ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

[Scott Elcomb]

On 10/27/07, Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote
>
> > An official overview[1] of "Javascript 2.0" was released today.
> > It will likely be some months (at least) for this version of the
> > language to show up in web browsers, but it might be a good idea to
> > get on-board early.
>
>   Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at
> http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=350409
>
>   Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...
>
> > "At The Ajax Experience conference, it was announced that an
> > ECMAScript4 white paper had been released. The implication being
> > that the white paper was the upcoming spec, which is untrue. Not to
> > mention this is not an official ECMA site, but a site run by only
> > some of the members from the ECMAScript4 group. These facts were
> > later revealed by another concerned ECMAScript4 member. He encouraged
> > any interested parties to read the proposed feature white paper, join
> > the discussion mailing list on that site, and share your opinions
> > for (or against) the desired features. This seems a little `cloak
> > and dagger` of those running the site, who desire serious changes
> > and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others. The concerned
> > individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
> > new name, as there are that many fundamental differences. Many of
> > us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
> > under our feet."

Well now, isn't that interesting.  I had a short conversation with
Brendan Eich yesterday in which he made a comment about M$'s interest
in ES4.  I couldn't put it into context and figured to just wait and
see if anything came of it.  Certainly wasn't expecting this.

I heard about the overview paper from the ES4 mailing list (which is
also how I started communicating with Brendan, re a feature described
in the overview) - very interesting indeed.

I'll pass the Firehose link along to the ES4 list and see how/if it
gets straightened out...

-- 
  Scott Elcomb
  http://www.psema4.com/
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