Since its inception as Netscape’s LiveScript years ago, JavaScript has evolved into a full-fledged, highly capable programming language. James Duncan, creator of the Node.js platform, has some thoughts about the evolution and potential of JavaScript.
According to Duncan, the big changes in the way developers looked at JavaScript came when Google Maps was launched. It was created using JavaScript and featured a user interface that encouraged interaction. Developers were all of a sudden interested in this little “scripting” language.
Duncan looks at JavaScript as the edges of one big network–every device that accesses the web is “on the edge of the network” and JavaScript is supported by the majority of those devices–web browsers, mobile phones, tablets. Just as the C programming language is still around after 30 years of use, so shall JavaScript be around 15 years from now. It’s ubiquous, part of our web surroundings, like the electricity in our homes.
