When it comes to getting excited about new standards or versions of programming languages I tend to take a more reserved approach.

Quietly — yes, I can be quiet sometimes — evaluating the details myself and when applicable trying to put to some real world applications. A practical, pragmatic approach to consider using any new technology. I would rather spend those breaths of air exploring technology that is here and now instead of fighting standards wars. I’ll defer those battles respectfully to people closer to the metal on the issues. I’m a programmer, not a designer, and while yes web standards still matter to me, this isn’t my area of expertise. The other day I discovered that neither is brewmastery (thanks Sterling and Vince). Sometimes it’s better not to venture too far from the nest.

So recently when I heard that the ECMAScript 4th Edition aka Javascript ES4 is causing blood pressure to be raised in a few folks, I look for people more entrenched to see if there is fire where there is smoke. I’ve met Dori Smith, co-author of Javascript & AJAX, in person and she’s one source on Javascript that I trust.

In Dori’s post yesterday, she doesn’t appear too concerned:

Look, it’s always been the case with JavaScript, and it’s one of the things I like best about the language: it’s all about what works in the majority of browsers. If it doesn’t work in the majority of existing browsers, it’s utterly irrelevant. And given that this group has shown an inability to actually ship, it’s even less relevant.

If you think I’m dismissing ES4 too casually at this point, please feel free as always to correct me below.

• Post Search Champs v4 non-NDA thoughts
• How to register an @live.com address early Javascript dropdown trick
• RSS/RDF to JS Converter
• Warning the Blogrush is on and isn’t degrading gracefully
• Dude, where’s my comments?
• First her son dies suddenly now Anna Nicole Smith dead too at 39