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JavaScript for Automation was released some years ago, but I am having a hard time finding information about its current support status in macOS. It is not encouraging that the JavaScript for Automation Release Notes page starts with the statement

Important: This document is no longer being updated. For the latest information about Apple SDKs, visit the documentation website.

but if you click the link and search for "JXA" in the Apple Developer Documentation, you get 0 results.

Is JXA still supported by Apple? Does it have a future in macOS?

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Is JXA still supported by Apple? Does it have a future in macOS?

JXA is still supported. In macOS Catalina, JavaScript is still an option for automation. It's also present in Big Sur. More importantly, there's been no indication or statement regarding it being deprecated † or removed as a feature from Apple.

Does it have a future in macOS?

In all practicality, only Apple can answer this. However, IMHO, it's likely to continue for a long time. JavaScript is a very popular and widespread language meaning there's lots of resources available. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey for 2020, it was the top in programming, scripting and markdown languages (eighth year in a row). It would be short sighted to kill it from AppleScript.

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Regarding the documentation, (again, IMHO), there's no need to update it. What was linked there was an intro and nothing has changed since it's introduction. Anything related to JavaScript is already well taken care of with the countless resources available.

† There's a distinction between being deprecated and dead. Deprecated being "no further development but still supported" while "dead" means it's gone.

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  • JavaScript is not going away; however, JavaScript is separate from AppleScript. From that perspective, I don't think the statement "it would be shortsighted to kill it from AppleScript" makes sense. (Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to tease apart the issues.) As far as I understand it, JS for automation on macOS requires Apple to support interacting with macOS events & objects from JS. That's the essential part for using JS to interact with software & services, and only Apple can implement it. Therefore, the lack of recent activity by Apple leaves some questions in one's mind.
    – mhucka
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:25
  • JS for automation on macOS requires Apple to support interacting with macOS events & objects from JS. - that's the part that I'm referring to when I say "Apple killing it would be short sighted;" the support.
    – Allan
    Commented Oct 26, 2020 at 14:54

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