What is the difference between JavaScript and ECMAScript?

Question

I was just reading John Resig's ECMAScript 5 post.

From what I can work out, ECMAScript is the standard and JavaScript is the implementation. Is this correct?

Answer 1

Javascript was the original name, meant to capitalize on the popularity of java. ECMA is the standards body that oversees the standard that was eventually put in place so the names are roughly equivalent.

Implementations have other names, like V8 or Rhino, etc.

Answer 2

Various JavaScript versions are implementations of the ECMAScript standard.

Answer 3

I doubt we'd ever use the word "ECMAScript" if not for the fact that the name "JavaScript" is owned by Sun. For all intents and purposes, the language is JavaScript. You don't go to the bookstore looking for ECMAScript books, do you?

It's a bit too simple to say that "JavaScript" is the implementation. JScript is Microsoft's implementation.

Answer 4

javascript is a ECMAscript language ECMAscript isn't necessarily javascript does that help?

Answer 5

Technically ECMAScript is the language that everyone is using and implementing -- it is the spec created many years ago when Netscape and Microsoft sat down and attempted to standardise the scripting between JavaScript (Netscape's scripting language) and JScript (Microsoft's).

Subsequently all these engines are ostensibly implementing ECMAScript, however JavaScript (the name) now hangs around for both traditional naming reasons, and as a marketing term by mozilla for their various non-standard extensions (which they want to be able to actually "version")

Answer 6

JavaScript is one branch of languages formed around the ECMAScript standard. I believe ECMA is the European Computer Manufacturers Association, not that this is really relevant or anything.

Don't forget another popular language formed around the ECMA Script standard is ActionScript, used in Adobe Flash/Flex.

Answer 7

ECMAScript is the language and JavaScript, JScript, even ActionScript 3 are called "Dialects".

Wikipedia

Answer 8

Read Douglas Crockford’s The World's Most Misunderstood Programming Language and watch his presentation The JavaScript Programming Language for a peek at the history of JavaScript.