ECMAScript

ECMAScript is a Scripting language programming language, standardized by Ecma International in ECMA-262 specification. The language is widely used on the World Wide Web and is often referred to as JavaScript or JScript, although those two terms have more specific meaning. To understand the relation between ECMAScript, JavaScript, and JScript, knowing the history of ECMAScript is a helpful prerequisite.

Please see the JavaScript article for an overview of the language.

=History=

In December 1995 3.0 released in August 1996.

Netscape submitted JavaScript specification to Ecma International for standardization; the work on the specification, ECMA-262, began in November 1996. The first edition of ECMA-262 was adopted by the ECMA General Assembly of June 1997.

ECMAScript is the name of the language standardized in ECMA-262. Both JavaScript and JScript technologies aim to be compatible with ECMAScript, while providing additional features not described in the ECMA specification.

=Versions=

There are three editions of ECMA-262 published, and the work on the fourth edition is in progress.

In June 2004 Ecma International published ECMA-357 standard, defining an extension to ECMAScript, known as E4X (ECMAScript for XML).

=Dialects=

ECMAScript is supported in many applications, especially web browsers. The binding with Document Object Model is added for manipulating the document.

The latest beta versions of Mozilla (1.8 Betas) and Firefox 1.5 beta have partial support of E4X [http://www.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.8b1/README.html] and a few other features, see [http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/New_in_JavaScript_1.6 New in JavaScript 1.6].

In addition to supporting ECMA-262 revision 3, ActionScript 2 also included support of properties, methods, and mechanisms that were proposed in early draft specifications of as yet unseen versions of ECMAScript. It remains to be seen if ActionScript will stayed in sync with future changes to the ECMAScript specifications.

As stated by OpenLaszlo, it partially implements revision 3 of ECMA-262 [http://www.laszlosystems.com/lps/docs/lzx-developers-guide/language-preliminaries.html]

The Mozilla implementations, (SpiderMonkey in the C programming language and Rhino (JavaScript engine) in the Java programming language), are used in several third-party programs, including Konfabulator and the Macintosh system-level scripting language JavaScript OSA.

Apple Computers s Safari (web browser) uses JavaScriptCore which is based on the KDE KJS library.

=Version correspondance between ECMAScript, JavaScript, JScript=

The following table is based on [http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum91/68.htm] and [http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.aspurl=/library/en-us/script56/html/js56jsoriversioninformation.asp]; items on the same line are approximately the same language.

=External links=

*ECMAScript Language Specification **[http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm Standard ECMA-262 ECMAScript Language Specification 3rd edition (December 1999)] **[http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-290.htm Standard ECMA-290 ECMAScript Components Specification (June 1999)] **[http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-327.htm Standard ECMA-327 ECMAScript 3rd Edition Compact Profile (June 2001)] **[http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-357.htm Standard ECMA-357 ECMAScript for XML (E4X) Specification (June 2004)] *[http://www.lugrin.ch/fesi/ FESI - Free ECMAScript Interpreter]