The story of JavaScript began with the purpose of fulfilling a need: adding interactivity to websites.
Now, the question arises—what does this mean, and how important is it?
The answer lies in understanding that interactivity on websites refers to their ability to engage and respond to user actions.
It encompasses elements that enable users to actively participate, influence, and control their experience on a website. This is achieved through various features such as clickable buttons, forms, dropdown menus, search bars, games, animations, chatbots, and more. Interactivity enhances user engagement, making the website more dynamic and engaging. It allows users to navigate, explore, and interact with the content, creating a more personalized and immersive experience.
In 1995, the most popular web browser of that time was Netscape Navigator. Brendan Eich was the person responsible for creating JavaScript, which he famously developed in just 10 days.
The history behind the naming of JavaScript
Initially, JavaScript was named Mocha, then it was called LiveScript. However, at that time, Java, a popular programming language, was dominant in the market. To capitalize on Java's popularity and increase the acceptance of LiveScript, its name was changed to JavaScript.
Jscript and Javascript
After the rise in JavaScript's popularity, Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer, sought to create a programming language similar to JavaScript for its platform. In 1996, Internet Explorer introduced JScript, which included some replicated features from JavaScript along with additional functionalities
In 1996 - Browser-Specific Language Divergence
In 1996, with the presence of JavaScript and JScript and the dominance of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer as browsers, a problem emerged. Websites built using JavaScript might display well in Netscape Navigator but not in Internet Explorer, and vice versa for sites developed with JScript. This issue created a need for developers to build two versions of their websites, one optimized for each browser, leading to significant challenges in ensuring a website looked good on both platforms.
ECMA
ECMA, an international organization, played a crucial role in resolving this issue. It standardized various technologies, determining their behaviors, functionalities, and features. These standards aimed to ensure consistency and compatibility across different implementations of the technology.
JavaScript was brought to ECMA for standardization, resulting in the creation of ECMAScript. The ECMA-262 standard specifies how scripting languages, like JavaScript, should function in browsers, establishing guidelines that all browsers must have to follow.
In the future, if you aim to develop a scripting language similar to JavaScript for browser use, you must have to follow the standards outlined in ECMAScript.
Specifications of ECMAScript
The first specification of ECMAScript, known as ES1:1997, was followed by subsequent versions - ES2, ES3, and ES5:2009, each introducing numerous new features. Then came ES6:2015, marking the most significant update in JavaScript's history, often referred to as 'modern JavaScript.' Following this release, JavaScript's popularity soared, establishing itself as a favorite programming language for many.
Tc39
It stands for Technical Committee 39, a group within ECMA International, responsible for the standardization of ECMAScript. TC39 manages the evolution of the language, considering proposals for new features, syntax, and functionalities, and once approved, these additions become part of the ECMAScript standard.
After the release of ES6:2015, TC39 decided to adopt a yearly release cycle for JavaScript language updates. With the release of ES6 in 2015, the naming convention was changed to ES2015, a shift made to make it easier for everyone to identify and remember the specific year of each ECMAScript specification's release.
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