3 ms·
> If Netscape had decided to use a Scheme-like language or a BASIC-like language it would still be the most popular language in the world. If whatever Netscape
by codetrotter 5y ago
> If Netscape had decided to use a Scheme-like language or a BASIC-like language it would still be the most popular language in the world.
If whatever Netscape added as their scripting language had been too weird I think there is a good chance that a competing browser would’ve implemented a less weird language and that such a less weird language would have won over the hypothetical too weird language.
For me, Objective-C is too weird so I never bothered with it but I love Swift and only after Swift came out did I start making apps for iOS. And that’s even though I had been wanting to make mobile apps for iOS for a long time.
- goto11 5y agoMicrosoft introduced VBScript support in Internet Explorer. VBScript was a variant of Visual Basic and therefore a lot more familiar than JavaScript. VB was already used in MS Office and a whole generation had learned programming starting with BASIC. But it didn't matter. Nobody would use a language which wasn't supported by the browser with the largest market share, regardless of the merits of the language.