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Java Sript

The document discusses the history of JavaScript versioning and compatibility across browsers. It notes that JavaScript was originally version 1 in Netscape Navigator 2, and version numbering became important with Navigator 3 at JavaScript 1.1. Microsoft's JScript in Internet Explorer 3 was behind at Navigator 2 level. An standards body called ECMA established a core ECMAScript standard in 1997, equivalent to JavaScript 1.1. Both Navigator 4 and Internet Explorer 4 supported ECMAScript, though each also extended it. JavaScript versioning became less important as most modern browsers support the same core features, while document object models differed more between browsers.

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126 views

Java Sript

The document discusses the history of JavaScript versioning and compatibility across browsers. It notes that JavaScript was originally version 1 in Netscape Navigator 2, and version numbering became important with Navigator 3 at JavaScript 1.1. Microsoft's JScript in Internet Explorer 3 was behind at Navigator 2 level. An standards body called ECMA established a core ECMAScript standard in 1997, equivalent to JavaScript 1.1. Both Navigator 4 and Internet Explorer 4 supported ECMAScript, though each also extended it. JavaScript versioning became less important as most modern browsers support the same core features, while document object models differed more between browsers.

Uploaded by

Karnataka567
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Core language standard

Keeping track of JavaScript language versions requires a brief history lesson. The first version of
JavaScript
(in Netscape Navigator 2) was version 1, although that numbering was not part of the language usage.
JavaScript was JavaScript. Version numbering became an issue when Navigator 3 was released. The
version
of JavaScript associated with that Navigator version was JavaScript 1.1. The first appearance of the
Navigator 4 generation increased the language version one more notch with JavaScript 1.2.
Microsofts scripting effort contributes confusion for scripting newcomers. The first version of Internet
Explorer to include scripting was Internet Explorer 3. The timing of Internet Explorer 3 was roughly
coincidental
to Navigator 3. But as scripters soon discovered, Microsofts scripting effort was one generation
behind. Microsoft did not license the JavaScript name. As a result, the company called its language
JScript.
Even so, the HTML tag attribute that lets you name the language of the script inside the tags could be
either
JScript or JavaScript for Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer 3 could understand a JavaScript script
written
for Navigator 2.
During this period of dominance by Navigator 3 and Internet Explorer 3, scripting newcomers were
often
confused because they expected the scripting languages to be the same. Unfortunately for the
scripters, there
were language features in JavaScript 1.1 that were not available in the older JavaScript version in
Internet
Explorer 3. Microsoft improved JavaScript in IE3 with an upgrade to the .dll file that gives IE its
JavaScript
syntax. However, it was hard to know which .dll is installed in any given visitors IE3. The situation
smoothed out for Internet Explorer 4. Its core language was essentially up to the level of JavaScript 1.2,
as in
early releases of Navigator 4. Microsoft still officially called the language JScript. Almost all language
features
that were new in Navigator 4 were understood when you loaded the scripts into Internet Explorer 4.
While all of this jockeying for JavaScript versions was happening, Netscape, Microsoft, and other
concerned
parties met to establish a core language standard. The standards body is a Switzerland-based
organization
originally called the European Computer Manufacturers Association and now known simply as ECMA
(commonly pronounced ECK-ma). In mid-1997, the first formal language specification was agreed on
and
published (ECMA-262). Due to licensing issues with the JavaScript name, the body created a new name
for
the language: ECMAScript.
With only minor and esoteric differences, this first version of ECMAScript was essentially the same as
JavaScript 1.1, used in Navigator 3. Both Navigator 4 and Internet Explorer 4 officially supported the
ECMAScript standard. Moreover, as happens so often when commerce meets standards bodies, both
browsers went beyond the ECMAScript standard. Fortunately, the common denominator of this
extended
core language is broad, lessening authoring headaches on this front.
JavaScript version 1.3 was implemented in Netscape Navigator 4.06 through 4.7x. This language
version is
also the one supported in IE 5, 5.5, and 6. A few new language features are incorporated in JavaScript
1.5,
as implemented in Mozilla-based browsers (including Navigator 6 and later). A few more core language
features
were added to JavaScript 1.6, first implemented in Mozilla 1.8 (Firefox 1.5).
In practice, so many browsers in use today support all but a few leading-edge features of the Mozilla
browsers that JavaScript version numbers are mostly irrelevant. Other compatibility issues with older
browsers will likely get in your way before core language problems do. The time has come to forget
about
elaborate workarounds for the inadequacies of the oldest browsers.

Document object model

If prevalent browsers have been close to one another in core JavaScript language compatibility,
nothing could
be further from the truth when it comes to the document objects. Internet Explorer 3 based its
document
object model (DOM) on that of Netscape Navigator 2, the same browser level it used as a model for the
core

12

Part I

Getting Started with JavaScript

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