There’s a sentence from Douglas Crockford speech “Javascript: The Good Parts”, which I found very clever and gave me some food for thought about what Javascript does actually mean for the Web today:

“Javascript is succeeding very well in an environment were Java was a total failure”

When Java was launched it was promised to be the language of the Internet basically because of the way programs were compiled and distributed, being able to run in every client machine where a JVM was available. Applets were the mantra of Java on its early years. Java visioneers foresee a future were programs will be downloaded and run on the client-side, downplaying the role of the server. On these days the idea of network computer also emerged, which interestingly has recently come back in the form of netbooks.

Mostly due to the lack of performance of applets, Sun dropped her attempt soon afterwards, coming with the idea of servlets and large collections of technologies focused on the server side. Ironically, Javascript, a language named after Java but that has nothing to do with it (Crockford speak got more on this), has succeeded over time on the idea of applets, as a sort of client-side application which brings rich user experience and interaction. And certainly the fact that Javascript is shipped on every browser gives it a huge potential over other RIA technologies such as a Flex or Silverlight. It’s in fact the most widespread programming language in the world, meaning it has the potential to reach the largest number of users. Given these facts, and counting  the huge improvements the language has gone through over the years (XHR, Json, firebug), plus the huge adoption of open standards, it comes at no surprise why Javascript has turned into one of the most important languages in the world nowadays.

By the way, after seeing what the Webkit team are doing with CSS and 3D transformations, I’m more convinced than ever that the future of RIA means Javascript and open web technologies (not counting the huge effort Google is investing on making Javascript the lingua-franca of the Web).

Lastly I cannot finish this post without recommending Cockford speech at Google Techtalks. It’s not only smart and eye-opener but witty and fun (I’m eager to read his book). There’re too many memorable quotes to put them all down here, definitively worth seeing it.