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JavaScript Introduction and History

What is a programming language?

A programming language is a set of instructions and rules that a computer can understand and execute. It is used to create software, apps, and other computer programs. Common examples include Python, Java, C++, and JavaScript.

What is high level programming language?

A high-level programming language is a type of programming language that is designed to be easy for humans to read and write. It provides a higher level of abstraction from the computer's hardware and is typically easier to learn and use than low-level languages. Examples of high-level languages include Python, Java, C#, and JavaScript.

What is machine level language or Low level language?

A machine-level language, also known as low-level language, is a type of programming language that is closer to the machine's hardware and operates directly on the computer's processor. It is less human-readable and requires more knowledge of the computer's architecture. Examples of low-level languages include assembly language and machine code.

What is front-end ?

Front-end refers to the part of web development that deals with the user interface and the client-side of the application. It mainly focuses on the design and layout of the website and how it interacts with the user. This includes technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and frameworks/libraries such as React, Angular, and Vue.js. The goal of front-end development is to create a seamless and user-friendly experience for the website visitors.

What is back-end ?

Back-end refers to the server-side of web development, which deals with the behind-the-scenes functionality of a website or application. It mainly focuses on the logic, data storage, and server-side operations of the application. This includes technologies such as databases, server-side programming languages like Java, Python, Ruby and frameworks like Express.js, Ruby on Rails, Django etc. The goal of back-end development is to provide a reliable and efficient way for the front-end to interact with the application's data and functionality.

Introduction of HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is a standard markup language used to create and structure web pages. HTML defines the structure and layout of a web page, including headings, paragraphs, images, and links. It uses a set of tags, such as <p> and <h1>, to format the content and create a hierarchical structure. HTML documents are rendered by web browsers, which interpret the HTML code and display the resulting webpage to the user.

Introduction of CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It is a language used to describe the presentation of a document written in a markup language. It is used to control the layout, colors, font, and other visual elements of web pages written in HTML or XML (including other markup languages like SVG, XHTML). It separates the presentation of a webpage from the structure of the webpage defined in HTML, making it easier to maintain and update the design of multiple pages. With CSS one can also do responsive design for different screen sizes, accessibility and accessibility enhancements.

Introduction of JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming language that is mainly used to create interactive and dynamic user interfaces for websites and web applications. It can be used to add behavior to HTML pages, such as responding to user actions, creating animations, and manipulating the content and layout of a page. JavaScript can also be used on the server side using technologies like Node.js. It is a high-level, interpreted programming language that is supported by all major web browsers. JavaScript is widely used for creating interactive front-end web development, adding interactive maps, creating web and mobile apps and for creating complex web-based systems.

History of javascript

JavaScript was created in 1995 by Brendan Eich, a programmer at Netscape Communications Corporation. It was initially called Mocha and then changed to LiveScript before finally being named JavaScript. It was first released in the Netscape Navigator 2.0 web browser as a way to add interactivity and dynamic content to websites. In 1996, JavaScript was submitted to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) and became an ECMA standard, and later an international standard under ISO/IEC. The language has since evolved and is now supported by all major web browsers, as well as on the server-side with technologies like Node.js. JavaScript is now one of the most widely-used programming languages on the web, and has also become popular for creating desktop and mobile applications.

What is ECMA ?

ECMA is the European Association for Standardizing Information and Communication Systems. It is a standards organization that develops and publishes technical standards for a wide range of information and communication systems, including programming languages such as JavaScript. The organization was founded in 1961 and is based in Switzerland. It is responsible for the standardization of many technologies including ECMAScript (ECMA-262) which is the standard for JavaScript. The goal of ECMA is to promote and facilitate the use of these standards in order to improve interoperability and encourage innovation in the industry.

The following are some of the most widely-used versions of ECMAScript:

  • ECMAScript 1 (release in 1997) - First edition

  • ECMAScript 2 (release in 1998) - Editorial changes

  • ECMAScript 3 (released in 1999) - This version introduced regular expressions, try-catch exception handling, and other features.

  • ECMAScript 5 (released in 2009) - This version added features such as strict mode, JSON support, and additional methods for arrays and objects.

  • ECMAScript 6 (released in 2015) - Also known as ECMAScript 2015, this version introduced major changes such as the addition of arrow functions, template literals, and the let and const variable declarations.

  • ECMAScript 2016 (released in 2016) - This version introduced the Array.prototype.includes() method and the Array.prototype.padStart() and Array.prototype.padEnd() method.

  • ECMAScript 2017 (released in 2017) - This version introduced the Object.values(), Object.entries() and Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors() method and async/await syntax for asynchronous programming.

  • ECMAScript 2018 (released in 2018) - This version introduced the Rest/Spread properties, Asynchronous Iteration, Promise.prototype.finally() method.

  • ECMAScript 2020 (released in 2020) - This version introduced features such as globalThis, nullish coalescing operator, optional chaining operator, BigInt and String.prototype.matchAll() method.

  • ECMAScript continues to evolve and new versions are planned to be released every year, with new features and improvements.