JavaScript syntax: Difference between revisions

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The '''syntax of JavaScript''' is a set of rules that defines how a [[JavaScript]] program will be written and [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreted]]. JavaScript syntax derives largely from the [[C programming language]], with influence from [[Self_programming_language|Self]] in its prototype system. Brendan Eich summarized the ancestry of the syntax in the first paragraph of the [http://hepunx.rl.ac.uk/~adye/jsspec11/intro.htm#1006028 JavaScript 1.1] specification as follows:

:{{"|JavaScript borrows most of its syntax from [[Java_programming_language|Java]], but also inherits from [[Awk]] and [[Perl]], with some indirect influence from [[Self_programming_language|Self]] in its object prototype system.}}

A popular fallacy grants Java the most influence on the syntax of JavaScript. Direct [http://www.lurklurk.org/rosetta.html comparison] between JavaScript and the langauges mentioned above reveals in a different view:

#[[C programming language|C]] contributed control flow syntax with keywords like ''if'', ''else'', ''while'', ''continue'', ''switch'', ''case'', and ''default''. The semantics of these control flow elements is identical. C also contributed arithmetic and logic operators like ''&&'', ''||'', and ''!''. JavaScript inherits the syntax of comments from C++.

#[[AWK_programming_language|AWK]] contributed

##Exact syntax of access to associative arrays, including the loop over hashes (associatve arrays) with the ''for (key in object)'' iteration.