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What’s New With ECMAScript 2024: An In-Depth Guide on the Latest Features

by @eleanorhecks@x.com (@designerlymag@x.com) on , tagged , , , (toot this?)

ECMAScript is one of the most important programming language standards today. Like any other coding language, it is also continually updating. Developers must stay on top of these changes to optimize their code and keep their software as up-to-date as possible.

JavaScript remains the most used coding language among developers today, so understanding changes in ECMAScript is crucial when keeping up with the industry. With that in mind, here are a few important updates coming to ECMAScript in 2024 and beyond.

Atomics.waitAsync

One of the biggest new ECMAScript features is Atomics.waitAsync, which builds on Atomics.wait. Like Atomics.wait, it aims to help operations on shared memory, but unlike the old feature, it does not block the main threat.

As the name suggests, Atomics.waitAsync enables asynchronous waiting. A similar feature—Atomics.waitSync—performs the same task but in synchronization. Like other methods relying on SharedArrayBuffer, documents must meet security requirements to run these features in today’s browsers. Once devs meet those standards, though, Atomics.waitAsync provides a useful tool for managing asynchronous operations.

Promise.withResolvers

Another new method for asynchronous operations is Promise.withResolvers. This feature creates all three key components of a promise function—the promise, a resolver, and a reject—in a single line of code.

Condensing what once took three or four lines of code into one significantly shortens development timelines. In addition to making it easier to keep asynchronous operations in check, Promise.withResolvers can improve operational efficiency. Removing unnecessary script improves the loading speed of a piece of software, so this condensed alternative can produce user-side benefits.

String.toWellFormed

Incoming changes to ECMAScript cover more than asynchronous operations. String.toWellFormed applies to any context and converts lone surrogates into valid strings. Another new method—String.isWellFormed—checks whether a string is valid.

Like Promise.withResolvers, these features make it easier to ensure a more functional final product. Finding and fixing inconsistencies or other invalid strings from bad data or similar problems is a time-consuming but crucial part of the development process. Streamlining that workflow with these features will ensure devs can keep up with speedier automated technologies, even when working in different environments.

Pipeline Operator

Atomics.waitAsync, Promise.withResolvers, and String.toWellFormed are all now available in ECMAScript. However, several functions are in the proposal stage and may be released later this year. Pipeline Operator is one of the most promising of these upcoming improvements.

The Pipeline Operator refactors complex functions into an organized list of operations. That way, devs can read through and chain them together more easily, making it easier to optimize code or improve explainability.

This feature was the fourth most common answer in a 2020 survey asking what JavaScript is missing. It is currently in Stage Two proposals, so it may not appear until after 2024, but it likely will not be long.

Decorators

Decorators are another proposed function that could appear by late 2024. These features are another long-awaited update that lets devs modify the behavior of methods, classes, properties and parameters. Possible adjustments include logging and adding metadata.

As a broad umbrella term, decorators could encompass many specific modifications. Across all these possibilities, though, they will streamline the code-updating process for many software applications.

Decorators have been in the proposal stage for over five years at this point. While that may not bode well for a 2024 arrival, it could also suggest that they are almost ready for deployment in ECMAScript.

Keep Up With ECMAScript Updates

ECMAScript is always evolving, and staying abreast of these changes will help devs code as efficiently as possible. These five updates are not all the shifts coming for the standard, but they are among the most promising.

Some of these updates for 2024 seem sudden, while others are long-awaited answers to common problems, but all make ECMAScript more functional than ever before. Learning about them before they release is the first step to capitalizing on their potential.

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