What is ESNext?

Question

I've come across the term ESNext, and wondering it is the same as the ECMAScript.

So, I have these questions here:

• What is ESNext, actually?
• Does it refer to any specific version of ECMAScript?

Wingfooted

Whichever one isn't out yet :) – Carlinecarling

This might help quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-ES6-and-ESNext – Godard

@eramit2010 No Amit. I wan't referring to esnext.github.io/esnext – Wingfooted

Just like asking "When is next Tuesday?" and "Does it refer to any specific Tuesday?" – Hypogeal

Answer 1

What is ESNext, actually?

It varies depending on who's using the term, usually "the next" version of ECMAScript (JavaScript). For instance, when I first wrote this answer in June 2019, if someone said "ESNext" they might be talking about ES2019 plus BigInt, dynamic import, and other features that had recently reached Stage 4 of the process, or they might even have been talking about those plus some advanced Stage 3 proposals. As of this update in April 2020, they'd be talking about the recently-agreed ES2020 and perhaps things like top-level await, WeakRefs, and logical assignment operators. It varies.

Does it refer to any specific version of EcmaScript?

No, it usually refers to a constantly moving target just beyond the current snapshot specification.

But again, it varies a bit by who's using it.

Vedette

Beware of coding to ESNext for features that have been proposed but not yet accepted. If the features are actually rejected and the module system is changed in a project, the code that did work before will no longer work. For example (made up): The "current" proposal for ESNext in 2022 has feature fooBar and the project is set with module: "esnext". The project is later refined to a more definite "es2020" or "es2022". If fooBar wasn't approved, it's not in ES2022, and the code is now invalid. There are issues in VSCode (see GitHub Issues) specifically because of this. – Transmundane

Answer 2

ES.Next is a dynamic name that refers to whatever the next version is at time of writing. ES.Next features are more correctly called proposals, because, by definition, the specification has not been finalized yet. Many features that are a “part” of ES.Next were not even proposed during the work on ES6. Indeed, as a living language, ECMAScript / JavaScript is constantly evolving and being enhanced, and new proposals are continuously being added into ES.Next.

Source : Quora

Bombardier

Answer 3

ES Next simply call the Next version or upcoming version of ES(ECMAScript / JavaScript ). ES Next is the underdevelopment version or beta version. When completing the version and replace a new name like ES 2020/2021

Pella

Answer 4

just a lump of syntactic sugar for saying the next ECMA-Script version, so for now the ESNext would be 23-24

Sphingosine