Once upon a time Volkswagon put out an advertisement mocking folks who thought Volkswagons never changed. The Beetle did look like a Beetle for decades; then again even when it was retro'd. Change is antithetical to software endurance and yet we write code in a rapidly changing environment. And our users expect it to continue working for years...decades in the case of Manage 2000.
The W3C has been a conservator of Internet technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The underlying standards of TCPIP, FTP, and Telnet have been steady for decades. But there is enormous pressure to 'improve' the user interface technologies that power browser experiences. And now that the browser wars have consolidated technological components and users are updated with the latest version of a few shared script engines continuously, browsers can quickly adapt to changes in the definition of Javascript.
ECMA Script 6 was a giant leap forward. It was adopted in 2015 and implemented in most browsers by 2017. But the European Computer Manufacturers Association (now Ecma International) is moving the Javascript standards forward every year; JS 2016, JS 2017, JS 2018, JS 2019, JS 2020, JS 2021, JS 2022, JS 2023, JS 2024.
Turns out I don't know Javascript. I know what Javascript used to be. But I don't know what it can be in this moment. Check out the new methods and properties and whole new language elements: w3 schools js versions.asp
I guess it is time to give up pretending I know how to program in Javascript and start believing I can figure it out and look it up on Google or Stack Overflow and construct my knowledge of coding in Javascript "Just-In-Time" as I am working through projects. Oh yeah, I know, AI will help me out providing Javascript coding techniques in real-time as I type, Javascript coding techniques which are changing with every new project I undertake. Will I feel like I am in control of the horse, or just hang on to the saddle horn and try not to fall off?
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