ES6 - Overview


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ECMAScript (ES) is a scripting language specification standardized by ECMAScript International. It is used by applications to enable client-side scripting. The specification is influenced by programming languages like Self, Perl, Python, Java etc. Languages like JavaScript, Jscript and ActionScript are governed by this specification.

This tutorial introduces you to ES6 implementation in JavaScript.

JavaScript

JavaScript was developed by Brendan Eich, a developer at Netscape Communications Corporation, in 1995.JavaScript started life with the name Mocha, and was briefly named LiveScript before being officially renamed to JavaScript. It is a scripting language that is executed by the browser, i.e. on the client’s end. It is used in conjunction with HTML to develop responsive webpages.

ECMA Script6’s implementation discussed here covers the following new features −

  • Support for constants
  • Block Scope
  • Arrow Functions
  • Extended Parameter Handling
  • Template Literals
  • Extended Literals
  • Enhanced Object Properties
  • De-structuring Assignment
  • Modules
  • Classes
  • Iterators
  • Generators
  • Collections
  • New built in methods for various classes
  • Promises

ECMAScript Versions

There are nine editions of ECMA-262 which are as follows −

Edition Name Description
1 ECMAScript 1 First Edition released in 1997
2 ECMAScript 2 Second Edition released in 1998, minor changes to meet ISO/IEC 16262 standard
3 ECMAScript 3 Third Edition released in 1999 with language enhancements
4 ECMAScript 4 Fourth Edition release plan was dropped, few features added later in ES6 & other complex features dropped
5 ECMAScript 5 Fifth Edition released in 2009
5.1 ECMAScript 5.1 5.1 Edition released in 2011, minor changes to meet ISO/IEC 16262:2011 standard
6 ECMAScript 2015/ES6 Sixth Edition released in 2015, see ES6 chapters for new features
7 ECMAScript 2016/ES7 Seventh Edition released in 2016, see ES7 chapters for new features
8 ECMAScript 2017/ES8 Eight Edition released in 2017, see ES8 chapters for new features
9 ECMAScript 2018/ES9 Ninth Edition released in 2018, see ES9 chapters for new features
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