

EcmaScript Edition 5, formerly known as 3.1: Getting a new JavaScript - ossreleasefeed
http://ajaxian.com/archives/ecmascript-edition-5-formerly-known-as-31-getting-a-new-javascript

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warfangle
Even if this is ever rolled out to modern browsers, IE6 is still (according to
w3schools) at about 17% of the market.

We'll never lose IE6 entirely, due to the plethora of small/medium/large
business apps that only work with it (and won't even work with IE7).

IE6 is trending downward at about half a percent per month. That will likely
plateau, but if it does continue we should be IE6 free in three years.

The key, like always, will be to develop two versions of your app: One that's
shiny and works in new browsers, reverting to traditional html and anchors for
any other browser.

I'm actually seriously considering treating IE6 as if it does not have
Javascript support at all, in the future.. and if users want the full
experience, they should upgrade their 8 year old browser.

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windsurfer
I see a lot of posts like yours on a lot of web development forums, especially
on hacker news. _"Gotta support ie6, it still has some market share"_ they
always say. But who is running this legacy browser? What kind of person is it?
Well it's probably either: A) the office worker stuck in a legacy-IT job, or
B) someone who doesn't really know better, and just uses their computer to
check their email, maybe.

If you consider this, for the majority of sites, we are already IE6 free. Yes,
you could develop 2 versions of the same app, but wouldn't your time be better
spent either improving your more functional version of your app, or maybe
creating an entirely new app with your free time?

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briansmith
A lot of people only surf the web when at work. If you want to sell to those
people then your website has to work on their work computer.

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amix
They dropped EcmaScript Edition 4 because of internal fights between Adobe and
Microsoft - and I doubt they have resolved their issues as it's a clash of
mega corporations. Right now, most of the proposed changes in EcmsScript
Edition 5 are minor and there will go a long time before they are used by the
mainstream developer. I think most future web development will be focused on
HTML 5, CSS3 and improved performance of JavaScript - - which is a shame,
since EcmaScript Edition 4 implemented correctly would have made a real
revolution.

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halo
The first update to JavaScript in nearly a decade and rather being happy that
the revision introduces some nice new features, fixes some of the biggest
problems with the standard, and has been embraced by all parties so should
have a relatively quick introduction, people would rather moan that it's not
enough.

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invisible
This really takes some of the best of Mozilla and PrototypeJS's work (or the
ideas from them) and incorporates them into EcmaScript.
Function.prototype.bind, JSON object, DOM prototypes, and Mozilla's array
helpers. All super great stuff that has been hacked into the language via
libraries/frameworks thus far.

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psadauskas
Is there a changelog or something similar anywhere? Or better yet a summary,
"Here's what developers need to know."

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invisible
Sure! There is now: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=562045>

