ECMAScript: An Exciting History and Promising Future
The web development field is enormous and getting bigger each day, with new frameworks, new technologies, and much more. But, without one of the core pillars, it couldn’t be possible. In this series, we will talk about ECMAScript.
Before we go further, let’s have a quick history lesson.
What is ECMAScript?
ECMAScript is a standard for a scripting language, and the JavaScript language is based on the ECMAScript standard.
Is JavaScript the same as ECMAScript?
No, JavaScript is not precisely equivalent to ECMAScript. The core features of JavaScript are based on the ECMAScript standard, but JavaScript also has other additional features that are not in the ECMA specifications/standard.
There are languages other than JavaScript that also implement the ECMAScript Standard as their core. ActionScript (used by Adobe Flash) and JScript (used by Microsoft) are both languages that implement the ECMAScript standard.
Why is it called ECMAScript?
Netscape created JavaScript, and they wanted to standardize the language. So, they submitted the language to the European Computer Manufacturer’s Association (ECMA) for standardization.
There were trademark issues with the name JavaScript, and the standard became called ECMAScript, which is the name it holds today.
Because of trademark issues, Microsoft’s version of the language is called JScript — even though JScript is, at its core, the same language as JavaScript.
When did ECMAScript come to the surface?
In November 1996, Netscape announced a meeting of the ECMA International standards organization to advance JavaScript standardization. The ECMA General Assembly adopted the first edition of ECMA-262 in June 1997.
The ECMAScript history is rich with improvements. Over the years, eleven versions came to life, adding, fixing, or changing features. The web development wouldn’t have gone further without those features.
We will talk about ECMAScript starting from ECMAScript 2015. Stay tuned!
