30 Years ofJavaScript
From a 10-day prototype to the world's most popular programming language.
Celebrating three decades of innovation.
JavaScript by the Numbers
The incredible impact of JavaScript on the digital world
30 Years of JavaScript Evolution
From a 10-day prototype to the world's most popular programming language
1995
Birth of JavaScript
Brendan Eich creates JavaScript in just 10 days at Netscape. Originally named Mocha, then LiveScript, it was later renamed to JavaScript.
1996
JavaScript 1.0
First official release of JavaScript with Netscape Navigator 2.0.
1997
ECMAScript 1
JavaScript is standardized as ECMAScript by Ecma International.
1999
ECMAScript 3
Major update introducing regular expressions, try/catch, and more robust error handling.
2005
AJAX Revolution
Google Maps and Gmail popularize AJAX, showcasing JavaScript's potential for rich web applications.
2006
jQuery Released
John Resig releases jQuery, simplifying DOM manipulation and cross-browser compatibility.
2008
V8 Engine
Google releases the V8 JavaScript engine with Chrome, dramatically improving performance.
2009
Node.js
Ryan Dahl creates Node.js, bringing JavaScript to server-side development.
2010
AngularJS
Google releases AngularJS, popularizing the MV* pattern in frontend development.
2012
TypeScript
Microsoft introduces TypeScript, adding static typing to JavaScript.
2013
React
Facebook introduces React, changing how we think about building UIs with its virtual DOM.
2014
Vue.js
Evan You creates Vue.js, offering a progressive framework for building user interfaces.
2015
ES6 / ES2015
Major update to JavaScript with classes, modules, arrow functions, and more.
2016
Angular 2
Complete rewrite of AngularJS using TypeScript, introducing component-based architecture.
2017
WebAssembly
WebAssembly becomes a web standard, allowing near-native performance in browsers.
2018
React Hooks
React introduces Hooks, revolutionizing state management in functional components.
2020
JavaScript Everywhere
JavaScript dominates web development with frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular. Node.js powers backend services, and JavaScript runs on mobile, desktop, and IoT devices. It's truly everywhere in the tech stack.
2021
ES2021
New features including logical assignment operators, numeric separators, and Promise.any().
2022
Bun Runtime
Bun is released as a fast all-in-one JavaScript runtime, bundler, and package manager.
2025
JavaScript at 30
JavaScript celebrates 30 years of powering the web and beyond! From simple scripts to full-stack applications.
Did You Know?
Fascinating facts about JavaScript's journey
Created in 10 Days
Brendan Eich wrote the first version of JavaScript in just 10 days in May 1995.
Name Changes
Originally called Mocha, then LiveScript, and finally JavaScript for marketing reasons.
Not Just Web
JavaScript now runs on servers, mobile apps, desktop applications, and even spacecraft!
Fastest Growing
JavaScript has the largest package ecosystem with over 2 million packages on npm.
The Next 30 Years
As JavaScript continues to evolve, we're seeing exciting developments in WebAssembly integration, AI-powered development tools, edge computing, and new runtime environments. The language that started as a simple scripting tool has become the foundation of modern digital experiences.
AI Integration
JavaScript-powered AI applications and machine learning in the browser
Edge Computing
JavaScript running closer to users with edge runtimes and serverless functions
Performance
Continued improvements in V8, new JIT optimizations, and WebAssembly synergy
Join the Celebration
Be part of the JavaScript community and help shape the next 30 years of web development. Connect with developers worldwide and share your JavaScript journey.