LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Mono brings .NET to Android
At Microsoft MIX, Mono will unveil the ability to port .NET applications to the Android op...

OSBC focus turns to best practices for open-source adoption
Businesses are no longer asking why they should adopt, but how do they use open source leg...

Going 'all in' on .NET as default runtime
Programmers for Windows Phone 7 will need to use Silverlight and XNA for development

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

JavaScript Creator Expands Predictions for 2.0


Mozilla CTO talks details, discusses plans for Web language

By Alex Handy
August 8, 2007 — 
JavaScript 2.0 won't be part of the religious wars that plague programming languages.

That's the message from Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla and the creator of JavaScript, who said that version 2.0 of the language won't take sides in the age-old battles between strongly typed and weakly typed languages, and between static and dynamic languages. To Eich, all of these practices and functionalities have their benefits, and he therefore plans to make sure JavaScript 2.0 has the best of all worlds.

Eich detailed the changes and plans on the docket for the next JavaScript version, now officially known as ECMAScript 2.0, after the Ecma International standards body in which it is being developed. Eich explained that this new version of the language will also be developed in the open, with periodic beta code drops being made available at www.ecmascript-lang.org.

Major changes include the addition of support for byte arrays, tuples and vectors; the proposed changes also extend to the evolution of the language's type system. Eich said his goal is to improve JavaScript's object orientation, and that adding arrays and vectors will help to push the language in this direction.

“I'm an old kernel hacker,” said Eich, “so I use C, still. I'm not a dynamic-only or static-only person. I think there are trade-offs. The Web is too big for only one language.”

On the subject of type safety, Eich said that there is no clear winner between weakly and strongly typed languages. When it comes to type systems, said Eich, “there's so many weak static ones which slap you when you do something silly. We believe untyped objects will be around forever.” Eich attempted to comfort his audience of Web programmers by noting that he was not intending to make JavaScript behave like Java, in this regard.

“People who've used Java and don't like it let me know, loud and clear, they don't want anything like classes. We're not saying ‘no’ to classes, [instead] we're doing them in a way where they're buttoned-down. These things already exist. The DOM [Document Object Model] is full of nominal types. We're formalizing that in the language,” said Eich.

Eich predicted the rise of typed APIs, including structural types, which he said “will emerge, allowing people to enforce certain conditions on the parameters, or on the return. Maybe on value permissions [as well], but not yet. The most common use case will be untyped code, calling typed APIs. The type system will only prevent programs from reaching runtime; it won't make them behave differently when they get to runtime. This is not C# or Python.”

In addition, Eich wants to add program units and dictionaries to the language, which he hopes will make code easier to maintain, read and write. Eich was unable to peg down a timeline for all of these changes to be implemented, stating that he hopes to take as much time as needed in the Ecma standards group so that JavaScript 2.0 is done properly, not hastily. He anticipates that buildable beta releases of the language environment would begin to appear by the middle of 2008.


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/31012
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 3/15/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Google Code turns 5
Google Code Turns 5, and adds a Paxos Algorithm to make the system more stable and reliable.
03/17/2010 11:16 AM EST

Test your Visual Studio 2010 know-how
Microsoft is offering free beta certification exams for Visual Studio 2010.
03/17/2010 11:08 AM EST

Microsoft lifts the hood on IE9
Microsoft is previewing IE9.
03/16/2010 01:10 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
EclipseCon
3/22/2010 to 3/25/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Eclipse Foundation

DevConnections
4/12/2010 to 4/14/2010
Las Vegas
Penton Media

MySQL Conf. and Expo
4/12/2010 to 4/15/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
O'Reilly Media

High Performance Computing Linux Financial Markets
4/19/2010
New York City
Flagg Management

Informix User Conf.
4/25/2010 to 4/28/2010
Overland Park, Kans.
IIUG