FAQ Topic - What is ECMAScript? (2012-04-26)

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FAQ Topic - What is ECMAScript?
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ECMA-262 [ref 1]
is the international standard that current language implementations
(JavaScript™, JScript etc.) are based on.

ECMA-262 [ref 2]
defines the language Syntax, Types, Keywords, Operators, and built-in
objects. The ECMAScript specification is the reference to determine the
expected behavior of a program. ECMAScript does not define any host
objects, such as `document`, `window`, or `ActiveXObject`.

ECMA-327 defines the Compact Profile of ECMAScript by
describing the features from ECMA 262 that may be omitted in some
resource-constrained environments.
<URL: http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-327.htm>

The most widely supported edition of ECMA-262 is the 3rd edition (1999).
There is fair support for this edition in JScript 5.5+ (buggy) and good
support JavaScript 1.5.

The term "javascript" is used as a common name for all dialects of ECMAScript.

References:
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[1] http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm
[2] http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm


The complete comp.lang.javascript FAQ is at
http://jibbering.com/faq/

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