Paradigm | Multi-paradigm: prototype-based, functional, imperative |
---|---|
Designed by | Brendan Eich, Ecma International |
First appeared | 1997 |
Typing discipline | weak, dynamic |
Website | www |
Major implementations | |
JavaScript, SpiderMonkey, V8, ActionScript, JScript, QtScript, InScript | |
Influenced by | |
Self, HyperTalk, AWK, C, Perl, Python, Java, Scheme |
Filename extensions | .es |
---|---|
Internet media type | application/ecmascript |
Developed by |
Sun Microsystems, Ecma International |
Initial release | June 1997 |
Latest release |
Edition 7
(June 17, 2016 ) |
Type of format | Scripting language |
Website |
ECMA-262, ECMA-290, ECMA-327, ECMA-357, ECMA-402 |
ECMAScript (or ES) is a trademarkedscripting-language specification standardized by Ecma International (European Computer Manufacturers Association) in ECMA-262 and ISO/IEC 16262. It was based on JavaScript, which now tracks ECMAScript. Coders commonly use ECMAScript for client-side scripting on the World Wide Web, and it is increasingly being used for writing server applications and services using Node.js. Other implementations of ECMAScript include JScript and ActionScript.
The ECMAScript specification is a standardized specification of a scripting language developed by Brendan Eich of Netscape; initially it was named Mocha, later LiveScript, and finally JavaScript. In December 1995, Sun Microsystems and Netscape announced JavaScript in a press release. In March 1996, Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released, featuring support for JavaScript.
Owing to the widespread success of JavaScript as a client-side scripting language for Web pages, Microsoft developed a compatible dialect of the language, naming it JScript to avoid trademark issues. JScript added new date methods to alleviate the Year 2000 problem caused by the JavaScript methods that were based on the Java Date class. JScript was included in Internet Explorer 3.0, released in August 1996.
Netscape delivered JavaScript to Ecma International for standardization and the work on the specification, ECMA-262, began in November 1996. The first edition of ECMA-262 was adopted by the Ecma General Assembly in June 1997. Several editions of the language standard have been published since then. The name "ECMAScript" was a compromise between the organizations involved in standardizing the language, especially Netscape and Microsoft, whose disputes dominated the early standards sessions. Eich commented that "ECMAScript was always an unwanted trade name that sounds like a skin disease."