JavaScript for ABAP Programmers

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chris Whealy / Technology RIG
JavaScript’s Name – And the Resulting Confusion…

JavaScript was first developed by Brendan Eich at Netscape in 1995 (in 10 days). Originally, this new
scripting language was called “Mocha”.
When Netscape Navigator 2.0 was shipped in September 1995, the language was renamed to
“LiveScript”.
However, when Netscape Navigator 2.0B3 was released on December 4th, 1995, Netscape made a
joint announcement with Sun Microsystems to the effect that Netscape’s new scripting language would
complement Sun Microsystem’s new Web application language Java; therefore, the new scripting
language would be called “JavaScript” – and this has caused no end of confusion ever since…
The bottom line is simply this…

JavaScript is NOT Java!

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JavaScript’s Linguistic Heritage

Over the course of the language’s development, various conceptual elements have been borrowed
from other languages to form what is now called JavaScript.

JavaScript

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JavaScript’s Linguistic Heritage

Over the course of the language’s development, various conceptual elements have been borrowed
from other languages to form what is now called JavaScript.

JavaScript

© 2015 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 4

JavaScript’s Linguistic Heritage

Over the course of the language’s development, various conceptual elements have been borrowed
from other languages to form what is now called JavaScript.

Scheme

JavaScript

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JavaScript’s Linguistic Heritage

Over the course of the language’s development, various conceptual elements have been borrowed
from other languages to form what is now called JavaScript.

Scheme

JavaScript

Perl

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JavaScript Standards

JavaScript was standardised by the European Computer Manufacturer’s Association (ECMA) in 1997.
JavaScript used in browsers is now considered to be only one implementation of the ECMA-262
specification.

Edition Date
1 June 1997
2 June 1998
3 December 1999
4 Abandoned
5 December 2009
5.1 June 2011
6 (Harmony) Work in progress
7 Work in progress

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JavaScript Runtime Engines

In order to execute a JavaScript program, a JavaScript Engine is needed.

Multiple implementations of JavaScript engines are available, with the most widely used being:

JavaScript Engine
Rhino (Mozilla)
SpiderMonkey (Mozilla)

Chakra (Microsoft)

V8 (Google)

Nitro (Apple)

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JavaScript Runtime: Client Side Implementations

Modern JavaScript engines have been designed to run either from within a web browser or as stand
alone, server-side execution engines.

Client Side Implementation JavaScript Engine

Mozilla Firefox SpiderMonkey (Mozilla)

Microsoft Internet Explorer Chakra (Microsoft)

Google Chrome V8 (Google)

Apple Safari Nitro (Apple)

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JavaScript Runtime: Server Side Implementations

There are multiple server-side implementations of JavaScript, many of which are based on Mozilla
Rhino (Java based). When speed is required however, Mozilla SpiderMonkey or the Google V8
engine are used instead.

Server Side Implementation JavaScript Engine

SpiderMonkey (Mozilla)

Accessible via Chakra (Microsoft)

V8 (Google)

Nitro (Apple)

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In A Nutshell – The Main Differences Between ABAP & JavaScript

Understanding the differences between ABAP and JavaScript is fundamental to transferring your
existing programming skills into JavaScript.
Some of the main differences are as follows:

ABAP JavaScript
Data typing Strong Weak
Syntax Similar to COBOL Derived mainly from Java with some influence from C
Variable Scope Block scope Lexical (or function) scope
“Function” No concept of a function as a Functions are 1st class citizens.
Concept data object That is, a function is an object with “an executable part”
Inheritance Model Class based Referential (or Prototypical)
Programming Style Strictly Imperative Both Imperative and Functional

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© 2015 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

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