| or VBScript for that matter.. I think there's some confusion about why JS won. JS couldn't easily manipulate the DOM either until JQuery in 2005-2006. The fact that Java, ActiveX etc.. had full control of the system and causes problems ensuring security was an issue, but it is not the reason why JS beat them all. Don't discount the power of 1) free and 2) easy to use software that is 3) not controlled by a single corporation. JS is the only web programming language that is all of these. Yea, maybe Python or Clojure in the browser would be cool. I would argue Clojure is absolutely more difficult for a novice to learn, and Python provides what additional benefit? JS was there first. The only reasons why plugins existed is you couldn't do these kinds of things in the DOM. JQ, and the subsequent advances in browser technology, HTML, CSS, JS - made it so you can. Also, other things being equal - programmers will choose elegance over bloat, less layers of abstraction over more. Plugin architecture became just an unnecessary layer between the programmer and the browser, after HTML/JS/CSS caught up. JS did not become ubiquitous by accident, or because it was the only choice. There were many choices (all being pimped by big well-funded companies). JS won because it was the better than the alternatives. |