JavaScript was created in 1995 and standardized as ECMAScript to enable dynamic web pages. Ajax techniques using XMLHttpRequest were developed in 2005, allowing asynchronous JavaScript calls. This led to many JavaScript frameworks that handle cross-browser issues, speed up development, and are easy to use, though the large number of options causes confusion. Frameworks can be categorized as base libraries, widget libraries, full stack frameworks, module loaders, package managers, and build tools.