JavaScript: A Brief History

This deck is a Lunch & Learn presentation I gave at 7Geese (7Geese.com) to share with the team a bit about the language I write in every day while building the front-end of 7Geese.

Transcript

1. JavaScript (/ˈdʒɑːvəˌskrɪpt/) March 2016 • lunch & learn A BRIEF HISTORY
2. JavaScript (/ˈdʒɑːvəˌskrɪpt/) is a high-level, dynamic, untyped, and interpreted programming language. ~ Wikipedia
3. Anyway, it’s a programming language that, when used in a browser, helps to create user interfaces by handling data and logic while manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM). ~ Me
6. Document Object Model (DOM)
7. Document Object Model (DOM)
8. JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages on planet Earth.
10. It doesn’t just run on the client (web browser)…
11. …it runs on the server too!
12. A few startups using Node.js in production
16. May 29, 2015 Netflix now accounts for almost 37% of downstream Internet traffic in North America during peak evening hours. “
17. Buuuuuuuuuut
18. JavaScript has a checkered past, and carries a lot of baggage, such as some considering it a “toy language”.
19. …some have claimed JavaScript is not used by Real Programmers™
20. It’s also known for having several, umm, flaws…
21. …and some people are just haters…
22. …others are pretty clever about it, though.
23. So what's the deal?! A quick overview the history of Javascript can help us understand this language a bit more.
25. Question #1 How old is JavaScript?
26. Answer 21 years old (almost) JavaScript was created in 1995 by Brandon Eich while he was working at Netscape.
27. Question #2 How long did it take Eich to create JavaScript?
28. Answer 10 days
29. Why was JavaScript invented in the first place? Question #3
30. We aimed to provide a “glue language” for the Web designers and part-time programmers who were building Web content from components such as images, plugins, and Java applets. “
31. Question #4 What was JavaScript’s original name?
32. Answer That’s the biggest trick question of all time…
33. It was originally called Mocha. That name was chosen by Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape.
34. In September of 1995 the name was changed to LiveScript. Then in December of the same year, after receiving a trademark license from Sun Microsystems (creators of Java), the name JavaScript was adopted.
36. ECMAScript 2015 ECMAScript 6 ECMAScript Harmony aka aka
37. Technical Committee 39 (TC39)
38. examples of idiosyncratic weirdness aka mistakes in JavaScript Let’s take a look at a couple
39. But first!
42. 1. addition operator where it operates on two numbers 2. concatenation operator where it operates on two strings 3. unary operator attempts to convert the operand to a number (type coercion) The “+” operator
44. One of the biggest mistakes in JavaScript is == and === Equality 1 == “1” // true 1 === “1” // false
46. The Solution
47. So, if we have to use JavaScript everywhere, how do we try to not make things blow up all the time?!?!? So, if we have to use JavaScript everywhere, how do we try to not make things blow up all the time?!?!?
48. Linting Linting
50. Babel.io