View the slides or check out the code samples!

You’ve probably already heard of ES2015 (aka ES6), the newest version of the ECMAScript specification, the spec on which JavaScript is based. Maybe you’re already using ES2015 features in Node or in a browser with transpilers like Babel or Traceur. But if you haven’t heard of ES2015 or you haven’t started using it yet, maybe you should!

The ECMAScript standard is constantly evolving, and browser vendors are always playing catch-up in actually implementing new features. This means that if you want to use the latest JavaScript features in the browser, you’ll need to transpile! But don’t worry, it isn’t so scary.

Babel makes transpilation easy with its many plugins and integrations with other tools. You probably already have a “build” step for your JavaScript where you use Grunt or Gulp to run tests, minify your code, and do a dozen other things. And if you currently write CoffeeScript or TypeScript (and are looking to switch), you’re already “compiling” your JavaScript.

At work we’re starting to get serious about putting ES2015 in production code. I prepared this slide deck and some basic examples for Constant Contact’s June “JavaScript Lunch” to build some hype - and hopefully get more of my coworkers interested in integrating ES2015 into their teams’ code.