Fwd: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

View: New views
20 Messages — Rating Filter:   Alert me  
< Prev | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 | Next >

Parent Message unknown Fwd: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Scott Elcomb :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

Hi all,

First off, I'd like to say thanks for all the good questions and
answers from folks on the list.  I haven't been here long, but have
already learned a bunch.  Looking forward to ES4.

Anyway, I received this post* this morning in response to a notice I
sent along about the ES4 overview.  I'm not sure what to make of the
story...

Any comments or clarifications?

* http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.user-groups.linux.tolug/36420

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...>
Date: Oct 27, 2007 3:44 AM
Subject: Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM
To: tlug@...


On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote

> An official overview[1] of "Javascript 2.0" was released today.
> It will likely be some months (at least) for this version of the
> language to show up in web browsers, but it might be a good idea to
> get on-board early.

  Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at
http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=350409

  Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...

> "At The Ajax Experience conference, it was announced that an
> ECMAScript4 white paper had been released. The implication being
> that the white paper was the upcoming spec, which is untrue. Not to
> mention this is not an official ECMA site, but a site run by only
> some of the members from the ECMAScript4 group. These facts were
> later revealed by another concerned ECMAScript4 member. He encouraged
> any interested parties to read the proposed feature white paper, join
> the discussion mailing list on that site, and share your opinions
> for (or against) the desired features. This seems a little `cloak
> and dagger` of those running the site, who desire serious changes
> and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others. The concerned
> individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
> new name, as there are that many fundamental differences. Many of
> us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
> under our feet."

--
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...> In linux /sbin/init is Job #1
Q. Mr. Ghandi, what do you think of Microsoft security?
A. I think it would be a good idea.
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists


--
  Scott Elcomb
  http://www.psema4.com/
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Mark Miller-2 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On 10/27/07, Scott Elcomb <psema4@...> wrote:

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...>
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote
>   Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at
> http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=350409
>   Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...
>
> > "[...] This seems a little `cloak
> > and dagger` of those running the site, who desire serious changes
> > and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others. The concerned
> > individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
> > new name, as there are that many fundamental differences. Many of
> > us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
> > under our feet."

I was not at the Ajax Experience conference, but I just spent the last
week at OOPSLA. Everyone at OOPSLA I ran into who knows about the ES4
proposal hates it. The general sense is that they think it's a train
wreck. But there's a feeling of resignation: Yet another runaway
standards process to oppress us. The people expressing this opinion
include some extremely good programming language folks with great
track records and reputations.

I have only skimmed the proposed ES4 spec, so I can't yet venture an
informed opinion. However, as a language designer myself, my initial
sense of smell corroborates the consensus I saw at OOPSLA.

I did raise with people the notion that the new larger language be
given a different name. One reason that C managed to stay small is
that all those who wanted to grow it self-selected to grow C++
instead. Likewise, the existence of Common Lisp probably helped
protect the smallness of Scheme. Everyone I mentioned this to thought
this name change would be a good idea, and would help protect the
continued evolution of the language we now call Javascript, i.e.,
EcmaScript 262 Edition 3. Whatever its flaws or virtues might be, the
ES4 proposal is simply a very different language. Please let's be
honest about that and change its name.

--
Text by me above is hereby placed in the public domain

    Cheers,
    --MarkM
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Jeff Dyer :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

I've responded briefly to the slashdot posting. Bottom line is that the
majority of the participants are working in the open to finish a set of
language proposals that largely originated in 1999 at Netscape. It is not
new and there should be few surprises to those, including Microsoft, who
have participated in TG1 since then.

Opposing members from two companies have made general claims along the lines
that "it is too different to be called the same language" and "it will
destabilize the web". Both arguments have been refuted in detail, in private
and public (e.g. http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/2504). And we have yet
to hear similarly detailed or convincing response from those 'minimalists'.
That could be because their motives have more to do with specific business
concerns, rather than broad technical concerns. I guess we won't know until
they come out and say it.

Jd

On 10/27/07 8:00 AM, Scott Elcomb wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> First off, I'd like to say thanks for all the good questions and
> answers from folks on the list.  I haven't been here long, but have
> already learned a bunch.  Looking forward to ES4.
>
> Anyway, I received this post* this morning in response to a notice I
> sent along about the ES4 overview.  I'm not sure what to make of the
> story...
>
> Any comments or clarifications?
>
> * http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.user-groups.linux.tolug/36420
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...>
> Date: Oct 27, 2007 3:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM
> To: tlug@...
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote
>
>> An official overview[1] of "Javascript 2.0" was released today.
>> It will likely be some months (at least) for this version of the
>> language to show up in web browsers, but it might be a good idea to
>> get on-board early.
>
>   Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at
> http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=350409
>
>   Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...
>
>> "At The Ajax Experience conference, it was announced that an
>> ECMAScript4 white paper had been released. The implication being
>> that the white paper was the upcoming spec, which is untrue. Not to
>> mention this is not an official ECMA site, but a site run by only
>> some of the members from the ECMAScript4 group. These facts were
>> later revealed by another concerned ECMAScript4 member. He encouraged
>> any interested parties to read the proposed feature white paper, join
>> the discussion mailing list on that site, and share your opinions
>> for (or against) the desired features. This seems a little `cloak
>> and dagger` of those running the site, who desire serious changes
>> and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others. The concerned
>> individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
>> new name, as there are that many fundamental differences. Many of
>> us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
>> under our feet."
>
> --
> Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...> In linux /sbin/init is Job #1
> Q. Mr. Ghandi, what do you think of Microsoft security?
> A. I think it would be a good idea.
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>

_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Robert Sayre-3 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On 10/27/07, Mark Miller <erights@...> wrote:

>
> I was not at the Ajax Experience conference, but I just spent the last
> week at OOPSLA. Everyone at OOPSLA I ran into who knows about the ES4
> proposal hates it. The general sense is that they think it's a train
> wreck. But there's a feeling of resignation: Yet another runaway
> standards process to oppress us.
>
> I have only skimmed the proposed ES4 spec, so I can't yet venture an
> informed opinion. However, as a language designer myself, my initial
> sense of smell corroborates the consensus I saw at OOPSLA.

Hi Mark,

I'm afraid your message falls into a pattern I've been seeing lately:
unsubstantiated, non-technical criticism. In other words, FUD.

If you have technical criticism to contribute, it is of course welcome.

--

Robert Sayre

"I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Jeff Dyer :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message




On 10/27/07 10:17 AM, Mark Miller wrote:

> On 10/27/07, Scott Elcomb <psema4@...> wrote:
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...>
>> On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote
>>   Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at
>> http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=350409
>>   Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...
>>
>>> "[...] This seems a little `cloak
>>> and dagger` of those running the site, who desire serious changes
>>> and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others. The concerned
>>> individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
>>> new name, as there are that many fundamental differences. Many of
>>> us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
>>> under our feet."
>
> I was not at the Ajax Experience conference, but I just spent the last
> week at OOPSLA. Everyone at OOPSLA I ran into who knows about the ES4
> proposal hates it. The general sense is that they think it's a train
> wreck. But there's a feeling of resignation: Yet another runaway
> standards process to oppress us. The people expressing this opinion
> include some extremely good programming language folks with great
> track records and reputations.
>
> I have only skimmed the proposed ES4 spec, so I can't yet venture an
> informed opinion. However, as a language designer myself, my initial
> sense of smell corroborates the consensus I saw at OOPSLA.
>
> I did raise with people the notion that the new larger language be
> given a different name. One reason that C managed to stay small is
> that all those who wanted to grow it self-selected to grow C++
> instead. Likewise, the existence of Common Lisp probably helped
> protect the smallness of Scheme. Everyone I mentioned this to thought
> this name change would be a good idea, and would help protect the
> continued evolution of the language we now call Javascript, i.e.,
> EcmaScript 262 Edition 3. Whatever its flaws or virtues might be, the
> ES4 proposal is simply a very different language. Please let's be
> honest about that and change its name.

Mark,

Thanks for this news from the street. Although, I'm not sure what it means
that "everyone...hates" ES4. Can you be more specific?

And, I'd be curious to know what evidence is given that the standard's
process is "running away". There are detailed notes of the working group
meetings since late 2005 when work on ES4 was restarted. They are posted at:

   http://wiki.ecmascript.org/doku.php?id=meetings:meetings

Brendan an others have clearly articulated the need for the language to
evolve. And yet all we hear in response are the hollow generalizations such
as are above. People's track records and reputations don't mean much if they
are unnamed and uninformed.

In the hallway in an OOPSLA in late 90's the inventor of Self made the
remark to me [paraphrased, of course], "I don't know much about JavaScript,
but I haven't heard many good things about it". I have spoken with that same
person recently and he said "JavaScript is a pretty interesting language...I
be interested in working on it." The point is that knowledge and experience
changes perspective.

Do you really believe that ES4 is a train wreck? I'd like to hear back from
you after you have a chance to do some homework.

Jd

_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Brendan Eich-2 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On Oct 27, 2007, at 8:00 AM, Scott Elcomb wrote:

Hi all,

First off, I'd like to say thanks for all the good questions and
answers from folks on the list.  I haven't been here long, but have
already learned a bunch.  Looking forward to ES4.

Thanks. Here's hoping ES4 as proposed is not quashed by the combination of anonymous propaganda campaigns and truly-secret maneuverings within the standards body by the pay-to-play members (Mozilla is not one; we don't have that access).

What follows below are my opinions, presented bluntly as ever. This is long, but evidently necessary and appropriate to es4-discuss. I'll blog about the situation soon too.

Anyway, I received this post* this morning in response to a notice I
sent along about the ES4 overview.  I'm not sure what to make of the
story...

Any comments or clarifications?

A link to a slashdot anonymous posting? What's to clarify? :-/

As much as possible, those of us in Ecma TG1 actually working productively on ES4 for over two consecutive years have made our work and intentions known by means of this list, the http://ecmascript.org site, the SML reference implementation, and blog posts and public talks I've given.

In opposition, only Doug Crockford has spoken his mind forthrightly in the last several months. Good for him (I'll argue with his version of the reality elsewhere), but shame on the biggest company involved, which has not contributed at all in the open, instead leaving people with wrong impressions about its commitment to ES4.

Many people don't know where Microsoft stands, knowing only that it contributed over the years to draft ES4 proposals, implemented a variant of one such draft specification in JScript.NET, and had one of its employees (Rok Yu) contributing to TG1 work, with his name on E4X (ECMA-357) as well as ES3 and the 2003 interim ES4 draft report. Indeed, up until early this year, the rest of us in TG1 had no clear statement of dissent from Microsoft. So, who is not dealing forthrightly or openly here?

To be more fair than the opponents of ES4-as-proposed have been, I'll add this obvious reassurance: any organization or person can change position. Indeed one Microsoft rep confided to me that "we were asleep!" about what was going on with Microsoft passively participating in TG1 before this year. So let's say there was no duplicity, no playing along with the rest of TG1's long-standing work, only to reverse suddenly late in the process.

Nevertheless, standards do not require unanimity, and even Microsoft loses sometimes. That's life.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...>
Date: Oct 27, 2007 3:44 AM
Subject: Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM


On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 04:04:52PM -0400, Scott Elcomb wrote

An official overview[1] of "Javascript 2.0" was released today.
It will likely be some months (at least) for this version of the
language to show up in web browsers, but it might be a good idea to
get on-board early.

  Not so fast.  See the note on Slashdot Firehose at

  Since it's not too long, I'll quote it in its entirety...

"At The Ajax Experience conference, it was announced that an
ECMAScript4 white paper had been released. The implication being
that the white paper was the upcoming spec, which is untrue.

That untrue implication comes from the anonymous coward, not from any of us involved in TG1 who have worked in the open on ES4. From the white paper's introduction:

This overview reflects the position of the majority in Ecma TC39-TG1. A minority in TG1 do not agree that the language presented here should become ES4. However, Ecma and ISO do not require unanimity to
make standards, and no alternative proposal has been submitted to TG1. Therefore the language described in this overview continues to be proposed as ES4.

No one reading this overview could confuse it for a specification. From the front page of the overview, the first footnote:

This document reflects the understanding of the language as of October 2007. TG1 is no longer accepting proposals and has started writing the language specification. The ES4 reference implementation is undergoing stabilization and is already passing large parts of its test suite, and this document describes the final language in most respects. That said, TG1 maintains a bug tracking system at http://bugs.ecmascript.org/, and ES4 is subject to further refinement as known and new bugs in the design are resolved

Not to
mention this is not an official ECMA site, but a site run by only
some of the members from the ECMAScript4 group.

With permission from Ecma staff.

These facts

The insinuation that someone was passing a self-described overview off as a spec is not a "fact", it's a lie from the anonymous miscreant. The same goes for the claim about http://ecmascript.org/ being passed off as an "official ECMA site" -- that site would be http://www.ecma-international.org/. The http://ecmascript.org site was clearly announced, to this list and elsewhere, as a tool for making draft specs, the reference implementation, and trac tickets available to everyone, in order to get feedback to Ecma TC39-TG1.

were later revealed by another concerned ECMAScript4 member.

Who was that concerned member, pray tell?

Another bogus tactic: play the underdog, oppressed into anonymity by the majority in some formerly-consensus-based group. Yeah, right! Microsoft is never the underdog. (I'm assuming that member was not Doug Crockford.)

Anonymous, easily falsified assertions do not help persuade anyone. They are obvious signs of political intrigue instigated by the anonymous party, in preference to joining in open discussion and debate.

He encouraged
any interested parties to read the proposed feature white paper, join
the discussion mailing list on that site, and share your opinions
for (or against) the desired features.

As we have encouraged people for a long time. It's not as if http://ecmascript.org/ was a secret, ever. It was announced on http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/ and my blog at http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roadmap/, and elsewhere.

This seems a little `cloak
and dagger` of those running the site,

I hope it's clear to everyone that the shoe is on the other foot. This is a classic inflammatory propaganda technique: anonymous parties accuse the group that has acted openly of the very traits the dissenters and their allies are demonstrating. It's a nervy move: pretend against all evidence that open work on ES4 was somehow deceptive or secretive, and pose as heroes shining light instead of heat.

This propaganda technique is meant to inflame all parties and distract from the substantive question, which is this:

Should ES4 grow to address real problems in ES3, and thereby subsume (in the case of ActionScript 3) or compete with (Microsoft's favored .NET languages) the proprietary languages some vendors now opposing it are selling (Microsoft) or using (Yahoo!)? Or should ES4 be a small and mostly formal (deprecation, not actual incompatibility) set of changes to ES3?

who desire serious changes
and are unfortunately Mozilla, Adobe, and others.

Big-company snobbery shows here: "others" would be Opera, MbedThis, and invited experts from academia and the Ajax community (sponsored by me, as it happens) on TG1, but I guess Opera doesn't count -- only big companies deserve mention.

The "unfortunately" above is telling. It's "unfortunate" that organizations other than the dominant browser vendor (you know, the one convicted of abusing its monopoly and forced back into the web standard bodies only by renewed browser competition) have tried to build a meaningful successor version to Edition 3 of ECMAScript, one that addresses real problems in the language faced by JS users every day. After eight years of stagnation, mostly due to the monopolistic vendor.

It would be good fortune, then, I suppose, to keep JavaScript "down on the farm", while Silverlight and its likely integration (if not the full WPF stack integration) in IE8 have time to reach and penetrate the Web. I get it! We should just lie back and rest easy.

Indeed Microsoft does not desire serious change to ES3, and we heard this inside TG1 in April. The words were (from my notes) more like this: "Microsoft does not think the web needs to change much". Except, of course, via Silverlight and WPF, which if not matched by evolution of the open web standards, will spread far and wide on the Web, as Flash already has. And that change to the Web is apparently just fine and dandy according to Microsoft.

In this view, standards bodies exist to give advantage to competing companies, preferably by stamping -- sometimes rubber-stamping -- de jure approval on vendor-created de facto standards. If one company has dominant market position, it's fine for that market power to translate directly into standards power. Sometimes, as in the case of OOXML vs. ODF, it is also fine for a company to compete with an open standard being favored by governments, by trying to create an alternative standard and push it through ISO.

Mozilla's position is different: standards bodies exist to serve developers and users, in this case web developers who write JS and use its libraries, and browser users who face increasingly advanced graphical and hypertext web applications that are pushing the limits of open standards implemented natively in the browsers. In our view, standards bodies can and should evolve standards to meet unmet needs. This view is shared by the majority cohort in TG1, who favor ES4.

Look at the history of JavaScript from 1995 through 2004, when Firefox launched and took back market share from IE. When Netscape had majority browser share, Microsoft worked aggressively in ECMA (as it was then spelled) to evolve ES1-3. Once Microsoft had near-monopoly share, progress utterly halted.

Is Microsoft's philosophy of standards the right thing? Is it the best way to improve the web? Take a side, but spare me the pretense that the group acting openly and working on ES4 is somehow victimizing the ES4 rejecters, who have to use anonymous sock puppets to speak (with forked tongues) for themselves.

The concerned
individual suggested that they simply create a new language with a
new name, as there are that many fundamental differences.

Another easily refuted claim, since everything in the new language is optional.

I'm actually not sure Doug or Microsoft's representatives know this, however. Sometimes they speak as if type annotations or static type checking are being mandated in ES4. Of course that's not true, but such misapprehensions keep coming up, mostly as "spin" or "talking points", not as substantive technical claims that could be proven true or false.

Many of
us are very concerned that the language we love is being rewritten
under our feet."

Love is important, it's what keeps a boat in the air (Serenity).

This sounds all heartfelt -- but it's phony as a three dollar bill! ES4 is a superset of ES3, with optional new facilities. It does nothing to "the language we love" but supplement it where its weaknesses are manifest to anyone who has written large programs in JS. No one is required to use the new features, nothing is lost from the common core language.

I created JS, so I can speak more authentically than whoever was quoted above: I love JS too, quirks and all, but the idea that it should be kept small, like a Toy Poodle, while giant companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo! are purveying and propagating onto the Web proprietary Rottweiler languages -- JS-beating programming languages with ES4-like features -- and even hyping such languages against JS (see the rigged C# chess demo from Mix07 that MS wrote to show up the JScript version of the same program: http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/pictures/mix-chess.png) -- this is a breathtaking imposture.

Sure, keep JS small in your hearts. But please, don't kid yourselves that it has not reached the big-time, or that it and the open web standards it works with to enable Ajax apps will survive the onslaught of proprietary competitors, unless JS and other open standards evolve significantly.

On that note, I'll stop. Peace, love, and truth to all, including the anonymous cowards.

/be


--
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@...> In linux /sbin/init is Job #1
Q. Mr. Ghandi, what do you think of Microsoft security?
A. I think it would be a good idea.
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns


-- 
  Scott Elcomb
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list


_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Dave Herman-2 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

Mark,

> I was not at the Ajax Experience conference, but I just spent the last
> week at OOPSLA. Everyone at OOPSLA I ran into who knows about the ES4
> proposal hates it. The general sense is that they think it's a train
> wreck. But there's a feeling of resignation: Yet another runaway
> standards process to oppress us. The people expressing this opinion
> include some extremely good programming language folks with great
> track records and reputations.

I've been to lots of conferences with reputable PL people too, and I
know that they are no more immune to rumor than other venues. All it
takes is one person to start spreading FUD about a technology for it to
become the buzz and ultimately accepted "wisdom." I was not at OOPSLA,
so I couldn't say for sure what people are really saying. But just to
hear that unnamed people were bad-mouthing ES4 contributes nothing but
bad blood to the conversation. Please stick to arguments about
substance. Your expertise in language design is well known and *more*
than welcome here, Mark; I would love to hear you weigh in on content.

> I did raise with people the notion that the new larger language be
> given a different name. One reason that C managed to stay small is
> that all those who wanted to grow it self-selected to grow C++
> instead. Likewise, the existence of Common Lisp probably helped
> protect the smallness of Scheme. Everyone I mentioned this to thought

The example of Scheme seems to contradict your point. Common Lisp grew
out of an incumbent language, whereas Scheme came out of a separate
rewrite of Lisp. As I understand it, Guy and Gerry designed Scheme for
their own purposes largely out of whole cloth. Note also that Scheme too
has had to grow as it has matured. In fact, Guy Steele gave a famous
talk--at OOPSLA, no less--on the importance of language growth.

At any rate, Scheme and C++ are languages with different ecosystems from
JavaScript. JavaScript exists first and foremost on the web. It's the
only open-standard engine behind the platform of the web. Brendan Eich
has repeatedly explained why a multiplicity of languages on the web is
infeasible, e.g. at the URL Jeff Dyer linked to
(http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/2504). So obstructing the progress
of JS and consequently the open web in the name of preserving the purity
of a "platonic ideal" of JavaScript strikes me as either a mistake of
philosophical extremism, a convenient cover for conflicted business
interests, or a combination of both.

> this name change would be a good idea, and would help protect the
> continued evolution of the language we now call Javascript, i.e.,
> EcmaScript 262 Edition 3. Whatever its flaws or virtues might be, the
> ES4 proposal is simply a very different language. Please let's be
> honest about that and change its name.

The language is without doubt much larger than it was. Part of this is
driven by a desire to provide conveniences that in ES3 people are forced
to simulate, often at cost to both performance and clarity: classes via
prototypes, local bindings and private members via closures, etc. And
part of this is driven by a need for language features with tighter
guarantees; ES3 features such as the prototype system, global object,
with-bindings, eval, etc. are famously anathema to abstraction,
reasoning about code, and practical compiler optimization. So
introducing new language features provides programmers the features they
need and implementors greater flexibility in optimization, in order to
keep JS competitive.

Finally, just to reiterate that the "it's a different language" charge
glosses a critical aspect of the ES4 proposal, namely backwards
compatibility. ES4 is not a new language. It is, as the overview
describes, a significant evolution of ES3.

Dave
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Brendan Eich-2 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On Oct 27, 2007, at 1:53 PM, Dave Herman wrote:

> In fact, Guy Steele gave a famous talk--at OOPSLA, no less--on the  
> importance of language growth.

http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/steele99growing.html

video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8860158196198824415

/be

_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Scott Elcomb :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On 10/27/07, Brendan Eich <brendan@...> wrote:

> On Oct 27, 2007, at 8:00 AM, Scott Elcomb wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> First off, I'd like to say thanks for all the good questions and
>> answers from folks on the list.  I haven't been here long, but have
>> already learned a bunch.  Looking forward to ES4.
>
> Thanks. Here's hoping ES4 as proposed is not quashed by the combination of
> anonymous propaganda campaigns and truly-secret maneuverings within the
> standards body by the pay-to-play members (Mozilla is not one; we don't have
> that access).
>
> What follows below are my opinions, presented bluntly as ever. This is long,
> but evidently necessary and appropriate to es4-discuss. I'll blog about the
> situation soon too.
[... ~12Kb ]

Not sure if you're active on Slashdot or not.  Would you mind if I
attached your message to the /. thread?  (I won't post it without
permission, and will mention "with permission" if it's provided.)

There's much I'd like to say in response to the various points of your
message (mostly in the form of questions and support); unfortunately I
lack your clarity in communication.

If there's an "abuse of Slashdot" (perish the thought!  lol), I'd like
to see /. participants weigh-in.  (evil grin)

--
  Scott Elcomb
  http://www.psema4.com/
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Brendan Eich-2 :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On Oct 27, 2007, at 3:38 PM, Scott Elcomb wrote:

> Not sure if you're active on Slashdot or not.  Would you mind if I
> attached your message to the /. thread?  (I won't post it without
> permission, and will mention "with permission" if it's provided.)

You could instead hyperlink to:

https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/es4-discuss/2007-October/001309.html

I'm assuming readers who would benefit would know and bother to  
follow a link. (I stopped reading /. long ago, as having my own small  
children to look after involved less chin-wiping and was more  
edifying and entertaining. :-)

/be

_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Scott Elcomb :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On 10/27/07, Brendan Eich <brendan@...> wrote:

> On Oct 27, 2007, at 3:38 PM, Scott Elcomb wrote:
>
> > Not sure if you're active on Slashdot or not.  Would you mind if I
> > attached your message to the /. thread?  (I won't post it without
> > permission, and will mention "with permission" if it's provided.)
>
> You could instead hyperlink to:
>
> https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/es4-discuss/2007-October/001309.html
>
> I'm assuming readers who would benefit would know and bother to
> follow a link. (I stopped reading /. long ago, as having my own small
> children to look after involved less chin-wiping and was more
> edifying and entertaining. :-)

Lol.  I am also a father, and know exactly of what you speak.  :-)

The hyperlink (which was provided to TLUG earlier today) is the kernel
of my thought;  my suggestion is to "activate the marketing
potential"* of /. - by re-wrapping the original thread in a question
posed to "Ask Slashdot."  The whole idea of "anonymous journalists" is
reminiscent of recent articles in the mainstream media about the
quality of certain Wikipedia entries.

Regardless of the quality of /. articles, editors, or commentators, it
remains a communication nexus.

Just a thought.


* By this I mean, encouraging communication among those who don't
belong to the group "readers who would benefit" - a few years ago it
was conversations such as this that drew me inexorably into the world
of FOSS.

--
  Scott Elcomb
  http://www.psema4.com/
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM

by Garrett :: Rate this Message:

Reply to Author | View Threaded | Show Only this Message

On 10/27/07, Dave Herman <dherman@...> wrote:
> Mark,
>
>
> The language is without doubt much larger than it was. Part of this is
> driven by a desire to provide conveniences that in ES3 people are forced
> to simulate, often at cost to both performance and clarity: classes via
> prototypes, local bindings and private members via closures, etc.

You've stated that people are forced to simulate both performance and
clarity by using closures. That is a bold statement and you have
provided no evidence to back that up. In fact, I have never heard
Douglas Crockford mention anything about performance implications or
code clarity in any of his talks, when he explains things like the
Module Pattern or Power Constructor.

Can you provide proof for this?

And
> part of this is driven by a need for language features with tighter
> guarantees; ES3 features such as the prototype system, global object,
> with-bindings, eval, etc. are famously anathema to abstraction,
> reasoning about code, and practical compiler optimization. So
> introducing new language features provides programmers the features they
> need and implementors greater flexibility in optimization, in order to
> keep JS competitive.

What features do programmers need?

Garrett
>
> Finally, just to reiterate that the "it's a different language" charge
> glosses a critical aspect of the ES4 proposal, namely backwards
> compatibility. ES4 is not a new language. It is, as the overview
> describes, a significant evolution of ES3.
>
> Dave


--
Programming is a collaborative art.
_______________________________________________
Es4-discuss mailing list
Es4-discuss@...
https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es4-discuss

Re: [TLUG]: ECMAScript ("Javascript") Version 4 - FALSE ALARM