# The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary Bernhardt

11 Hacker News commenters recommended The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary Bernhardt and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A widely rewatched tech talk on JavaScript's history, praised for its delivery and for predictions people say still hold. Some critics say several predictions were wrong.

## Why people recommend it

- Engaging, well-delivered presentation (2 comments): "this is one of my most favourite talks ever, especially in the delivery aspect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48527343)) "it's a great example of how to give a presentation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48209130))
- Predictions still seem accurate (2 comments): "it’s shocking how much of his fiction became reality." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48207923)) "appears to be still extremely on track" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50251350))
- Among favourite talks ever (3 comments): "this is one of my most favourite talks ever, especially in the delivery aspect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48527343)) "It may be the greatest tech talk of all time, for certain values of greatest." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48208040)) "Every year I need to rewatch this talk" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48927407))

## What people warn about

- Some predictions called wrong (2 comments): "Interesting to see how many things Gary got wrong." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46953388)) "did this guy make a huge mistake?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46951043))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures](https://hackerapproved.com/p/structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-video-lectures.md): 11 recommend
- [Wat by Gary Bernhardt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wat-talk.md): 9 recommend
- [F*ck You, Pay Me talk by Mike Monteiro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/f-ck-you-pay-me-talk.md): 7 recommend
- [Cory Doctorow's 39C3 talk on enshittification](https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-post-american-enshittification-talk.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary Bernhardt", https://hackerapproved.com/p/birth-and-death-of-javascript/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).