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Speaking JavaScript
book

Speaking JavaScript

by Axel Rauschmayer
February 2014
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
460 pages
8h 32m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Speaking JavaScript

Chapter 5. Standardization: ECMAScript

After JavaScript came out, Microsoft implemented the same language, under the different name JScript, in Internet Explorer 3.0 (August 1996). Partially to keep Microsoft in check, Netscape decided to standardize JavaScript and asked the standards organization Ecma International to host the standard. Work on a specification called ECMA-262 started in November 1996. Because Sun (now Oracle) had a trademark on the term JavaScript, it couldn’t be the official name of the language to be standardized. Hence, ECMAScript was chosen, derived from JavaScript and Ecma. However, that name is used only to refer to versions of the language (where one refers to the specification). Everyone still calls the language JavaScript.

ECMA-262 is managed and evolved by Ecma’s Technical Committee 39 (TC39). Its members are companies such as Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google, which appoint employees to participate in committee work; examples include Brendan Eich, Allen Wirfs-Brock (editor of ECMA-262), and David Herman. To advance the design of ECMAScript, TC39 hosts discussions on open channels (such as the mailing list es-discuss) and holds regular meetings. The meetings are attended by TC39 members and invited experts. In early 2013, attendee numbers ranged from 15 to 25.

The following is a list of ECMAScript versions (or editions of ECMA-262) and their key features:

ECMAScript 1 (June 1997)
First edition
ECMAScript 2 (August 1998)
Editorial changes to align ECMA-262 ...
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781449365028Errata