Although it was created in only 10 days, JavaScript has changed a lot during the 30 years of its existence. It was announced back in 1995, as a part of the Netscape Navigator, and quickly became the main language for client-side scripting.
Microsoft developed JScript, an open implementation of JS suited for Windows, as a way to compete with Netscape. This triggered browser incompatibilities, which went unresolved until JavaScript was standardized as ECMAScript in 1997.
Although the early 2000s were a quiet period for JavaScript, everything changed in 2008. Netscape’s sunsetting of its browser and Google’s release of Chrome and the V8 engine marked a time of rapid change in the web. At that time, JavaScript’s performance was vastly improved. The language became viable for a lot more than UI enhancements. Shortly after, Node.js brought JavaScript to the server, turning it into a full-stack tool.
What started as a scripting language is now one of the most flexible and widely adopted programming ecosystems in tech. Today, JavaScript is shaped by frameworks like React, the ES6+ language updates, and the popularity of TypeScript. The new runtimes and toolings help to keep JS relevant and secure for future developments.
See this article for JavaScript’s full history.
Want to learn more about JavaScript frameworks and libraries? Read our article.
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