JavaScript's 25th Anniversary

The JavaScript language was created in 1995, initially developed in May and released to the public in December of that same year. Thus, 2020 marks its 25th Anniversary--certainly a huge milestone for this language that has become one of the most popular.

The 25th Anniversary of JavaScript presents itself as a great opportunity for the community to look back in history and forward towards the future. What were the major milestones that marked its history and how will this already popular language evolve even further?

The language itself and the community behind it has a rich history. JavaScript has been key to the formation of the World Wide Web. Organizations like the Mozilla Foundation, the W3C, and Ecma have played a major role in developing the language, and projects like jQuery and Node.js have contributed significantly in demonstrating JavaScript’s potential capabilities both on the client side as well on the server side.

As for the future of JavaScript, one thing is clear: collaboration is key. The “Browser Wars” have come and gone, and neither users nor developers want to relive the problems brought by the lack of interoperability. Fortunately, open source has prevailed and represents the way forward in terms of development and governance of the JavaScript language and community.