An insightful essay in the prestigious publication ‘The Observer’ tracks the evolution of Web technology. The tech expert John Naughton starts off, noting, “Once upon a time, web pages were mere text, written in something called HTML (Hypertext Mark-Up Language). This is a code, which uses angle brackets, quotation marks and forward slashes. When your computer sought a web page from a site, it sent back the text file; your web browser program rendered it for displaying on your screen.”
Such was the state of the technology just about 15 years ago. In 1994, a programmer working for Netscape, the first browser firm, thought of the new idea of embedding mini-programs (termed scripts) in a web page that a browser could run even as it was rendering the page. This idea by Brendan Eich would let the creator of the page incorporate all kinds of useful functionality. His scripting language was first known as Mocha and later LiveScript, but wound up being termed JavaScript.
The ability to run JavaScript was implemented in Version 2 of the Netscape browser for the first time in December 1995. It was an innovation, which transformed the Web. Virtually every web page is now loaded with JavaScript. If you are keen on checking how far this has actually gone, download and install a clever plug-in program termed NoScript for the Firefox browser.
NoScript monitors every page and then alerts you to all those scripts embedded into it. You can opt to allow or forbid your browser to run them. What this indicates is the extent to which the Web has evolved from a mere publishing medium to a great programming platform.
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quite an informative article i must say, a well described brief history of the evolution of the web and the way our browsers operate.
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