Using JavaScript as a Real Programming Language

With the increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, scripting languages and other dynamic languages are currently experiencing a renaissance. A whole new generation of programmers are growing up with languages such as JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python and Ruby. The attention that dynamic languages are receiving is remarkable, and is something that has not occurred since the early days of personal computers and the BASIC programming language in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the same time, the web is becoming the de facto target platform for advanced software applications, including social networking systems, games, productivity applications, and so on. Software systems that were conventionally written using static programming languages such as C, C++ or JavaTM, are now built with dynamic languages that were originally designed for scripting rather than full-scale application development. At Sun Labs, we have created a new, highly dynamic web programming environment called the Lively Kernel that is built entirely around JavaScript. As part of this effort, we have written a lot of JavaScript code and applications that exercise the JavaScript language in a different fashion than the typical JavaScript programs found on commercial web sites. Among other things, we have used JavaScript as a systems programming language to write the Lively Kernel itself. In this paper we summarize our experiences using JavaScript, focusing especially on its use as a real, general-purpose programming language. email addresses: [email protected] [email protected] © 2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. The SML Technical Report Series is published by Sun Microsystems Laboratories, of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Printed in U.S.A. Unlimited copying without fee is permitted provided that the copies are not made nor distributed for direct commercial advantage, and credit to the source is given. Otherwise, no part of this work covered by copyright hereon may be reproduced in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or storage in an information retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. TRADEMARKS Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. For information regarding the SML Technical Report Series, contact Jeanie Treichel, Editor-in-Chief .All technical reports are available online on our website, http://research.sun.com/techrep/. Using JavaScript as a Real Programming Language Tommi Mikkonen Antero Taivalsaari [email protected] [email protected] Sun Microsystems Laboratories P.O. Box 553 (TUT) FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland