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Not only that, but IE4 was the first browser you could do, what we would now call "web apps". It had a stable javascript implementation and css, which let you c

Not only that, but IE4 was the first browser you could do, what we would now call "web apps". It had a stable javascript implementation and css, which let you create and edit elements dynamically. It really paved the way of how we do things today.

kevindamm 3y ago
and IE5 introduced dynamic web requests (originally ActiveXObject, then as the familiar XHR) which was way better than holding open a long page response
- JimDabell 3y ago
  There was also a way of doing it with the DOM that Mozilla implemented. I don’t recall the specifics, it was something like you would instantiate a new Document object and then call open() on it with a URL. It ended up being abandoned when XMLHttpRequest was made the standard by WHATWG I think.
  - denton-scratch 3y ago
    XMLHttpRequest long predates the foundation of WHATWG. XMLHttpRequest was introduced with IE5 in 2001. WHATWG wasn't founded until 2004, when its first mailing list started.
    - JimDabell 3y ago
      If you check my comment again, I’m saying it was abandoned after WHATWG formalised XHR. It existed a long time before that. I think XHR was a little earlier, but they were roughly contemporaneous. And of course, people were doing XHR stuff before XHR existed with things like invisible iframes, but those were just hacks.
      - denton-scratch 3y ago
        > It ended up being abandoned when XMLHttpRequest was made the standard by WHATWG I think. "It" was using the Document object to load a URL. WHATWG was not responsible for standardizing XMLHTTPRequest.
        JimDabell 3y ago
        https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/#specification-history https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/#specification-history
  - richm44 3y ago
    It was also possible in earlier browsers by using hidden frames. User interaction or a timer would trigger, then you load the frame (which contained dynamically generated js) and then call the javascript you'd just loaded.

kevindamm 3y ago

and IE5 introduced dynamic web requests (originally ActiveXObject, then as the familiar XHR) which was way better than holding open a long page response

JimDabell 3y ago
There was also a way of doing it with the DOM that Mozilla implemented. I don’t recall the specifics, it was something like you would instantiate a new Document object and then call open() on it with a URL. It ended up being abandoned when XMLHttpRequest was made the standard by WHATWG I think.
- denton-scratch 3y ago
  XMLHttpRequest long predates the foundation of WHATWG. XMLHttpRequest was introduced with IE5 in 2001. WHATWG wasn't founded until 2004, when its first mailing list started.
  - JimDabell 3y ago
    If you check my comment again, I’m saying it was abandoned after WHATWG formalised XHR. It existed a long time before that. I think XHR was a little earlier, but they were roughly contemporaneous. And of course, people were doing XHR stuff before XHR existed with things like invisible iframes, but those were just hacks.
    - denton-scratch 3y ago
      > It ended up being abandoned when XMLHttpRequest was made the standard by WHATWG I think. "It" was using the Document object to load a URL. WHATWG was not responsible for standardizing XMLHTTPRequest.
      - JimDabell 3y ago
        https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/#specification-history https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/#specification-history
- richm44 3y ago
  It was also possible in earlier browsers by using hidden frames. User interaction or a timer would trigger, then you load the frame (which contained dynamically generated js) and then call the javascript you'd just loaded.