Introduction to JavaScript

JavaScript in the Browser

JavaScript is sent to the browser from a server, and the browser is responsible for executing it.

JavaScript is a Strange Language

created in May 1995 by Brandan Eich as Mocha

- created in 10 days while working for Netscape
- went on to co-found Mozilla
- now working on Brave

Others wanted in

• Microsoft made JScript
• Netscape had livescript standardization was becoming an issue quickly

ECMAScript

ECMAScript is the language specification designed to solve these issues. The latest version is 8 (ECMAScript 2017).

(everyone things the name sucks)

Implementations try to adhere to the standard, but may implement their own features.

Implementaitons

Firefox has SpiderMonkey

Chrome has V8, which is also the core of Node.js

Internet Explorer has Chakra.

Why Do We Care?

Why is JavaScript as prevalent as it is now?

Primarily for two reasons:

1. it capitalized at the right time
2. it provided interactivity within the browser

What it’s used for

• Client-side scripting(browsers)

• Server-side scripting(Node.js)

Specifications for CPL

We will use Node.js 6.11.3 server-side and Firefox client-side.

We will adhere to the Google JavaScript Style Standard