Although it is a huge part of the modern web, the syntax of JavaScript hasn’t really changed significantly in quite a long time. That all changed though last June, when ‘ECMAScript 2015’ was released. This major update contained some significant changes and new features. Now that more JavaScript engines and environments support the new specification it is a good time to get familiar with these changes.
Besides browsers adding more support for ECMAScript 2015, also call ECMAScript 6 or just “ES 6”, several of the popular JavaScript platforms are adding support as well. Node.js 4 & 5 support a majority of ES 6, as does AngularJS 2.0. Of course, like any major version upgrade of such a fundamental web technology, there will be a gradual migration. We will see a lot of the same things happen with JavaScript that happened with HTML5 and CSS 3, both of which are now “mainstream” and enjoy much broader support.
One thing we’ve learned at Web Age is you can’t wait for “100% support in 100% of environments” to learn about or even begin to adopt a new technology. It is important to learn about such major upgrades now so that you are aware what is different and look for places where a new version of a technology might be leveraged.
For those looking to keep up with these major changes to JavaScript introduced in ECMAScript 2015, we have a few resources. The primary one is a new one-day course that focuses on the changes introduced with ECMAScript 2015. We chose to release a class focused only on the changes since there are lots of people that have JavaScript skills and just need to learn about the changes. You can find that course here:
WA2488 JavaScript Changes with ECMAScript 2015
We also are going to have a webinar this week that will provide a very quick overview of the changes. This webinar will cover the main differences with the new ECMAScript 2015 specification and the impact on how JavaScript code can be written. In particular, focus will be paid on how various ways to leverage the new version while also considering backwards compatibility. You can register for that webinar here:
WEBINAR: Changes in ECMAScript 2015
As with all new and emerging technologies, we at Web Age look forward to keeping you up to date on what is happening and helping you learn about these technologies to expand the scope of your development skills!
