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Why are JavaScript implementations so incompatible with each other, while Java implementations are c

1
2006-08-03 19:55:27, Category: Programming & Design
It is interesting to see how two languages born at about the same time, and released to the public just one week apart from each other - have become two completely different things. In addition to their Java is the eldest, in the public sense, by about one week. Perhaps the more mature in other ways too. Ironically, JavaScript managed to get passed as a standard by a European standards body called ECMA, which really is not known for computer programming language standards, it turns out. Programs port from one version of Java to another easily. Crossing platform to platform is easy with Java With JavaScript, two applications on the same computer don't even have compatible JavaScript interpreters. The groups making the interpreters do not seem to mind. Those writing programs in it tend to only target one of the many different ones out there. Is this a sign of standardization? A total lack of portability? Really? How come it got this way? Originally, there was only one Netscape.

Answers

  1. Kryzchek

    On 2006-08-03 23:34:28


    Just because their names are similar doesn't mean that they have anything in common. Granted, they share some common syntax, but that's it. There is no standard Javascript interpreter--think of how different browsers display HTML differently. Conversely, Sun Microsystems owns the patent to JAVA and is responsible for the JAVA Runtime Engine. Why is this? I couldn't say. Microsoft tried to push VBScript and Jscript on developers which is maybe why their Javascript interpreter varied so much from their #1 competitor Netscape.