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By the start of 1997, JavaScript had become a regular topic for tech reference websites and books. JavaScript was now a sophisticated language, with new features like layers adding a further dynamic dimension to its capabilities.
Read More 1997: JavaScript Grows Up and Developers Push the Boundaries
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After Microsoft upped the ante in the browser market in 1996 by integrating Internet Explorer 3.0 into Windows, Netscape began the new year with a renewed focus on the open web. Co-founder and CTO Marc Andreessen and the Netscape product team introduced a new strategy called “crossware.”
Read More 1997: Netscape Crossware vs the Windows Web
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In March 1996, at Microsoft’s annual Professional Developers Conference (PDC), Bill Gates announced a set of internet technologies called ActiveX. “Part of the unique thing that Microsoft is doing,” he said regarding Microsoft’s approach to the Internet, “[…] is a strong level of integration into Windows.” It was the moment Netscape, Sun Microsystems, and other web-focused companies had feared — Microsoft was embedding the Internet into its powerful Windows ecosystem.
Read More 1996: Microsoft Activates the Internet With ActiveX & JScript
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Browser technology and JavaScript in the second half of 1996 expanded beyond the initial document-focused delivery of websites that we saw over 1994 and 1995. In 1996, we began to see web applications emerge.
Read More 1996: Netscape Lays the Groundwork For Web Applications
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For all of the technical wizardry in Netscape Navigator 2.0, when it was first released JavaScript was put to use in fairly trivial ways — scrolling text, silly animations, tricks with colors (fading, rainbow effects, and so on). Inventor Brendan Eich called these initial use cases “annoyances.” But there was also an underlying power, especially with the beginnings of the DOM.
Read More 1996: JavaScript Annoyances and Meeting the DOM
Netscape 1995
JavaScript was invented in a two-week flurry in May 1995 by Brendan Eich, at the time a newly hired developer at browser company Netscape. The project was initiated by Netscape because of a desire to extend the early Web beyond the limits of HTML. In particular, Netscape wanted to add interactivity to websites. JavaScript ended up being the solution and this post explores how that came to be.
Read More 1995: The Birth of JavaScript