JScript (COM Classic) The original JScript is an
Active Scripting engine. Like other Active Scripting languages, it is built on the
COM/OLE Automation platform and provides scripting capabilities to host applications. This is the version used when hosting JScript inside a Web page displayed by
Internet Explorer, in an
HTML application before
IE9, as well as in
classic ASP,
Windows Script Host scripts and other
Automation environments. JScript is sometimes referred to as "classic JScript" or "Active Scripting JScript" to differentiate it from newer
.NET-based versions. Some versions of JScript are available for multiple versions of Internet Explorer and Windows. For example, JScript 5.7 was introduced with
Internet Explorer 7.0 and is also installed for
Internet Explorer 6.0 with
Windows XP Service Pack 3, while JScript 5.8 was introduced with
Internet Explorer 8.0 and is also installed with Internet Explorer 6.0 on
Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft's implementation of ECMAScript 5th Edition in
Windows 8 Consumer Preview is called
JavaScript and the corresponding
Visual Studio 11 Express Beta includes a "completely new", full-featured JavaScript editor with
IntelliSense enhancements for
HTML5 and
ECMAScript 5 syntax, "VSDOC" annotations for multiple overloads, simplified
DOM configuration, brace matching, collapsible outlining and "go to definition". JScript is also available on Windows CE (included in Windows Mobile, optional in Windows Embedded CE). The Windows CE version lacks Active Debugging.
Managed JScript Managed JScript is an implementation of JScript for the
Dynamic Language Runtime, it is part of Microsoft's dynamic languages for .NET along with
IronRuby,
IronPython, and
Dynamic Visual Basic. Unlike JScript .NET, which is less dynamic than the original JScript but provides
Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) compatibility, Managed JScript is designed on top of the
Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) and provides the features needed for scripting scenarios. While it is primarily designed to be used within
Silverlight and ASP.NET at this time, it can also easily be embedded within any .NET application. Two builds of Managed JScript exist: one for the Desktop
Common Language Runtime (CLR) and one for the
Silverlight CoreCLR Managed JScript is unsupported in the
.NET Compact Framework. (Source: files versions of Microsoft.JScript.Runtime.dll in ASP.NET Futures and Silverlight 1.1 folders)
JScript "Chakra" (JsRT) JScript "Chakra" is based on the JScript (COM classic) version, but it has been redesigned to improve performance in
Internet Explorer 9 at the expense of proper Active Scripting engine compatibility. It requires a specific Microsoft JavaScript Hosting (JsRT) API for proper use. Therefore, it is installed side by side with JScript 5.x and is only used by
Internet Explorer 9 and later as well as JsRT hosts, while other Active Scripting hosts keep using the 5.x version when requesting the JScript engine. There are two versions of the Chakra JsRT engine. The original one was used by
Internet Explorer 9 and later, and is sometimes referred to as "jscript9.dll" or "legacy Chakra engine", and a second one used by
Microsoft Edge Legacy browser and sometimes referred to as "new Chakra engine", "Edge engine" or "Chakra.dll". Both Chakra JsRT versions can be used by other applications using the JsRT API and can be installed side by side. There is also a
COM Classic version of Chakra internally called "JScript 9 Legacy" (provided by jscript9Legacy.dll), introduced with Windows 11 24H2, which brings back compatibility with Active Scripting hosts and intended as a compatible drop-in replacement for JScript 5.8. Although largely compatible with the original JScript 5.8, there are notable breaking differences. See separate page about new
Chakra (Edge) engine.
JScript .NET (CLI) JScript .NET is a
Microsoft .NET implementation of JScript. It is a
CLI language and thus inherits very powerful features, but lacks many features of the original JScript language, making it inappropriate for many scripting scenarios. JScript .NET can be used for
ASP.NET pages and for complete .NET applications, but the lack of support for this language in Microsoft Visual Studio places it more as an upgrade path for classic
ASP using classic JScript than as a new first-class language. JScript .NET is unsupported in the
.NET Compact Framework. JScript .NET versions are unrelated to classic JScript versions, and are a separate product line. Even though JScript .NET is unsupported within the Visual Studio IDE, its versions are in sync with other .NET languages versions (
C#,
VB.NET,
VC++) that follow their corresponding Visual Studio versions. .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 are built on 2.0 and do not include the newer JScript.NET release (version 10.0 for .NET Framework 4.0). (Source: file version of jsc.exe JScript.NET compiler and Microsoft.JScript.dll installed with .NET Framework) == See also ==