Ecma TC39, the JavaScript Standards Committee, has launched a website for following updates to the JavaScript specification. The idea is to make it easier to find info and documentation on updates to the JavaScript spec.

The committee says that this is the first part of a two-part project aimed at improving the information distribution and documentation. The website provides links to the committee's most significant documents, as well as a list of proposals that are near completion.

While the website is described as currently a minimal viable product and very simple, there are plans to expand it, including the addition of a set of documentation about how the committee works.

The motivation for creating the website came partially from a series of in-person interviews last year to find out how the community was accessing information about the work around the JavaScript specification, followed by a widely distributed survey. One of the biggest requests was that the committee publish and maintain a website that helps people find the information they are looking for.

According to Yulia Startsev, Senior Software Engineer at Mozilla:

"the two most requested items with regard to resources were Learning Resources and a Website. These two are linked, but require very different types of work. Since this clearly highlighted the need for a website, we began work on this right away."

The survey also revealed a number of issues experienced by the developer community, of which three of the top four (documentation, communication, and information distribution) could be tackled via a website. The top issue was unclear advancement of proposals, which Startsev says is:

"challenging to resolve, but we are currently working through ideas. For the time being, we have added a link to the most recent presentation of each proposal. We also have a checklist in the TC39 Process document that is now being added to some proposals on GitHub."

The important thing is that the committee is listening to JavaScript developers and trying to improve things.

• Ian Elliot is the author of  Just JavaScript: An Idiomatic Approach; JavaScript Async; Just jQuery: The Core UI and Just jQuery: Events, Async & AJAX which are part of the I Programmer Library published by I/O Press.

More Information

TC39 Website

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