Brendan Eich (born 1961) is an American technologist best known as the creator of JavaScript. His work in 10 days in May 1995 produced the language that would become the backbone of web interactivity.
Creating JavaScript
Netscape hired Eich in 1995 to create a scripting language for Navigator. The goal was a language accessible to web designers and hobbyists—not just professional programmers. Working under extreme time pressure, Eich created Mocha (later JavaScript) in about 10 days.
Design Influences
Despite the rushed development, JavaScript incorporated sophisticated ideas:
- Scheme: First-class functions, closures
- Self: Prototype-based objects
- Java: Syntax (for marketing reasons)
Mozilla
Eich was a founding contributor to the Mozilla project when Netscape open-sourced Navigator. He served as CTO and briefly as CEO of Mozilla Corporation before resigning in 2014.
Brave Browser
In 2015, Eich co-founded Brave Software, creating a privacy-focused web browser with built-in ad blocking. Brave also introduced Basic Attention Token (BAT), a cryptocurrency for compensating content creators.
JavaScript’s Legacy
Eich has expressed mixed feelings about JavaScript—proud of what it enabled, critical of decisions made under deadline pressure. The language’s quirks stem from its rushed creation, yet its flexibility and ubiquity made it the most widely used programming language.