There is great synergy in having the two complementary language using (almost) the same syntax. E.g. Both use ‘this’ to refer to the current object, ‘new’ to create a new object, ‘==‘ to compare values, both use the same Date library which is throughly tested and future proof, both have wrappers to turn primitives into objects etc.
Surely this will avoid a lot of mistakes when switcing between the two languages.
Wow, that’s exciting! Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but does this mean we’ll soon be able to write single pieces of code that can execute on both client- and server-side?
It sounds like pure Java will get us part of the way there thanks to applets – which are also supported in Netscape 2.0 – but JavaScript gives much more control of the whole page. I played with it in an early beta when it was called LiveScript and wrote a crossword puzzle that didn’t need to reload the page at all. Amazing! Now if I can write the backend part in Java and have it work the same way…
I can’t wait for the Java and JavaScript syntaxes to unite and make web page development simpler. Netscape and Sun HQs are just a handful of miles apart, so come on folks, don’t drag it out! Could we get this before the end of the year?
Surely this will avoid a lot of mistakes when switcing between the two languages.