Actually, it wasn't 10 days. As I recall (and I was at Sun at the time in the 'liveoak' group which was to become the Java group) Netscape already had been thinking along these lines and something they called 'netscript' which was their view of how to increase the interactivity of web pages. The original suggestion was to flush it and go with Java to fill this niche, but it was pointed out that having a 'light weight' interpreter already in the browser was useful when all you needed was a "little" interactivity (like a pop up over a form field to tell you what it wanted). No doubt somewhere I've got a 1/4" (QIC) tape with my old Sun email which would let me tell you definitively but that is my recollection. There was concern that people would not know which to use 'netscript' or 'java' and so somebody (and I don't recall who) suggested it be called 'javascript' so that it would be clear it was a lighter weight way of adding interactivity than 'Java'. (most folks at the time thought of 'scripting' languages as light weight languages). The thought being "If its small and trivial just do it in javascript, if its bigger and more sophisticated step up to the power of Java." At the time I don't think anyone anticipated how much could be put into Javascript, nor how tight fisted Sun would become around Java.
I love the whole tone of the article and how Brendan Eich is painted as the hero. Because he is. He managed to make a language that, despite its simplicity, is still in its peak after 16 years of heavy mainstream usage.
I discovered functional programming because of JavaScript (via Joel Spolsky, in 2006!!) and I must say something: Thank you Brendan.
Summary: "kind of, but not really." Only in the comments is the name LiveScript mentioned. I remember actually playing with JS as LS in the Netscape 2.0 days.
"The concept behind the XMLHttpRequest object was originally created by the developers of Outlook Web Access (by Microsoft) for Microsoft Exchange Server 2000." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHttpRequest
XHR was introduced many years after js was extremely popular.
Also XHR doesn't add anything technically. The same thing can be achieved with dynamically adding <script> tags, or using an iframe, or a number of other methods.
The introduction of the buzzword 'ajax' certainly popularized what people had already been doing for years though.
"Describe the difference between Java and Javascript" is actually one of the first technical questions I ask when hiring developers (or otherwise evaluating the skills of anyone in a technical, Web-related position.)
When I first tried it, years ago, I was a little embarrassed for having asked, because I figured everyone would know the correct answer. Then several candidates totally blew the response, and I realized just how good of a filter the question really is -- and continues to be.
What do you expect as an answer here? Just a basic grasp of what they're for, or a deep computer-sciencey appraisal of the sorts of languages they are? (If the former, you'd really hope those people wouldn't be making it to interview...)
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidmathers|14 years ago|reply
http://www.jwz.org/blog/2010/10/every-day-i-learn-something-...
http://www.jwz.org/blog/2010/10/every-day-i-learn-something-...
[+] [-] joshu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dasil003|14 years ago|reply
Berners-Lee probably had no idea that his little invention could end up making the Internet relevant to billions and basically sidelining Microsoft.
[+] [-] tychobrahe|14 years ago|reply
I discovered functional programming because of JavaScript (via Joel Spolsky, in 2006!!) and I must say something: Thank you Brendan.
[+] [-] scottyallen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wbienek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessevondoom|14 years ago|reply
So the gist is kind of there, but if you want actual history I'd suggest :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript#History
[+] [-] retube|14 years ago|reply
As I understood it one of the reasons js really took off was Microsoft's addition of XHR requests. Is that right?
[+] [-] tychobrahe|14 years ago|reply
"The concept behind the XMLHttpRequest object was originally created by the developers of Outlook Web Access (by Microsoft) for Microsoft Exchange Server 2000." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHttpRequest
[+] [-] mibbit|14 years ago|reply
The introduction of the buzzword 'ajax' certainly popularized what people had already been doing for years though.
[+] [-] aasarava|14 years ago|reply
When I first tried it, years ago, I was a little embarrassed for having asked, because I figured everyone would know the correct answer. Then several candidates totally blew the response, and I realized just how good of a filter the question really is -- and continues to be.
[+] [-] Joeri|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gmac|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sambeau|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] divvlr|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dillon|14 years ago|reply