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> A server-side JavaScript script might pull data out of a relational database and format it in HTML on the fly I didn't know that server-side JS was a thing b

> A server-side JavaScript script might pull data out of a relational database and format it in HTML on the fly I didn't know that server-side JS was a thing back then.

vesinisa 6y ago
It wasn't. They basically predicted Node.js 15 years before its inception. EDIT: Okay, server-side JS indeed long predates Node.js. See below.
- BigFatGuy 6y ago
  Netscape Enterprise Server executed server-side JavaScript ("SSJS") https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-5653-10/816-5653-10.pdf https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-5653-10/816-5653-10...
- peteri 6y ago
  It was also an option for IIS as well as vbscript in classic ASP pages.
- icedchai 6y ago
  It was. I developed sites using Netscape Livewire, the server side JS in Netscape Enterprise Server. It was probably closer to ASP and PHP scripting, mixing HTML, client-side JS, and server-side JS in the same file.
rbg246 6y ago
Think it was this (I am sure someone here will know better): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhino_(JavaScript_engine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhino_(JavaScript_engine) Albeit it was two years after the announcement.
- philo23 6y ago
  Yeah, I remember people talking about Rhino when node.js originally came out, saying things like it's been tried before and wouldn't catch on.
  - rbg246 6y ago
    Yes I heard the exact same.
k__ 6y ago
There were a few backend products that used server-side JS before Node.js The Netscape Server had JS in 1998. https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-6411-10/contents.htm https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-6411-10/contents.ht...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
based2 6y ago
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/55431/BroadVision+to+Support+Java+and+JavaScript.htm http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/55431/Broad...
timw4mail 6y ago
Classic ASP had JScript, I once had the dubious pleasure of using JScript instead of VB on an ASP website.
- TomGullen 6y ago
  Ugh, did some freelance work when I was younger in classic asp, got a project do work on an asp site and day one turned up it was all jscript! Nightmare!
tootie 6y ago
This was later but there was an entire server-side JS stack called Helma back in 2008: https://blog.astithas.com/2008/04/javascript-on-server-with-helma.html?m=1 https://blog.astithas.com/2008/04/javascript-on-server-with-...
sradman 6y ago
Netscape had LiveWire, Microsoft had ASP, and Sybase had PowerDynamo. The first version of ASP was interpreted and supported pluggable scripting engines including JScript and VBScript. The Netscape and Sybase DynaScript interpreters ran on various flavors of Unix and RISC chips and were used much like PHP, Rails, and Django; web interface to relational databases.

> A server-side JavaScript script might pull data out of a relational database and format it in HTML on the fly I didn't know that server-side JS was a thing back then.

vesinisa 6y ago

It wasn't. They basically predicted Node.js 15 years before its inception. EDIT: Okay, server-side JS indeed long predates Node.js. See below.

BigFatGuy 6y ago
Netscape Enterprise Server executed server-side JavaScript ("SSJS") https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-5653-10/816-5653-10.pdf https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-5653-10/816-5653-10...
peteri 6y ago
It was also an option for IIS as well as vbscript in classic ASP pages.
icedchai 6y ago
It was. I developed sites using Netscape Livewire, the server side JS in Netscape Enterprise Server. It was probably closer to ASP and PHP scripting, mixing HTML, client-side JS, and server-side JS in the same file.

rbg246 6y ago

Think it was this (I am sure someone here will know better): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhino_(JavaScript_engine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhino_(JavaScript_engine) Albeit it was two years after the announcement.

philo23 6y ago
Yeah, I remember people talking about Rhino when node.js originally came out, saying things like it's been tried before and wouldn't catch on.
- rbg246 6y ago
  Yes I heard the exact same.

k__ 6y ago

There were a few backend products that used server-side JS before Node.js The Netscape Server had JS in 1998. https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-6411-10/contents.htm https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/816-6411-10/contents.ht...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

based2 6y ago

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/55431/BroadVision+to+Support+Java+and+JavaScript.htm http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/55431/Broad...

timw4mail 6y ago

Classic ASP had JScript, I once had the dubious pleasure of using JScript instead of VB on an ASP website.

TomGullen 6y ago
Ugh, did some freelance work when I was younger in classic asp, got a project do work on an asp site and day one turned up it was all jscript! Nightmare!

tootie 6y ago

This was later but there was an entire server-side JS stack called Helma back in 2008: https://blog.astithas.com/2008/04/javascript-on-server-with-helma.html?m=1 https://blog.astithas.com/2008/04/javascript-on-server-with-...

sradman 6y ago

Netscape had LiveWire, Microsoft had ASP, and Sybase had PowerDynamo. The first version of ASP was interpreted and supported pluggable scripting engines including JScript and VBScript. The Netscape and Sybase DynaScript interpreters ran on various flavors of Unix and RISC chips and were used much like PHP, Rails, and Django; web interface to relational databases.