Internet Explorer – Automated Hacks

Chapter 74: JavaScript’s First Web APIs (1995–1998) — From CGI and Forms to the Early DOM

Between 1995 and 1998, browser scripting evolved from simple form validation into a recognizable (if messy) web API surface: window/document objects, event handlers, cookies, and the early DOM—bridging static pages with CGI-powered back ends.

HTML Forms as the Web’s First User-to-Server API Pattern (1995–1998)

From CGI scripts to browser scripting, HTML forms in the mid-to-late 1990s quietly established a repeatable client-to-server contract—an early pattern that looks surprisingly like today’s web APIs.