0 Shares 8331 Views

The Evolution Of JavaScript In Recent Times

Moiz Khan Jun 19, 2017

Javascript was created by Brendan Eich, who was an employee at Netscape Communications Corporation at that time. He began to develop a scripting language which was initially called as LiveScript with the purpose of utilizing it both in the browser and on the server. Thus, the Netscape moved into a specific development cooperation with Sun Microsystems for a comprehensive implementation of LiveScript in time for release.

Netscape altered the name LiveScript to JavaScript in order to take advantage of Java as a new Internet catchword. Thus, JavaScript became one of the most necessary and must-have from that fact. Netscape released the version 1.1 in Netscape Navigator 3.0. because the JavaScript 1.0 was such a hit. Further, Microsoft was confident to throw its hat into the ring as it released Internet Explorer 3.0 and along with a JavaScript-clone called JScript. It was decided simply because to evade any likely licensing issues which can be caused with Netscape.

63ed2775e10d3322f0d95ffe54857544b22e98e88ca8ea98d7pimgpsh_fullsize_distr

The necessary step was taken here for Microsoft into the dominion of Web browsers which is now a date that lives in notoriety for Netscape. But it also signified a key step taken in the development of JavaScript as a common language.

Moreover, three various JavaScript versions were released as follows:

  • JavaScript in Netscape Navigator
  • JScript in Internet Explorer
  • CEnvi in ScriptEase.

Here, JavaScript had no specific standards in leading its syntax or features unlike C language and quite many other programming languages. These three various versions have only highlighted this problem as with industry fears escalating and it was obvious that the language must become consistent. JavaScript 1.1 has however succumbed to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) as an inspiring application in 1997.

Thus, the Technical Committee was apportioned for regulating the syntax and semantics of a universal purpose, cross-platform, vendor-neutral scripting language. The programmers from Netscape, Sun, Microsoft, Borland, and some other organizations with interest met for months to get prominent results out from ECMA-262 for the future scripting. So as to use it as a standard describing new script language which was named to be as ECMAScript.

Since then, the Web browsers have tried, with changeable aspects of success and failure, so as to use ECMAScript as one of the bases for their JavaScript implementations. The fifth standard and latest version was released on December 3, 2009, and it was one of the approved editions just came over a year ago. It includes an enormous range of countless additions, and different sorts of such starts ups to show up in different browsers.

ECMAScript Editions

Given below are the ECMAScript Editions which were launched since the beginning of Java till present:

Year       Name                Description

1997      ECMAScript 1     First Edition.

1998      ECMAScript 2     Editorial changes done only.

1999      ECMAScript 3     Regular Expressions added. (fully supported in all browsers.)

Try/catch added.

ECMAScript 4     Was never released.

2009      ECMAScript 5     Strict mode added. (fully supported in all modern browsers.)

JSON support added.

2010      ECMAScript 5     Also called as JavaScript 1.8.5.

2011      ECMAScript 5.1 Editorial changes done.

2015      ECMAScript 6     Classes and modules added. (partially supported in all modern browsers.)

2016      ECMAScript 7     Exponential operator added (**). (poorly supported in all browsers.)

Array.prototype.includes added.

2017      ECMAScript 8     Advanced to stage 4

CMMI logo