JavaScript is everywhere, and for the seventh year in a row, in 2019 it has been ranked the most commonly used programming language.
Created out of necessity, it is used to build 95.2% (1.52 billion) of websites today, including some of the world’s largest, like Facebook and YouTube. Without it, we would not have popular and useful web apps such as Google Maps and eBay.
But…what’s the importance of Javascrpit?
JavaScript is a scripting language that is one of the three core languages used to develop websites. Whereas HTML and CSS give a website structure and style, JavaScript lets you add functionality and behaviors to your website, allowing your website’s visitors to interact with content in many imaginative ways.
The early to mid-1990s was an important time for the internet.
In September 1995, a Netscape programmer named Brandan Eich developed a new scripting language in just 10 days. It was originally named Mocha, but quickly became known as LiveScript and, later, JavaScript.
In 1997, due to JavaScript’s rapid growth, it became clear that the language would need to be properly maintained and managed. Therefore, Netscape handed the job of creating a language specification to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), a body founded with the goal of standardizing computing. The ECMA specifications were labeled ECMA-262 and ECMAScript languages included JavaScript, JScript, and ActionScript.
The year 2005 proved to be a big one for JavaScript. A paper released by Jesse James Garrett introduced Ajax, a revolutionary suite of technologies that included JavaScript. Ajax vastly improved user experience by allowing web pages to feel more like native desktop apps.
Many events and definitions have taken place since 2005. From its slightly rocky start, JavaScript has risen to be the most popular programming language in the world. According to GitHub’s 2018 Octoverse report, there are more JavaScript code repositories than any other language, and that number is steadily on the rise.
A bit of history about javascript never hurts… I hope you have learned new things about it.