tags:

views:

178

answers:

6

I know this isn't programming-related, but I'm curious what this community thinks about the subject. My understanding is that JavaScript is what the language is named. Lately, it seems to have become trendy to write it Javascript. Who are we to rename the language? I'm interested to hear if there is a cogent argument for changing the capitalization. Thanks for indulging me!

+6  A: 

It's JavaScript.

Rocket
+1! Wikipedia is infallible!
elusive
+1  A: 

I vote for ECMAScript!

Sounds like CW, by the way.

elusive
+3  A: 

The official name is JavaScript, though it really doesn't matter in practice :)

You can view the documentation here. Note that JavaScript is not the same as ECMAScript as the other answers suggest, it's an implementation of ECMAScript.

Nick Craver
@downvoter - care to comment?
Nick Craver
Maybe it was because you said 'a implementation' rather than 'an implementation' /s
Andrew Hedges
@Andrew - good catch, though that wasn't in there at the time :)
Nick Craver
Agreed, JavaScript is an implementation of ECMAScript, but the problem arises when you say for example: *"I'm a JavaScript developer"*, you are not trying to say that you develop *only* for that implementation... The term *Javascript* has been used as a "generic" way to call the language without making any reference to the *Mozilla implementation*.
CMS
@CMS: I actually stumbled upon the Wikipedia article for this concept accidentally earlier today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pars_pro_toto
rmeador
+2  A: 

According to the RFC, the programming language is called JavaScript.

klausbyskov
+4  A: 

It's spelled ECMAScript.

Nathon
This is incorrect, JavaScript is not ECMAScript, it's an **implementation of** ECMAScript, there's a big difference there.
Nick Craver
Pedantry always gets in the way of the bad jokes. Point ceded.
Nathon
It's OK, I thought it was funny.
Andrew Hedges
A: 

JavaScript is trademarked by Sun, which is now Oracle. The true naming is ECMAScript but JavaScript is the well known name for it.

subhaze
The letter case is not important for trademarks in US law, therefore JavaScript, Javascript, or even JaVaScRipT is a trademark by Oracle, see: http://tess2.uspto.gov/
CMS
Correct, I should have said "The word JavaScript (case insensitive) is..." instead of just "JavaScript is...", my preferred way of typing it, to prevent confusion. Thanks for the clarification so that no one is confused.
subhaze