Features of ES6 | ECMAScript 6
The ES6 or ECMAScript 2015 came with various exiting and new features. These features make it a more robust and updated programming language than ES5. Some of these new promising features are Const and let statement, Template string, arrow functions, and many others.
The ECMAScript 2015 programming language, added with functional, dynamic, structural, and prototype-based features such as-
- Structural and Vital
The backing of ES6 is similar to a structured programming language like C language. ECMAScript and C, both languages have many differences in-between. The differences allow the implementation of scoping. JavaScript only allows function scoping through 'var' keyword, but the ECMAScript 2015, included the Const and let keywords also. The ES6 allows both; function scoping and block scoping.
The ECMAScript provides an automatic semicolon (;) feature. It means we can skip the semicolons in JavaScript.
- Effective and Dynamic
The ECMAScript 2015 was typed dynamically. The ES6 provides a facility named Duck Typing, to perform testing of the objects. The typed script in ECMAScript 6 is added with a value instead of an expression.
- A Weakly-Typed Language
A weakly typed language can be determined as a language in which the variable does not wrap with a particular data type group. ECMAScript 6 is a weakly typed programming language. It means we can initialize a type according to the operation. The ECMAScript 6 have several characteristics to change the variable from one type to another type.
- Supports Transpiling Feature
The Transpiler is a feature, helps us to convert the source code of edge JavaScript into ES5 JavaScript. Now for the new technology and programming language, transpiling is a common feature. Transpiling is a process that is used to rewrite the source code of JavaScript. The Transpiler supports all browsers to maintain the ability of Transpilition. The user can reset the setting of a particular version according to the needs.
The Transpiling process includes an extra step when the user writes the code; sometimes, it is necessary to prevent the Polyfills.
Apart from the features mentioned above, ECMAScript 6 includes some following new features-
- Default Parameter Values
- Exponentiation (**)
- Array. find ()
- JavaScript Classes
- Array. find Index ()
Browsers for ECMAScript 6
The browsers are made up of many components such as User Interface (UI), rendering engine, and JavaScript Engines. A browser is used to interpret the programming languages. Here some browsers are given that supports ECMAScript-
Google Chrome
The Google Chrome version 58 (January 2017) fully supports the ECMAScript 6. The Chrome version 4 to Chrome 41 does not support the ES6 code.
Firefox
The old Mozilla Firefox versions do not support the ES6. Mozilla Firefox Browser version 54 (May 2017) fully supports the ECMAScript 2015. The old versions from version 2 to Firefox version 44 do not support the ES6.
Microsoft Edge
Browser version 14 released in August 2016 fully supports the ECMAScript 2015 programming language, but the old version of the edge does not support the ES6.
Safari Browser
Apple developed this web browser. The new version of browser Safari 10 (released in July 2016) fully supports ES6. The old versions of Safari do not support ES6.
Opera Browser
Opera is a web browser developed by Opera Software for Microsoft Windows, Android, Mac Operating System, and Linux Operating System. The new version of Opera 55 (launched in August 2018) fully supports ECMAScript 2015. The old versions do not support ECMAScript 6.
Text/Source-Code Editors and IDE for ECMAScript 6
The text editor can be defined as a program or software in a computer that is used to edit or create a programming language file. Different editors are used for implementing different programming languages. Various editors are used for different operating systems. For Example, Microsoft Windows comes with Microsoft Notepad (Generally called “Notepad”), Unix, and similar to Unix programming operating system come with Pico editor or its other variants.
On the other hand, the Source-code editors can also be determined as a text editor. It is a program that is specially designed to perform editing in the source code of computer software. For example, NetBeans, Eclipse, Brackets, and Visual Studio (VS), etc.
There are following editors given below that supports ECMAScript 2015-
Why We Use ECMAScript 2015?
ECMAScript 6 is a programming language. It is an extended version of ECMAScript 5. JavaScript is a language, but ES6 is a scripting language Standard.
There are some reasons given below that describes why we need to use ECMAScript 6.
- ECMAScript 6 is a fast and efficient language
JavaScript is a fast and efficient programming language. It can be used for various purposes. The ES6 is an upgraded version of ECMAScript 5. The user can also use all the benefits of JavaScript in ES6.
- ECMAScript 6 have Backward Compatibility
Compatibility is a useful and tradeoff feature of ECMAScript 2015. The JavaScript programming language also has some bad parts or glitches. These bad parts or hiccups are mentioned in Douglas Crockford’s book JavaScript- The good parts. The ECMAScript 6 is capable of removing bad parts, but the language developers choose to leave these glitches.
- ECMAScript uses Object-oriented Classes
We can use an inheritance method in JavaScript known as Prototypical Inheritance. The Prototypical Inheritance is a different type of process from the most common inheritance method, used in other programming languages.
ES6 uses Class syntax. In ECMAScript 6, we have to define Classes, maps, and inheritance traditionally. ES6 maps these Classes and inheritance according to the prototype chain. This change can make ECMAScript 6 very easier for Object-oriented programming.
- ECMAScript 6 supports Arrow Function
Functions are the keystone of any functional programming language like JavaScript. In JavaScript, the keyword “this” is not a property of Arrow Functions because mostly developers or programmers wrap the variable with ECMAScript 5 (ES5) programming language. For example
It is because the function “this” sets the value until the developer wrap the variable. Sometimes it is a difficulty for the user.
- ES6 supports const and let keywords
We can use let and const keywords to solve the problem of traditional scoping. The const and let keywords are the replacing keywords of the var variable used in JavaScript. These keywords allow the user or programmer to write safe code, and no chance of variable leak aging out of scope will occur. These keywords also enable the developers to avoid the duplicate declaration of variables in the same scope. For Example
Declaration of let
Declaration of Const
- ECMAScript 2015 support Promises
The promises make the JavaScript (async in nature) more user-friendly and predictable. The promises promise to handle future exceptions instead of the arbitrary library. It also helps us to understand how to write a code structure.
- ECMAScript 6 has a Spread operator concept
The Spread operator provides a way for the developer to create new arrays according to the values of pre-declared arrays. The Spread operator is a single versatile construct in ECMAScript 2015 programming language. It is a little bit similar to the Splat operator used in Ruby programming language.
The Spread operator helps developers to work with more than one array at a time. It can perform the following tasks-
- It can copy a whole array with value.
- It allows us to insert a new value in the array.
- It also performs the concatenation of arrays.
- ECMAScript 6 supports Template Literal Strings
Template Literal String is a common feature used to create a string that has a variable in it. JavaScript didn't supported this feature in its older versions until ECMAScript 6 was released. The programming language Ruby also has a similar concept, known as String Interpolation.
- The Modules are created in ECMAScript 2015
The modules were not created in JavaScript because modules are one of the annoying term ECMAScript 6. In JavaScript, it is possible to divide the modules into two patterns by using CommonJS and AMD (Asynchronous Module Definition).
- ECMAScript 6 (ES6) use the term YARN
The NMP (Node Package Manager) is used toload JavaScript packages consistently. Sometimes JavaScript packages will take some time to execute the command of package installation. The company 'Facebook' created a new client on the NPM (Node Package Manager) platform and provided a facility to work and scale large projects.
Advantages of ECMAScript 6
There are some essential advantages of ECMAScript 6 mentioned below-
Drawbacks of ECMAScript 2015
ECMAScript also has some drawbacks or disadvantages of ES6 given below-
- In ECMAScript 2015, the debugging cycle becomes a program code that may have bugs. It is not a concern with reloading and editing.
- In the code development, the developer’s code will not exactly match with our code, so the indication being less helpful.
- The separate modifications are may be small, but they will make a significant change.