What is ECMA script?

ECMAScript (often abbreviated as “ES”) is the standardized version of the JavaScript programming language. It is developed and maintained by the ECMAScript Language Specification committee (ECMA-262) and is widely supported by various JavaScript engines.

ECMAScript is a scripting language that is primarily used to create client-side scripts that run in web browsers, but it can also be used to create server-side scripts using Node.js.

ECMAScript has undergone several versions, with the most recent version being ECMAScript 2020 (ES2020). It includes features such as optional chaining, nullish coalescing, and globalThis.

The ECMAScript standard defines the syntax and semantics of the JavaScript language. It includes features such as variables, functions, object-oriented programming, regular expressions, and error handling. ECMAScript also includes a standard library of objects and functions that can be used to perform common tasks such as working with strings, arrays, and dates.

In addition to the core language, ECMAScript also includes several other specifications such as the Document Object Model (DOM) and the Browser Object Model (BOM), which provide additional functionality for working with web pages and browsers.

ECMAScript is also the foundation for many popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries such as React, Angular, and Vue.js. These frameworks and libraries build on the core language to provide additional functionality and make it easier to develop complex web applications.

Different versions of ECMA script.

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There have been several versions of ECMAScript, each introducing new features and improvements to the language. The following is a list of the major versions and their release dates:

1. ECMAScript 1 (1997): The first version of ECMAScript, also known as ECMAScript-1997 or ES1.
2. ECMAScript 2 (1998): Also known as ECMAScript-1998 or ES2. It made small modifications to the language and fixed some errors in the first version.
3. ECMAScript 3 (1999): Also known as ECMAScript-1999 or ES3. This version introduced important features such as regular expressions, try-catch exception handling, and the strict mode.
4. ECMAScript 4 (never released): A proposed version of ECMAScript that was intended to introduce significant changes to the language, but it was never finalized or released.
5. ECMAScript 5 (2009): Also known as ECMAScript-5 or ES5. This version introduced features such as JSON support, strict mode, and improved support for working with arrays and objects.
6. ECMAScript 6 (2015): Also known as ECMAScript-6, ECMAScript 2015 or ES6. This version introduced a large number of new features such as arrow functions, template literals, classes, and modules.
7. ECMAScript 2016 (ECMAScript 7): This version introduced new features such as the Array.prototype.includes() method and the exponentiation operator (**).
8. ECMAScript 2017 (ECMAScript 8): This version introduced new features such as the Object.values(), Object.entries() and Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors() methods.
9. ECMAScript 2018 (ECMAScript 9): This version introduced new features such as asynchronous iteration, rest/spread properties, and template literals revision.
10. ECMAScript 2019 (ECMAScript 10): This version introduced new features such as Array.prototype.flat() and Array.prototype.flatMap(), Object.fromEntries().
11. ECMAScript 2020 (ECMAScript 11): This version introduced new features such as Promise.allSettled(), globalThis, BigInt, String.prototype.matchAll(), Optional chaining (?.) and Nullish coalescing (??).

ECMAScript is an evolving standard and new versions are expected to be released in the future with new features and improvements to the language.