Who Is Brendan Eich? Meet The Creator Of JavaScript
Before the internet revolution, all that the web was static, hardcoded HTML pages that served information to the visitors. Then came Web 2.0, which introduced dynamic web pages and the ability to respond to users’ actions on the website, take input, and store them. Web 2.0 is what we’re using today.
But that’s how the “Web” evolved. There are also technologies that have evolved. JavaScript is currently one of the most fundamental languages used in Web development for many good reasons. But why was JavaScript created, and what does the language aim to solve? In this article, let’s see why Brendan Eich, JavaScript’s creator, created the language.
What is JavaScript?
JavaScript is an object-oriented programming language and a scripting language used to build websites, games, and even apps, along with other technologies like HTML and CSS. Plain JavaScript is used alongside other technologies to change the behavior of the website. Over 97% of websites use JavaScript on the client-side.
However, JavaScript is more than just “plain.” There are tons of JavaScript libraries used to create and serve web pages on both the server-side and the client-side. Some of the examples of popular JavaScript libraries are Node.js and Reactjs.
Why did Brendan Eich create JavaScript?
When Brendan first started working on JavaScript, the initial plan was to create a scripting language that could validate user input on websites. But today, thanks to its open-source nature, JavaScript has become a full-blown programming language that many popular firms use.
Brendan created JavaScript in 1995 when he was a Netscape employee, yes, the old and popular browser that everyone had forgotten about. Eich’s original plan was to make JS’s syntax look similar to Scheme’s syntax. Still, his Netscape superiors insisted to go with syntax that’d resemble Java, which was one of the booming languages of the mid-1990s.
The first version of JavaScript was created in just 10 days, was integrated into Netscape Navigator 2.0’s Beta release, and was called “Mocha.” It was later renamed Lightscript the same year. After Netscape was bought by AOL and AOL joined Sun Microsystems, Brendan renamed the language JavaScript.
Brendan Eich, Co-Founder of Mozilla
If you thought JavaScript was the only thing Brendan created, you were wrong. He also co-founded Mozilla in 1998, which is one of the top internet companies that we know today. In 2014, he was appointed as the CEO of Mozilla. However, he resigned after just 11 days of being a CEO due to various issues. In his blog, he said, “Under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader.”
Brendan Eich: From JavaScript to Mozilla, to Brave
Brendan is now the CEO of Brave Software, a firm that develops the Brave browser, which made it to our best Google Chrome alternatives list. Brendan co-created BAT (Basic Attention Token), an in-browser cryptocurrency that rewards users for browsing the internet by showing ads. Here’s how you can earn cryptocurrency using the Brave browser. In 2017, BAT managed to raise over $35 million.
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