Strings That Blink

Strings in JavaScript have always known how to blink, shout and colour themselves. These methods are still in the language.

In 2026: Partly. Every one of these methods still exists, protected by Annex B of the ECMAScript specification, and still returns the markup it always did. fontcolor and link render fine. blink builds a perfectly good BLINK element that no browser has animated since 2013. A living fossil you can call from the console right now.

Where it came from: JavaScript 1.0, Netscape 2, 1996. Kept alive today by Annex B of the ECMAScript specification. MDN ↗

<script language="JavaScript">
// Every string knows how to wrap itself in a tag. This is real JavaScript.
document.write("Attention!".blink());
document.write("<br>");
document.write("Big red news".big().fontcolor("red"));
document.write("<br>");
document.write("Tiny teletype print".small().fixed());
document.write("<br>");
document.write("A link from a method".link("http://www.example.com/"));

// What blink() actually builds:
document.write("<xmp>" + "Attention!".blink() + "</xmp>");
</script>