I’m kind of shocked nowadays when I see anyone using the language="JavaScript" attribute on <script> tags. But I’ve noticed a disturbing trend recently: the user of language="JavaScript1.2" seems to be everywhere.

For those who don’t remember, initially you specified the version of JavaScript in the language attribute. That was all fine and good, but the browser would default to the most recent version of JavaScript if a version wasn’t specified (browsers have the same behavior now). When you specify a version, it forces the browser to use it. So what’s the big deal? JavaScript 1.2 has some different behavior from the rest of JavaScript:

• No support for Unicode characters.
• Array initialization with a single number creates an array with the number as its sole item instead of using it as the array length.
• The splice() method return an object if only one item is removed and an array if more than one item is removed instead of always returning an array.
• Date behavior is platform-dependent instead of platform-independent.
• Boolean objects with a value of false evaluate to false even though all objects should evaluate to true when converted to a Boolean value.
• The == and != operators do not convert values for comparison, which is the default in JavaScript. They behave like === and !==.

These are important differences that can really make a difference in your code. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor, kill JavaScript 1.2 now! Figure out why you’re using it, make the code corrections, and make the web a better place.

Note: It appears that Firefox 1.5 will now ignore the version even if specified and always use the latest JavaScript engine.

Disclaimer: Any viewpoints and opinions expressed in this article are those of Nicholas C. Zakas and do not, in any way, reflect those of my employer, my colleagues, Wrox Publishing, O'Reilly Publishing, or anyone else. I speak only for myself, not for them.

Both comments and pings are currently closed.