Beautiful JavaScript

Preface

Functions are first-class citizens, syntax resembles Java, inheritance is prototypal, and (+"") equals zero. This is JavaScript, arguably the most polarizing and misunderstood programming language in the world. It was created in 10 days and had a lot of warts and rough edges. Since then, there have been many attempts to replace it as the language of the Web. And yet, the language and the ecosystem around it are thriving. JavaScript is the most popular language in the world—and the only true language of the web platform. What made JavaScript special? Why did a language that was created in such a hurry succeed where others failed?

I believe the reasons why JavaScript (and the Web in general) survived lie in its omnipresence—it’s practically impossible to find a personal computer that doesn’t have some sort of JavaScript interpreter—and its ability to gain from disorder, to use its stressors for self-improvement.

JavaScript, like no other language, brought all kinds of different people to the platform. Anyone with a text editor and a web browser could get started with JavaScript, and many did. Its expressiveness and limited standard library prompted those people to experiment with the language and push it to its limits. People were not only making websites and applications; they were writing libraries and creating programming languages that could be compiled back into JavaScript. Those libraries competed with each other, and their approaches to solving problems often contradicted ...