In the early days of the web, the creators of Javascript numbered its version: by version: 1, 2, 3, and 4. Javascript is in fact “ECMAScript” — a standard set by a mysterious body known as the ECMAScript organization. It is unclear if anyone remembers what “ECMA” stands for, but what we can tell you is that in the 90s something happened between Netscape and Sun Microsystems and the word “Java” moved from Java the compiled language to JavaScript, the language that would go on to operate everywhere. Some claim that Netscape stole the name in a marketing play, but according to this article published in 1998 by Marc Andreeson, it was a joint effort. First released in Netscape Navigator 2.0 as LiveScript. Then, in a joint press statement, it was “rechristened” as Javascript.
So, in essence, Java and Javascript have nothing to do with each other, except this press release in 1995 when Sun + Netscape talked about them in this press release at the same time.
In 2015 Javascript morphed into what we once called “ES6” or “ES2015” but what I like to call “modern Javascript” — that is, the collection of Javascript syntax that was introduced after ECMAScript 2015, which is the point at which the Javascript language acquired several more syntax features (and sugar) to define how today’s apps are written.
Here are the essential things to learn as a Javascript/TypeScript developer.
- Template Literals (aka String Interpolation) With a Backtick
- The Conditional Render
- Modules in JavaScript
- Destructure and Shorthand Destructure
- Nullish coalescing operator (??)
Also see…