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Brendan Eich Semicolon Apology

Type: story
Participants: Randal Schwartz, Brendan Eich

  • Brendan Eich Semicolon Apology

  • A tech history anecdote featuring the creator of JavaScript.

  • The Panel

    • In 1999, I participated in a web development conference panel in New Orleans that featured a cross-section of major web technologies (with me representing Perl).
    • Sitting directly to my right on the panel was Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript.

  • The Apology

    • The first time Brendan grabbed the microphone to speak, he leaned in and stated: "The first thing I want to say is... I'm very sorry for optional semicolons."
    • Having spent subsequent decades writing and debugging JavaScript, I fully understand the complications that automatic semicolon insertion has caused for developers.
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.