- Date: 2024-06-24
- Author: Mikhail Barash, University of Bergen, Norway
| Python | C | Java | C++ | C# | ECMAScript | Visual Basic .NET | SQL | PHP | Go | Assembly | R | Swift | Ruby | Rust | Fortran | Ada | Perl | F# | COBOL | Dart | Lua | Julia | Scala | Haskell | TypeScript | D | Kotlin | Groovy | Zig | Scheme | Prolog | HTML | WebAssembly | CSS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| language webpage | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link, link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | ||||||
| standard/specification ID | Python Language Reference | 🌐 ISO/IEC 9899 | Java Language and Virtual Machine Specifications | 🌐 ISO/IEC 14882 | 🌐 ECMA-334, ISO/IEC 23270 | 🌐 ECMA-262 | Visual Basic Language Specification | 🌐 ISO/IEC 9075 | PHP Language Specification | The Go Programming Language Specification | 🌐 IEEE 694-1985 | R Language Definition | The Swift Programming Language | 🌐 JSA - JIS X 3017 | The Rust Reference | 🌐 ISO/IEC 1539-1, 🇺🇸 Military Standard 1753, 🇺🇸 ANSI X 3.9 1966, 🇺🇸 ANSI X3J3/90.4, 🌐 ISO/IEC 9593-1:1990 | 🌐 ISO/IEC 8652 | Perl Documentation | The F# Language Specification | 🌐 ISO/IEC 1989 | 🌐 ECMA-408 | Lua Reference Manual | Julia Documentation | Scala Language Specification | Haskell 2010 Language Report | D Language Reference | Kotlin language specification | Groovy Language Documentation | Zig Language Reference | 🌐 IEEE 1178-1990, reports | 🌐 ISO/IEC 13211 | 🌐 HTML Specification | 🌐 WebAssembly Specification | 🌐 CSS Snapshot | |
| type of specification | specification | standard | specification | standard | standard | standard | specification | standard | specification | specification | standard | specification | specification | standard | specification | standard | standard | specification | specification | standard | standard | specification | specification | specification | specification | specification | specification | specification | specification | specification | standard | standard | standard | standard | standard |
| standardization body | ❎ | ISO/IEC | ❎ | ISO/IEC | Ecma, ISO | Ecma | ❎ | ISO/IEC | ❎ | ❎ | IEEE | ❎ | ❎ | ISO/IEC | ❎ | ISO/IEC | ISO | ❎ | ❎ | ISO | Ecma | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | ❎ | IEEE | ISO | WHATWG, W3C | W3C | W3C |
| specification body | Python Software Foundation | 🌐 | Oracle (Java Community Process) | 🌐 | 🌐 | 🌐 | VB.NET Team (Microsoft) | 🌐 | The PHP Foundation | Go Team (Google) | 🌐 | R Foundation | Apple | 🌐 | Rust Foundation | 🌐 | 🌐 | The Perl & Raku Foundation | F# Software Foundation | 🌐 | 🌐 | Lua.org | JuliaLang | Scala Center (EPFL) | Haskell Committee | TypeScript Team (Microsoft) | D Language Foundation | Kotlin Foundation | Apache Software Foundation | Zig Software Foundation | 🌐 | 🌐 | 🌐 | 🌐 | 🌐 |
| committee ID | (link) | WG14 | (link) | WG21 | TC49-TG2 | TC39 | WG3 | WG5 | WG9 | WG4 | TC52 | Groovy Project Management Committee | WG17 | WebAssembly Community Group | CSS Working Group | ||||||||||||||||||||
| governance model / charter | community | standardization body | corporate, community | standardization body | corporate | standardization body | corporate | standardization body | community | corporate | standardization body | community | corporate, community | ??? | community | standardization body | standardization body | community | corporate | standardization body | standardization body | community | community | community | community | community | community | corporate | community | community | standardization body | standardization body | standardization body | standardization body | standardization body |
| governance document link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | |||||||||
| BDFL | Guido van Rossum (until 2018) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Yukihiro Matsumoto (originally) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| membership policy | contributors | national bodies | organizations, individuals | national bodies | organizations | organizations | ??? | national bodies | contributors, organizations | n/a | n/a | contributors, individuals | open to contributors | national bodies | organizations, contributors | national bodies | national bodies | contributors | n/a | national bodies | organizations | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | contributors | national bodies | open | open | open |
| membership policy link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link, link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | ||||||||||||||||
| contributing guide | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | |||||||||||||
| IPR policy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| committee structure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| language first appeared | 1991 | 1972 | 1995 | 1985 | 2000 | 1995 | 2001 | 1974 | 1995 | 2009 | 1947 | 1993 | 2014 | 1995 | 2015 | 1957 | 1980 | 1987 | 2005 | 1959 | 2011 | 1993 | 2012 | 2004 | 1990 | 2012 | 2001 | 2011 | 2003 | 2016 | 1975 | 1972 | 1993 | 2017 | 1996 |
| most recent release date | 2024 | 2018 | ??? | 2020 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2024 | n/a | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2024 | 2010 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2013 | ??? | 2024 | ??? | ??? |
| version information | 3.12.4 | C17 | ??? | 20 | 13.0 | 15 | 17.9.2 | 2023 | 8.3.8 | 1.22.4 | n/a | 4.4.1 | 5.10.1 | 3.3.3 | 1.79.0 | 2023 | ??? | 5.40.0 | 8.0.0 | 2023 | 3.4.4 | 5.4.6 | 1.10.4 | 3.4.0 | 2010 | 5.4.2 | 2.108.0 | 2.0.0 | 4.0.21 | 0.13.0 | R7RS | ??? | continuous release ("Living Standard") | ??? | ??? |
| release cadence | once per year | once several years | twice per year | every 3 years | ??? | once per year | ??? | once several years | once per year | ??? | once per year??? | once per year??? | once per year??? | every six weeks | irregular | irregular??? | once per year??? | once per year??? | irregular??? | ??? | irregular??? | once per year??? | once per year??? | once per year??? | ??? | ??? | ???, link | ???, link | ??? | ??? | ??? | continuous release ("Living Standard") | ??? | ??? | |
| open-access | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ??? | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes |
| license | PSF License | ISO Standard | license | ISO Standard | Ecma Default Copyright Notice | Ecma Alternative Copyright Notice | ??? | ISO Standard | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 | ??? | ??? | GNU??? | Apache License 2.0??? | BSD-2-Clause??? | ??? | ISO Standard | ISO Standard | GPL??? | Apache License 2.0??? | ISO Standard | Ecma Copyright Notice | MIT License | MIT License | Apache License 2.0 | BSD??? | Apache License 2.0 | Boost Software License | Apache License 2.0 | Apache License 2.0 | MIT License | GPL for some, varies | ISO Standard | MIT??? | W3C Document License | ??? |
| syntax specification model | link | link | Sect. 6.2. of: link | link | link | link | Sect. 2 of: link | Sect. 10.1 of: link | link | link | informal | link | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| syntax specification | link | link | Appendix A of: link | link | link | parser: link | link | link | obsolete: link | link | Sect. 8 of: link | link | link | link | obsolete: link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | link | ||||||||||||
| semantics specification | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | prose+? | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | prose+? | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | ✏️ prose | prose+? | ✏️ prose | ⚙️ operational semantics | ✏️ prose |
| mechanised specification | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | partially? | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | partially? | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ✅ yes | ❌ no |
| decision-making approach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| public meetings | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ❌ no | ✅ yes? | ✅ yes? | ✅ yes? | ||
| notes available | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | informal: link | archive: link | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | archive: link | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ✅ yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| meeting cadence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| community involvement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| liasons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tools used |