3 ms·

Brendan I respect all of your work on creating a framework that gives at least thousands of people a job every day but I don't quite understand this article and

by kadumel 12y ago

Brendan I respect all of your work on creating a framework that gives at least thousands of people a job every day but I don't quite understand this article and it's purpose. I agree that you were under duress when creating but what are we getting at here?

BrendanEich 12y ago
The question was how JS "won" the browser. The answer is that Netscape (with Bill Joy at Sun) fixed the race and ran it in 10 days. Way too little time to use an existing language and bend it to "look like Java". Did you read the last link, the HN comment? Update: http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript-with-brendan-eich/ http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript... has more detail. The point of all this isn't subtle. MS was coming after Netscape, copying and injecting stuff like VBScript. JS was a rush job because of this. If it had waited till Netscape 3 the odds of a VBScript mandatory single scripting language for the Web would've been high. Netscape 4 was way too late. Only by going out in Netscape 2 did JS preempt that VBScript dystopia. Only by looking like Java did it get management support. Only by being its own language did it happen in ten days. /be
- miketaylr 12y ago
  Have a quick view-source at http://portal.mj.gov.br/EstrangeiroWEB/destaques.asp http://portal.mj.gov.br/EstrangeiroWEB/destaques.asp for those who can't imagine what VBScript dystopia looks like.
  - danielfilho 12y ago
    where else you'd find such a pearl? brazilian government FML! I mean, FTW!
- yellow_and_gray 12y ago
  Thank you for the links and the explanation, I appreciate it. The lesson here is a bigger one: how new tech wins a race when it's chased by a big monster truck. Javascript got out there fast/first, looked familiar, and sidestepped conventions. That Javascript went to ECMA for standardization, to push back on Microsoft, was a nice touch.
- fafner 12y ago
  What would you have changed/used if management hadn't insisted on something that "looks like Java"? I guess one can't thank you enough for saving the web from VBScript!
  - BrendanEich 12y ago
    Search for "HyperTalk" in the transcript below the fold at http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript-with-brendan-eich/ http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript... and you'll see what I wanted to do absent the "make it look like Java" orders. More natural language syntax, no curly braces -- like Logo, Smalltalk, Self, HyperCard. /be

by kadumel 12y ago

BrendanEich 12y ago

The question was how JS "won" the browser. The answer is that Netscape (with Bill Joy at Sun) fixed the race and ran it in 10 days. Way too little time to use an existing language and bend it to "look like Java". Did you read the last link, the HN comment? Update: http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript-with-brendan-eich/ http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript... has more detail. The point of all this isn't subtle. MS was coming after Netscape, copying and injecting stuff like VBScript. JS was a rush job because of this. If it had waited till Netscape 3 the odds of a VBScript mandatory single scripting language for the Web would've been high. Netscape 4 was way too late. Only by going out in Netscape 2 did JS preempt that VBScript dystopia. Only by looking like Java did it get management support. Only by being its own language did it happen in ten days. /be

miketaylr 12y ago
Have a quick view-source at http://portal.mj.gov.br/EstrangeiroWEB/destaques.asp http://portal.mj.gov.br/EstrangeiroWEB/destaques.asp for those who can't imagine what VBScript dystopia looks like.
- danielfilho 12y ago
  where else you'd find such a pearl? brazilian government FML! I mean, FTW!
yellow_and_gray 12y ago
Thank you for the links and the explanation, I appreciate it. The lesson here is a bigger one: how new tech wins a race when it's chased by a big monster truck. Javascript got out there fast/first, looked familiar, and sidestepped conventions. That Javascript went to ECMA for standardization, to push back on Microsoft, was a nice touch.
fafner 12y ago
What would you have changed/used if management hadn't insisted on something that "looks like Java"? I guess one can't thank you enough for saving the web from VBScript!
- BrendanEich 12y ago
  Search for "HyperTalk" in the transcript below the fold at http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript-with-brendan-eich/ http://javascriptjabber.com/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript... and you'll see what I wanted to do absent the "make it look like Java" orders. More natural language syntax, no curly braces -- like Logo, Smalltalk, Self, HyperCard. /be