Ecmascript, Ecmascript

Both JavaScript and JScript aim to be compatible with ECMAScript, while providing additional features not described in the ECMA specification.

Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, is on record as saying that "ECMAScript was always an unwanted trade name that sounds like a skin disease." es4-discuss: Will there be a suggested file suffix for es4.

Work on an update to the third edition known provisionally as "ECMAScript, Fifth Edition", and on a future edition codenamed "Harmony", is in progress.

Several of the dynamic features of ECMAScript (such as the "eval" function) are made optional, thus allowing the runtime to make more assumptions about the behaviour of programs and therefore make more performance trade-offs when running the code. The HD DVD standard was one place where the ECMAScript Compact Profile was used in favour of full ECMAScript in order to reduce processing and memory requirements on a device.

Packages, namespaces and early binding from ECMAScript 4 are no longer included for planned releases. In addition, other goals and ideas from ECMAScript 4 are being rephrased to keep consensus in the committee; these include a notion of classes based on ECMAScript, 5th Edition (being an update to ECMAScript, 3rd edition) John Resig: ECMAScript Harmony As of April 2009, there is no publicly announced release date for ECMAScript Harmony. Depending on ECMA, Harmony may end up being called ECMAScript, 6th edition.

Source: Wikipedia > Ecmascript