In Search of the Sound of JS Series

Series
In Search of the Sound of JS - Introduction
In Search of the Sound of JS - The Birth of Javascript
In Search of the Sound of JS - Initial Mistakes and Choices of Javascript

Introduction

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness. We had everything before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, translated by Lee Eun-Jeong, 'A Tale of Two Cities', Penguin Classics Korea, page 13

Regardless of opinions, Javascript dominates the web. Even those who dislike Javascript cannot ignore the influence it and the numerous derivatives have on the web. As a front-end developer, I too had to become familiar with Javascript, believing it to be the right choice. Many people would likely say the same.

However, there are many strange aspects of Javascript. From peculiar behaviors like automatic type conversion rules and the == operator to language design elements such as prototype inheritance and closures, Javascript is filled with unfamiliar and odd features. There are countless writings addressing such strange aspects, like Weird JS.

Certainly, other mainstream languages like Python or Java face their own share of criticisms. Yet, no other language drives both fans and critics to such extremes as Javascript does.

So, how did Javascript end up in this state today? And how can those strange aspects be utilized and managed?

I am neither a contributor to Javascript nor a skilled expert able to fully dissect everything. By this point, a significant amount of time has passed, making some things obscure.

Nonetheless, many books, documents, and interviews still remain. Through these, I can attempt to revisit the history of the Javascript language, what the people at that time were thinking, and the reasoning behind their choices.

I felt that there are many who are curious about this, yet not enough resources available. Therefore, I will gather whatever I can to write each article. I hope it serves as a foundation for someone more capable than I to write better articles in the future.

As I continue to engage with more materials and grow, this series will gradually expand and be revised. I anticipate that it will take a long time to complete. As of January 2024, the following series exists.

Series
In Search of the Sound of JS - Introduction
In Search of the Sound of JS - The Birth of Javascript
In Search of the Sound of JS - Initial Mistakes and Choices of Javascript