Much has been made lately (by Google) of how Dart, Google’s open-source programming language, can change and adapt more quickly than JavaScript to accommodate the evolving needs of Web developers.
Dart is the new, flexible option built to tackle larger, more complex Web applications. JavaScript, on the other hand, has been around since 1995 and standardized since 1996 as ECMAScript, with only five official updates in the past 17 years. The problem with that logic, hailing Dart as the answer to ECMAScript’s stagnant growth, is simple: It too is seeking standardization.
Web languages want to be standardized. Once the creators hand over the reins to the World Wide Web Consortium and Ecma International, their language gets a universal stamp of approval and a red carpet to mainstream browser adoption and wide developer use.
Ecma has already established a committee to publish a standard specification for Dart. By the time it’s published, Ecma will have rolled out ECMAScript 6, a major update of its own addressing many of the shortcomings Google initially set out to improve upon with Dart. By 2015, the two languages will be structurally on the same playing field.
Non-standard languages can grow and change at a much more rapid pace than one stamped and certified by the W3C, but ultimately they all translate. CoffeeScript, TypeScript and dozens of other “scripts” all compile to JavaScript. Once Dart is a standard, it’ll have that same compatibility, but face an uphill battle to establish the kind of universal appeal JavaScript enjoys.
The two months between releases of Dart 1.0 and 1.1 will turn into bimonthly Ecma committee meetings where proposed changes and updates need to be officially reviewed, approved, validated and tested before ultimately taking affect. There’s a reason JavaScript has existed for close to two decades and ECMAScript is only up to version 6.
But for Google, standardization means one thing: Its open-source darling is about to be taken seriously. Adapting to the changing needs of the Web landscape will take longer, but if the language is as revolutionary as Google hopes, developers will wait. A truly embraced standard is tough to unseat, which is a fact JavaScript is well acquainted with.
