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Node.js releases version 6.0. Yes, yes, LTS

More module issue fixes still require()d

The Node.js Foundation has released version 6, which now falls just seven per cent short of complete support for the ES6 specifications.

The European Computer Manufacturer's Association's ECMAScript version 6 was released in 2015 as a trademarked specification for scripting languages, including JavaScript.

It specifies core features, which the foundation announced are now supported, including "default and rest parameters, destructuring, class and super keywords."

Version 6 also debuts equipped with the V8 JavaScript engine 5.0, and bumps up the E6 support from 56 per cent at v5.11, and 50 per cent from v4. The kangax compatibility table applied to Node.js is available here.

V8 is Google's JavaScript engine, used in its Chrome browser, and is set to boost what the foundation claims are 3.5m users at an annual growth rate of 100 per cent.

According to the foundation's announcement, "one of the most significant [performance] improvements" comes "from module loading", though stability may be of greater interest to client-side application developers than speed.

Back in March, a grouchy Azer Koçulu unpublished more than 250 modules from JavaScript packet manager NPM, subsequently borking the left-pad dependency and toppling thousands of projects with a shrug.

Following the Semantic Versioning Specification, Node.js will be putting version 4, the current stable release, under maintenance mode from April 2017, "meaning only critical bugs, critical security fixes and documentation updates will be permitted," and advises users to begin transitioning from v4 to v6 in October, when v6 goes into Long-Term Support.

As Node.js says, major releases "usually introduce backwards-incompatible, breaking changes. ®

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