What is ES6 and why are they important to learn? -

Hello readers, this blog is going to be very helpful for you as a web designer or learner as it covers the most in-demand topic of the year which is ES6. Let’s get to know what is ES6. But before that, it is important to understand its main predecessor known as ECMA.

ECMA, what is it?

ECMA or the Computer Manufacturers Association is an organization that provides standards for information and communication systems. Few programming languages are also standardized by ECMA, JavaScript being one such language. In simple words, ECMA provides standards (rules and syntax) for JavaScript.

Next thing is script.

ECMA Script

ECMA Script is the programming standard that is adopted by JavaScript, which means that whenever there is a revision in ECMA Script version, there is a revision in JavaScript version and the new JS version is released, it is not called JavaScript (JS) version but ECMA script version (e.g. ES1, ES2 and so now).

The first version of ECMA Script (ES) was called ES1 and was released in 1997. Then versions were released with small changes until 2015. In 2015, ES6 version was released, which was officially called ECMA Script 2015.
Consecutively more ES versions were released with small changes, ES13 being the latest.

What is ES6 and why is it important?

So, out of 13 versions released, what is it that makes ES6 qualify to be known as Next-Gen JavaScript or Advanced JavaScript? Let’s know the answer.

Below are the reasons that make ES6 important:

It has brought some of the major changes in JS, making it almost like a new language. And even though it has been there for quite a while; it still is one of the popular languages to learn.
This version supports class keyword for object oriented programming, making it easier to write OOPS concepts. It also helped in making JS familiar for programmers of other languages like Java and C++, wanting to switch to JS.
All the modern frameworks use ES6 features, be it front-end frameworks like Vue.js, Angular js or libraries like React. They all apply ES6 features like classes, arrow functions, let and const variables.

Features of ES6

Let’s look at the very popular features that ES6 comes with and which are must to know for you as a developer.

1. Let and Const Keywords

Up till ES5, the only way to declare a variable was using the var keyword. In ES6, let and const keywords.
The let keyword made it possible to achieve the essential feature of block scoping, which was not possible in previous versions. Also, let and const do not support hoisting, making the coding approach more efficient

2. Arrow Functions

Arrow function is just syntax of defining functions in a much simpler and logical way. For example, It removes the use of ‘function’ keyword and if there is only return statement, we can write the entire function in one line (having implicit return) instead of 3-4 lines, making the code cleaner and reducing the execution time. Arrow functions are used very frequently while coding in the frontend frameworks like Angular.

3. Classes

ES6 has class syntax and prototypical inheritance, which makes it smoother to write Oops code in ES6. The prototypical inheritance helps in eradicating duplicate code.

4. Template Literals

Template literals make the concatenation of variable and static data easier. It eliminates the use of ‘+’ operator. Even though it is a small addition, it may be very useful in case long strings made up of different parts, and also supports multi-line string. We can also pass functions in template literals.

5. Promises

Promises (or callback functions) takes care of asynchronous data handling and future events or tasks to be performed at some particular situation or time.

6. Modules

Modules in ES6 make it possible to reuse functions of one file in other. One of the main reasons for this process is the method of export and import that it uses with functions. This also increases the re-usability results in reduced execution time.

7. Spread Operator

It is known for its function with arrays specially those where includes coping, concatenating and insertion of different new items in the set of arrays.

8. Backward compatibility

All the major browsers support ES6 now, but if need be, ES5 programs can run on ES6.

Apart from above mentioned features the other important features that make ES6 the really cool language are Method Definition shorthand, Key/Property Shorthand, Destructuring, For-of loop and Default Parameters. In order to see all of these features in practical examples; it is recommended to join classes at our JavaScript institute in Delhi where you can learn next-generation JS.

Conclusion

ES6 has made JS very fast and efficient with optimized performance. It is basis of modern day front-end frameworks for creating beautiful and fast websites, not to forget making the life of a developer much easier.