VBScript was IE only, because VBScript didn't compile to JavaScript. Dart compiles to JavaScript and runs on IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera. VBScript didn't have a specification accepted by any standards organizations, Dart is ratified as ECMA 408. VBScript is not open source, Dart is.
The fact that Dart has been used in production years before any VM in a browser should show how different they are.
Not all language features can be represented in JavaScript.
Besides, all the languages that compile to JavaScript just add complexity layers to the already complex model of HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
And I bet there is a VbScript to JavaScript somewhere out there.
> Dart is ratified as ECMA 408. VBScript is not open source, Dart is.
Standards by themselves don't foster adoption.
Eiffel, Ada, Modula-2, Extended Pascal, Common Lisp, Smalltalk, ... have ISO/ANSI standards.
In the 60 - 90's being open source wasn't a requirement for multiple implementations for programming languages.
> Not all language features can be represented in JavaScript.
I could not name one (except the dart:io stuff, which is not supported in the JS world). Could you please elaborate?
> Besides, all the languages that compile to JavaScript just add complexity layers to the already complex model of HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
I've found the same, but Dart is a surprising exception. If you are not using any fancy framework (e.g. Angular.Dart), you will be just fine with the close-to-the-browser approach of the language and APIs.
They can be represented in JS, but not natively.
Does it? Because HTML/CSS/JS development is a bit of mess to begin with (and complexity rises when you start adding micro-frameworks into the mix - and you kinda have to if your codebase gets to be a decent size). I've done some Dart web-development, and it's cleaner and nicer.