What is JavaScript written in?
Its runtime is implemented in C (documented).
Relationship Graph
All directly connected languages. Click any node to navigate to its page.
Runtime Implementation
| Language | Confidence | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | 85% | Original SpiderMonkey JS engine written in C by Brendan Eich | Source |
Transpilation
| Language | Confidence | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoffeeScript | 98% | CoffeeScript compiles to JavaScript | Source |
| Elm | 98% | Elm compiles to JavaScript | Source |
| PureScript | 98% | PureScript compiles to JavaScript | Source |
| ReasonML | 90% | ReasonML compiles to JS via BuckleScript/Melange | Source |
| Nim | 85% | Nim also supports JS backend | Source |
| Dart | 90% | Dart2JS compiles Dart to JavaScript | Source |
Influenced By
- Self — Self's prototype-based inheritance directly used in JavaScript
- Scheme — Scheme influenced JavaScript's first-class functions and closures
- Lisp — Brendan Eich originally aimed for Scheme in the browser
- Java — Java influenced JavaScript's name and some syntax by Netscape mandate
- Smalltalk — Brendan Eich cited Self (Smalltalk descendant) as influence
Languages JavaScript Influenced
- TypeScript — TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript
- CoffeeScript — CoffeeScript transpiles to JavaScript
- Dart — Dart influenced by JavaScript ecosystem
- ReasonML — ReasonML targets JS ecosystem
Frequently Asked Questions
What language is JavaScript written in?
JavaScript is primarily implemented in C. See the implementation section above for details and source references.
What languages influenced JavaScript?
JavaScript was influenced by Smalltalk, Java, Scheme among others. See the influence section above for the full list.
Which languages did JavaScript influence?
JavaScript influenced TypeScript, CoffeeScript, Dart among others.
Evidence Sources
- https://spidermonkey.dev/
- https://auth0.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-javascript/
- https://www.typescriptlang.org/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoffeeScript
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dart_(programming_language)
- https://reasonml.github.io/
- https://coffeescript.org/
- https://elm-lang.org/
- https://www.purescript.org/
- https://nim-lang.org/docs/backends.html
- https://dart.dev/web
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript