Intense debates between competing implementations thundered during the TC39 sessions. A technical committee, known as TC39 took on this mission in 1996. Netscape asked the European Computer Manufacturers Association, or ECMA, to establish common standards.
Following the Internet Explorer’s release in Windows 95, it did not take long for Microsoft to catch up with Netscape with the release of a reversed-engineered Jscript released in 1996.
Prior to Netscape’s Navigator browser release in 1994, Microsoft had been focused on dislodging AOL with Microsoft Network, ActiveX, and VBScript and developed a new version of Microsoft SQL Server designed for internet applications in 1995. Sun Microsystems changed the product name one more time to JavaScript when it issued Navigator 2.0 Beta 3 in December 1995 and LiveWire became the brand of the server-side JavaScript for the Netscape Enterprise Server. The development community stepped forward to help debug the software. Operations often flagged errors, but his lack of practicality did not deter the users.
This early version of code did not support exceptions. The name “Mocha” lasted only for the short period of development, morphing to “LiveScript” in its first release. He wrote the scripting language tapping into his knowledge of the functionalities of Scheme, added ingredients inspired from Self’s prototypes, and created his own Java-like semantic. During development, it was code-named “Mocha” to be promoted as a companion to Java, a lightweight, friendly language for the non-programmer.Įich pulled it off. Eich was forbidden from using Java’s object-oriented syntax. It should feel rich and functionally powerful for fast market adoption but should not be perceived as a competitor to Java. The language needed to resemble Sun Microsystems’ Java language to feed on Java’s popularity, but it could not be Java in order to respect copyright laws. Additionally, management requirements stressed the importance of its appearance. The work had to comply with the recently signed broad technology exchange agreement and product distribution signed between Netscape and Sun Microsystems. The development needed to be ready in ten days for inclusion with the September 1995 release of the Netscape browser. This planned scripting code, eventually named JavaScript, would enable non-programmers to create a website.īrendan Eich’s work assignment held the attributes of mission impossible.
Netscape, outraged, decided to fight back by including accompanying software with the release of Netscape Navigator 2.0 Beta browser. Microsoft wanted exclusivity of the World Wide Web for its Internet Explorer accompanying Windows 95. Microsoft had threatened to annihilate Netscape if it did not agree to divide the web browser market based on Microsoft Windows Operating System release vintages, according to Netscape’s depositions in a 1998 antitrust trial. JavaScript came as a rushed assignment, mandated by Netscape management because the company was engaged in a fierce browser war with Microsoft. Ten Days from Concept to Going Live (1995) From this new vantage point, JavaScript was reborn. Yet from the ashes emerged one of the most extraordinary stories that raised voices of advocacy for the internet for the public.
The software release stepped into a market clashing with the war waging between Netscape and Microsoft, riding the roller-coaster of rapid user traction and then spiraling down to its market exit. JavaScript was born in 1995, conceived and developed in 10 days by Brendan Eich, a software engineer with Netscape Communications Corporation. It is ubiquitous today and is one of the most frequently used tools for web development seven years in a row, according to Stack Overflow annual survey reports. JavaScript turns 25 in 2020 with more than 10 million users.