MS, Mozilla Clashing Over JavaScript Update

jfruhlinger writes "JavaScript has become a crucial part of Websites built on AJAX underpinnings, which makes the upcoming revision to the ECMAScript standard crucial for the future of the Web. But in today's browser environment, no one vendor can impose an update path — which may set things up for a nasty conflict. A fight is being fought on blogs between Mozilla Chief Technology Officer (and creator of JavaScript) Brendan Eich, who wants to the new ECMAScript standard to be a radical upgrade, and Chris Wilson, architect of MS's IE team, who would rather keep JavaScript as is and put new functionality into a brand-new language."

Comments

In Other Words...

[MightyMartian]

As usual, Microsoft is attempting to wipe out an existing standard in favor of some new bastardized monster which it will control. Everyone will have to play catchup to Microsoft's ever-shifting language target, web developers will more than ever be stuck writing everything twice, once for IE and once for everything else. To further its monopoly, it will screw developers and consumers.

I mean, and what the fuck is wrong with updating a fucking language? Christ, they've been doing it with C for the better part of four decades, Fortran and Cobol for longer (adding OOP functionality and other radical new ideas). Microsoft has done it tons with its own Basic dialect, which barely resembles the old MS-BASIC found on Trash-80s and the like.