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== History ==
{{quote box|width = 200px|Anyway I know only one [[programming language]] worse than [[C (programming language)|C]] and that is Javascript. [...] I was convinced that we needed to build-in a programming language, but the developers, [[Tim Berners-Lee|Tim]] first, were very much opposed. It had to remain completely declarative. Maybe, but the net result is that the programming-vacuum filled itself with the most horrible [[kludge|kluge]] in the history of computing: Javascript.|[[Robert Cailliau]]<ref>[[wikinews:Wikinews:Story preparation/Interview with Robert Cailliau]]</ref>}}
LiveScript was the official name for the language when it first shipped in beta releases of Netscape Navigator 2.0 in September 1995, but it was renamed JavaScript in a joint announcement with Sun Microsystems on December 4, 1995,<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070916144913/http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease67.html Press release announcing JavaScript], "Netscape and Sun announce Javascript", PR Newswire, December 4, 1995</ref> when it was deployed in the Netscape browser version 2.0B3.<ref name="techvision">{{cite web |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080208124612/http://wp.netscape.com/comprod/columns/techvision/innovators_be.html |archivedate=2008-02-08 |title=TechVision: Innovators of the Net: Brendan Eich and JavaScript |publisher=Web.archive.org |date= |accessdate=2010-06-14}}</ref>▼
JavaScript was originally developed in Netscape, by [[Brendan Eich]]. Battling with Microsoft over the Internet, Netscape considered their client-server solution as a distributed OS, running portable Sun's Java. Because Java was a competitor of C++ and aimed at professional programmers, Netscape also wanted a lightweight interpreted language that would complement Java by appealing to nonprofessional programmers, like Microsoft's VB.<ref>Feb 2012, IEEE Computer Society, Computer magazine, (Vol. 45, No. 2) pp. 7-8, "Java Script: Designing a Language in 10 Days"</ref> (see [[#JavaScript and Java]])
▲Developed under the name ''Mocha'', ''LiveScript'' was the official name for the language when it first shipped in beta releases of Netscape Navigator 2.0 in September 1995, but it was renamed JavaScript in a joint announcement with Sun Microsystems on December 4, 1995,<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070916144913/http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease67.html Press release announcing JavaScript], "Netscape and Sun announce Javascript", PR Newswire, December 4, 1995</ref> when it was deployed in the Netscape browser version 2.0B3.<ref name="techvision">{{cite web |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080208124612/http://wp.netscape.com/comprod/columns/techvision/innovators_be.html |archivedate=2008-02-08 |title=TechVision: Innovators of the Net: Brendan Eich and JavaScript |publisher=Web.archive.org |date= |accessdate=2010-06-14}}</ref>
The change of name from LiveScript to JavaScript roughly coincided with Netscape adding support for Java technology in its [[Netscape Navigator]] web browser. The final choice of name caused confusion, giving the impression that the language was a spin-off of the [[Java programming language]], and the choice has been characterized by many as a marketing ploy by Netscape to give JavaScript the cachet of what was then the hot new web programming language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/basics/languages_on_the_internet.php3 |title=Programming languages used on the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) |publisher=Webdevelopersnotes.com |date= |accessdate=2009-05-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://safari.oreilly.com/0596101996/jscript5-CHP-1 |title=O'Reilly - Safari Books Online - 0596101996 - JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition |publisher=Safari.oreilly.com |date= |accessdate=2009-05-19}}</ref>
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