Don't Fear the Closure
As a language, Javascript has had a truly remarkable history: named after the unrelated Java language in a blatent attempt to catch its marketing coattails; mocked as a “toy language” and generally ignored by most software engineers; finally, made indispensable by the rise of modern, highly-dynamic web applications.
The funny thing is that there are actually some pretty cool concepts in this weird little language. Higher-order functions, prototype-based object orientation, and asynchronous messaging all lurk at the heart of modern Javascript code.
This presentation will go back to the languages that helped inspire the original design of Javascript (Self, Scheme) and those it’s borrowed from more recently (Python, ML, Erlang) to see how these powerful idioms were used in their original incarnations. In the process, we’ll see how Javascript knits together these eclectic influences to make something truly new.
People planning to attend this session also want to see:
Lennon Day-Reynolds
Dark Horse Comics
Lennon Day-Reynolds is a software developer based in Portland, OR, with a particular interest in web technology, open source software, and usability. He’s been building web sites for communities, businesses, and academia for over a decade. He currently works at Dark Horse Comics, fulfilling a lifelong dream to do nerdy things at the geekiest publishing company in the world.
Comments on this page are now closed.
Sponsorship Opportunities
For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the conference, contact Sharon Cordesse at scordesse@oreilly.com
Download the OSCON Sponsor/Exhibitor Prospectus
Media Partner Opportunities
Download the Media & Promotional Partner Brochure (PDF) for information on trade opportunities with O'Reilly conferences or contact mediapartners@ oreilly.com
Press and Media
For media-related inquiries, contact Maureen Jennings at maureen@oreilly.com
OSCON Newsletter
To stay abreast of conference news and to receive email notification when registration opens, please sign up for the OSCON Newsletter (login required)
OSCON 2.0 Ideas
Have an idea for OSCON to share? oscon-idea@oreilly.com
Contact Us
View a complete list of OSCON contacts
O'Reilly Home | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Sitemap | conf-webmaster@oreilly.com
© 2010, O'Reilly Media, Inc. | (707) 827-7000 / (800) 998-9938
Comments
solid review of js / loved the recommendations for checking out functional style languages like Scheme and prototype based langauges like Smalltalk