Beginnings of JavaScript

The JavaScript history begins in the year 1992 when a company called Nombas developed an embedded scripting language they named C-minus-minus (Cmm). They wanted to create a language that will replace heavily used macros but stay similar to C and C++ so developers can easily adapt. Later the name was changed to ScriptEase.

When the browser Netscape Navigator started growing in early web, Nombas developed a version of the script for Netscape that could be embedded into web pages; thus creating the first client-side scripting language. 

The Web

During the early rapid development of the web but with still very slow connection (28.8 kbps) the web sites became quite slow for impatient visitors. That was especially obvious with the online forms. When a visitor clicked on ”Submit” button, he or she had to wait for the server response, only to be told, i.e., that a field is missing and the form has to be filled out again. Therefore the first meaningful usage of a client-side scripting was for forms validations.

Netscape and Microsoft

In the 1995 Brendan Eich from Netscape started developing a client-side script called LiveScript that in combination with the server-side script called LiveWire would be a powerful tool in online scripting. Netscape partnered up with Sun Microsystems to complete the implementation of LiveScript. Due this partnership the name was changed from LiveScript to JavaScript so the companies can capitalize on the popularity that SM’sJava had already been achieved.

Microsoft

JavaScript 1.0 was immediate hit so the Netscape version 3 already implemented JavaScript 1.1. In that time Netscape was the only major browser on the market, but such a situation changed with Microsoft entering the race with the Internet Explorer. In 1996 Microsoft, with Explorer 3, issued its own version of JavaScript they called JScript. The name change was obvious as they wanted to avoid licensing problems with Netscape.

Standardization

At that time there were three versions of JavaScript around; the original ScriptEase, wrapped in a package CEnvi from Nombas, JavaScript in Netscape Navigator and JScript in Internet Explorer. Throughout that period of time, Internet was growing rapidly and there was no standards defining the syntax and features of the script.

In 1997,Javascript 1.1 was submitted to European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) as a standard proposal. The Technical Committee #39 met for a few months to end up with the standard called ECMA-262 and a new language named ECMAScript.

This committee was made of companies interested in the language such as Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Borland, Netscape etc...

In the following year the script was accepted by the International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC and became a standard SO/IEC-16262.