, is a high-level, interpreted programming language that was created by Brendan Eich of Netscape in 1995. The language was initially created to add interactivity to static HTML pages in web browsers, but it has since evolved to become one of the most popular programming languages in the world, used for both front-end and back-end web development.
The story of Javascript began when Netscape, a popular web browser company at the time, realized that the static HTML pages of the late 90s could be made more interactive and dynamic. They needed a language that could add functionality to web pages, and Eich was tasked with creating it.
Eich drew inspiration from a number of existing programming languages, including Java, Scheme, and Self. He developed Javascript in just 10 days, and it was first released as part of Netscape Navigator in December 1995.
Despite its name, Javascript is not related to the Java programming language. In fact, its original name was going to be “Mocha,” but it was eventually changed to Javascript to capitalize on Java’s popularity at the time.
Javascript quickly gained popularity, as it was vastly easier to learn and use than traditional programming languages like Java and C++. To make it more accessible to developers, Netscape released the language as an open standard in 1996, dubbed ECMAScript. This ensured that anyone could create their own Javascript implementations and contribute to the language’s progress.
Today, Javascript is used in almost every web application, from the front-end user interface to the back-end server-side processing. Along with HTML and CSS, it forms the core of web development and has played a key role in the democratization of the internet.
