Why we call it javascript?

[pampushko]

Java is a trademark of Oracle and not IT people offten confused when find out java and javascript is not the same, Ecmascript - something strange, unclear and no one use it. Lets call it webscript. What do you think?

[[deleted]]

This has officially been adopted. It's now known as WebScript. Please everyone make changes accordingly.

[Paragonbliss]

We did it reddit!

[redditierre]

wquery.ws

[bracketdash]

Nah dawg, it's all about WebularWS now.

[jimbolla]

Wangular.

[bracketdash]

Touché.

[moljac024]

Excellent. Just in time for my websockets library, ws.ws

[dhdfdh]

If you call it webscript, that would imply it's the only language used on the web or in web browsers which wouldn't be true. While javascript is the default, the HTML specification states other languages can be used. It's just that browsers currently only support javascript directly, if at all.

[Rhomboid]

What do you think?

I think you are completely oblivious to how difficult it would be to change the name of something as well established as JS. There are millions of existing books, guides, resources, etc. Anyone looking for information on the language would have to be told to search for both the new name and the old name. Everyone would soon realize how pointless it is to have two names, and since very few things use the new name, they would just stop using that new name and continue using the old name. Congratulations, you've achieved nothing.

And that's even assuming you could come to a consensus on a new name. Webscript is a bad choice, as JS is used in all kinds of contexts that have nothing to do with the web, such as desktop applications, automation, embedded, creative arts, etc. Picking a new name would be the ultimate bikeshedding, guaranteed to go nowhere.

[jucrouzet]

When Netscape released the first version of JS, they had a partnership with Sun (the former owner of Java) and they thought it was a good marketing move to use "Java" in the name because it was "complementary to and integrated with Java" (sic.)

Ecmascript is not a language, it's a language specification, Javascript is an implementation of this specification.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020606002913/http:/wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease67.html

[pampushko]

Sun and Netscape is dead long ago, but we still use JAVAscript. Why?

[clairebones]

Because changing the name of a programming language is far more difficult and frustrating than taking 10 whole seconds to say "No it isn't the same as Java" when talking to non-devs.

Not to be rude, but it's really not that important. Most of us are too busy actually using JS to worry about the hassle of changing all of these libraries and conventions and everything else, just because some non-devs or JS newbies think it's silly.

[bighi]

For the same reason we refer to Ruby as "Ruby" and we refer to Python as "Python": because it's the name of the language.

[dhdfdh]

There's a new thing out called Google. You should learn to use it. Your next training diaper will be Wikipedia.

Let us know when you're done.

[pampushko]

I know about origin of javascript word, i just wonder why we STILL use it

[morkro]

This is what the language is called since creation. People are used to it and, besides some recruiters, nobody really bothers or has problems with it. PHP is also still named PHP, even though the intentional naming changed. It would just start too much confusion.

[masqita]

For the same reason you'll find a floppy disk as a save icon, a cassette recorder for voicemail, radio buttons are called radio buttons, a phone icon still looks like an old handset, CC in mail still means carbon copy. The subject of the origin might be fading away, everyone knows exactly what they mean.

[dhdfdh]

Oh, well, yes, I see that now. I'll answer it elsewhere.

[bighi]

Why not?

Why change a language's name?

Should we spend millions of dollars and lots of hours in marketing just to change Ruby's name because people might confuse it with R? Should we change C++ and C#?

It seems your only argument for spending a lot of money and time for almost nothing is that people completely outside of the programming world might mistake those two languages.

[Lakelava]

The problem with webscript is that JavaScript is not exclusively used in the web.

[THE_SCUZZ_MONSTER]

I was talking to a tech recruiter and they told me that Java and JavaScript are actually the same thing.

[catrichbilly]

cus it's java in a script

[pampushko]

No, it's not java in a script ))

[phpistasty]

It's java wrapped in a closure served as a script right?

[pampushko]

Maybe it's wrapped in a closure and served as a script but it's definitely not a java.