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Understanding the history of JavaScript can help make sense of its current state. First, let's review some of JavaScript's interesting past.
JavaScript's design decisions were mostly influenced by programming languages such as Self and Scheme. The object-oriented and prototype-based programming language Self inspired JavaScript’s prototypal inheritance, and Scheme likely influenced its functional and imperative styles of programming.
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Hi, everyone, I'm Guil, a JavaScript
developer and teacher here at treehouse.
0:09
JavaScript is everywhere, and
0:13
being used in all phases of development,
from software to hardware.
0:15
Because of its power and
ability to run just about anywhere,
0:19
JavaScript has become one of the most
necessary skills for a modern developer.
0:23
By now, you might have some familiarity
with the JavaScript language.
0:27
So in this course, we're going to briefly
step away from the text editor, and
0:31
explore the modern landscape of
JavaScript, and what it means to learn and
0:34
program with JavaScript today and beyond.
0:38
Understanding JavaScript's history can
help make sense of its current state.
0:42
So first, let's review some of
JavaScript's interesting past.
0:45
JavaScript got its start in the browser.
0:49
It all began in May of 1995, back then,
the internet was becoming popular,
0:51
the web had become popular,
but the web was static.
0:56
It wasn't always a place where you could
view videos of water skiing puppies, and
0:59
photo galleries of juggling cats.
1:03
You couldn't program web pages, so
they were often text heavy with at
1:05
best images that floated to the right or
left side of the text.
1:09
Not all that exciting really, but what
was exciting, is that a company called,
1:12
Netscape communications,
had made the first commercial web browser,
1:17
Netscape Navigator [SOUND],
and it was a hit.
1:21
Soon after its release, Marc Andreessen,
the founder of Netscape,
1:23
thought that the web needed a way to
become livelier and more dynamic.
1:27
He believed that HTML needed a scripting
language, or a programming language, that
1:31
could run natively in the browser, and add
small bits of functionality to a website.
1:36
Like, respond to user interaction and
user input in real time, but also that was
1:41
easy to use by non-professional
web designers and programmers.
1:45
So they gave that job to Brendan Eich,
an engineer,
1:49
who at the time was recruited by Netscape,
to embed a different type of programming
1:52
language, called Scheme,
into Netscape navigator.
1:57
But before he could get
started on that project,
2:00
Eich got pulled into work on
the new scripting language.
2:02
And in just ten days, he designed and
created a new programming language named,
2:05
Mocha, the early name for JavaScript.
2:09
Although it first developed under the name
Mocha, the language's name was changed
2:11
to LiveScript, when it first shipped in
beta releases of Netscape Navigator 2.0.
2:16
And shortly after, as a marketing ploy
by Netscape to cash in on the success of
2:20
then popular up and coming language, Java,
it was officially renamed to JavaScript.
2:24
That's right!
Java and JavaScript are unrelated.
2:29
They have nothing in common,
apart from being programming languages.
2:32
Netscape just wanted a promotional edge
by connecting a brand new language,
2:36
JavaScript, to a popular
language at the time, Java.
2:40
So really, Java is to JavaScript, as ham
is to hamster, or as car is to carpet.
2:43
You get the idea.
2:49
So don't make the mistake of confusing
the two, especially at a job interview.
2:50
Netscape's vision of a livelier web
consisting of interacting pages came true.
2:55
In many ways far greater than expected.
2:59
JavaScript is now the programming
language of the web.
3:02
It runs in all major browsers.
3:04
Now, there's more to the story, and
we'll get back to it just a bit.
3:07
So coming up in this course,
3:10
you're going to learn about the evolution
of JavaScript, through the years, and
3:11
the different types or flavors of
JavaScript available to developers.
3:15
We'll discuss common tools, JavaScript
developers use in the workflows,
3:20
how they use those tools in
their day to day work, and more.
3:23
The landscape of JavaScript is
constantly changing and evolving, so
3:26
make sure that you check the teacher's
notes with each video, because there will
3:30
be additional resources, and up to date
information about most of what I'll cover.
3:34
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