Birth of JavaScript
How JavaScript came to be: the problem it solved at Netscape and the initial design choices that shaped the language.
Short explanation
JavaScript was created in 1995 at Netscape to make web pages interactive. It started as a lightweight scripting language that could be embedded directly into HTML, enabling behaviors (form validation, simple animations) without server round-trips.
Minimal syntax example
// A tiny example showing inline scripting
<button onclick="alert('Hello from JS')">Click me</button>
How JavaScript handled it internally
Early JavaScript was interpreted and embedded directly in the browser. When the browser encountered a script tag, it executed the code immediately in the context of the current page. The runtime at the time prioritized quick parsing and execution over heavy optimizations.
Key internal points:
- Execution happened synchronously as the parser reached script tags.
- Early engines prioritized startup speed and minimal footprint.
- There was no standard way to modularize code — that arrived much later.
Diagram
Related
🔗 Related:
FAQ
Q: Who invented JavaScript?
A: Brendan Eich created JavaScript in 1995 while working at Netscape.
Q: Why wasn't JavaScript named after Java?
A: Java had strong marketing appeal at the time; Netscape chose a similar name to leverage that recognition, but the languages are unrelated in design.