ALGOL (1960) used semicolons as separators. C made them terminators. Every language since has had to pick a side, and "optional" always turns out to be the ha

ALGOL (1960) used semicolons as separators. C made them terminators. Every language since has had to pick a side, and "optional" always turns out to be the hardest choice. JavaScript's ASI is what happens when a 10 day language has to live with a quick pragmatic decision for 30 years.