#160 – Brendan Eich: JavaScript, Firefox, Mozilla, and Brave
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
4.7 • 13.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2021
⏱️ 185 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Brendan Eich is the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla and Brave. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Brendan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrendanEich
Brendan’s Website: https://brendaneich.com
Brave browser: https://brave.com
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(06:54) – History of early programming languages
(11:47) – Physics needs more experiments and less theory
(16:24) – JavaScript origin story
(41:17) – JavaScript was created in 10 days
(50:57) – Marc Andreessen
(54:14) – Internet Explorer
(57:58) – Evolution of JavaScript
(1:03:44) – JavaScript standardization
(1:09:33) – TypeScript
(1:12:05) – JavaScript ecosystem
(1:15:15) – HTML5
(1:18:47) – Making JavaScript fast
(1:27:57) – JavaScript is the most popular language in the world
(1:38:23) – Advice for programmers
(1:44:20) – Browser wars
(1:50:50) – Firefox
(2:12:33) – Brave
(2:25:33) – Basic Attention Token
(2:50:36) – California
(2:59:48) – Mortality
(3:00:54) – Legacy
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is a conversation with Brendan Eich, creator of the JowlScript programming language, |
| 0:05.4 | co-founder of Mozilla, which created the Firefox browser, and now co-founder and CEO of Brave Software, |
| 0:12.7 | which has created the Brave browser. |
| 0:15.1 | Each of these are revolutionary technologies. |
| 0:18.1 | JowlScript is one of the most widely used and impactful programming languages in the world. |
| 0:24.5 | Firefox pioneered many browser ideas that we love today or even take for granted today. |
| 0:31.4 | And Brave is looking to revolutionize not only the browser but content creation online |
| 0:36.6 | and the nature of the internet to make it fundamentally about respecting people's control |
| 0:41.8 | over their data. |
| 0:43.6 | Quick mention of our sponsors, the Jordan Harmerge Show, Sambasca Mild Delivery Service, |
| 0:49.8 | Better Help Online Therapy, and A-Sleep Self-Coloring Matros. |
| 0:54.1 | Click the sponsor links to get a discount and support this podcast. |
| 0:58.1 | As a side note, let me say that there's a tension between theory and engineering that |
| 1:03.2 | I've been thinking a lot about. |
| 1:05.2 | I tweeted something like, good execution is more important than a good idea, but one helps |
| 1:10.5 | the other. |
| 1:11.8 | I think the wording of that sucks, but what I mean is a good idea is a must, but in my |
| 1:17.6 | experience, good ideas are in abundance. |
| 1:20.8 | Good execution on the other hand is rare. |
| 1:23.7 | I think some mix of good timing, good idea, and good execution is essential. |
| 1:28.2 | Getting that mix right is tough, and Brandon somehow, multiple times as career did just |
| 1:33.3 | that. |
... |
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