Despite its name, this dynamic, object-oriented scripting language has nothing to do with Java, apart from them both being based on C. In 1995, Netscape developed JavaScript, originally called LiveScript, with the goal of expanding HTML and CSS to enable programmers to evaluate user interactions and dynamically display content. Today, JavaScript is not just used for web browsers but also for micro-controllers and servers. The name JavaScript was chosen merely because of Java’s popularity. At the time, people wanted to be associated with it. This was a great success. Today, almost all the most popular websites use JavaScript as their programming language of choice on the client side. Additionally, JavaScript has extensive frameworks and libraries.
This programming language is dynamically typed and classless. It gives programmers the choice of object-oriented, procedural, or functional programming, making it a highly versatile programming language. This is especially apparent in web browsers. For example, JavaScript can be used to dynamically change websites, validate form entries even before they are sent to the target server, switch dialog boxes as well as integrate scripts for downloading and uploading. JavaScript has also become an essential tool for online marketing, as many advertisements are programmed with it. This language can also be used to read and write cookies, which makes modern marketing strategies such as targeting possible. In short, JavaScript has helped shape the modern internet and is an integral part of today's web browsing experience.