Editing ECMAScript (section)

== History==
The ECMAScript specification is a standardized specification of a scripting language developed by [[Brendan Eich]] of [[Netscape Communications Corporation|Netscape]]; initially named Mocha, then LiveScript, and finally JavaScript.<ref>{{cite web |last=Krill |first=Paul |date=2008-06-23 |title=JavaScript creator ponders past, future |url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/2653798/application-development/javascript-creator-ponders-past--future.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920141040/http://www.infoworld.com/article/2653798/application-development/javascript-creator-ponders-past--future.html |archive-date=2014-09-20 |access-date=2013-10-31 |website=infoworld.com |publisher=InfoWorld}}</ref> In December 1995, [[Sun Microsystems]] and Netscape announced JavaScript in a press release.<ref>{{cite web |date=1995-12-04 |title=Netscape and Sun announce JavaScript, the Open, Cross-platform Object Scripting Language for Enterprise Networks and the Internet |url=http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease67.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020606002913/http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease67.html |archive-date=2002-06-06 |access-date=2019-11-04 |website=Netscape.com |publisher=Netscape}}</ref> In November 1996, Netscape announced a meeting of the [[Ecma International]] standards organization to advance the standardization of JavaScript.<ref>{{cite web |last=Press Release |date=November 15, 1996 |title=Industry Leaders to Advance Standardization of Netscape's JavaScript at Standards Body Meeting |url=http://cgi.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease289.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981203070212/http://cgi.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease289.html |archive-date=1998-12-03 |access-date=2013-10-31 |website=Netscape.com |publisher=Netscape}}</ref> <!-- Should add that Jscript is also from EMCAScript -->The first edition of ECMA-262 was adopted by the Ecma General Assembly in June 1997. Several editions of the language standard have been published since then. The name "ECMAScript" was a compromise between the organizations involved in standardizing the language, especially Netscape and Microsoft, whose disputes dominated the early standards sessions. Eich commented that "ECMAScript was always an unwanted trade name that sounds like a [[eczema|skin disease]]."<ref>{{cite web |last=Eich |first=Brendan |date=2006-10-03 |title=Will there be a suggested file suffix for es4? |url=https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/es-discuss/2006-October/000133.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621202321/https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/es-discuss/2006-October/000133.html |archive-date=2020-06-21 |access-date=2021-05-05 |website=mozilla.org |publisher=Mail.mozilla.org}}</ref> ECMAScript has been formalized through operational semantics by work at [[Stanford University]] and the [[Department of Computing, Imperial College London|Department of Computing]], [[Imperial College London]] for security analysis and standardization.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maffeis |first1=Sergio |last2=Mitchell |first2=John C. |last3=Taly |first3=Ankur |date=2020-01-03 |title=An Operational Semantics for JavaScript |url=http://theory.stanford.edu/people/jcm/papers/aplas08-camera-ready.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103204704/http://theory.stanford.edu/people/jcm/papers/aplas08-camera-ready.pdf |archive-date=2020-01-03 |access-date=2020-01-03 |website=stanford.edu |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]]}}</ref>
"ECMA" stood for "European Computer Manufacturers Association" until 1994.

===Evolution===
{{Main|ECMAScript version history}}
Ecma's Technical Committee 39 (TC39) is responsible for the maintenance of ECMAScript.<ref>{{Citation |title=TC39 |work=Technical Committees |url=https://ecma-international.org/technical-committees/tc39 |access-date=2024-08-11 |publisher=Ecma International |language=en-US}}</ref> New proposals to the language go through a staged process, with each stage representing the completeness of the proposal's specification. Consensus must be reached within the committee to advance a proposal to the next stage. Proposals that reach stage 4, the final stage, will be included into the next version of the standard.<ref>{{Citation |title=The TC39 Process |work=TC39 |url=https://tc39.es/process-document |access-date=2024-08-11 |publisher=Ecma International}}</ref> Since the release of version 6 in June 2015, new major versions have been finalized and published every June.<ref>{{Citation |title=ECMAScript, TC39, and the History of JavaScript |work=ui.dev |url=https://ui.dev/ecmascript |access-date=2024-08-11}}</ref>