What characters are valid for JavaScript variable names?

Question

Which characters can be used for naming a JavaScript variable?

I want to create a small \"extension library\" for my non-JavaScript users here at work (who all seem

Answer 1

From the ECMAScript specification in section 7.6 Identifier Names and Identifiers, a valid identifier is defined as:

Identifier :: 
    IdentifierName but not ReservedWord

IdentifierName :: 
    IdentifierStart 
    IdentifierName IdentifierPart 

IdentifierStart :: 
    UnicodeLetter 
    $ 
    _ 
    \ UnicodeEscapeSequence 

IdentifierPart :: 
    IdentifierStart 
    UnicodeCombiningMark 
    UnicodeDigit 
    UnicodeConnectorPunctuation 
    \ UnicodeEscapeSequence 

UnicodeLetter 
    any character in the Unicode categories “Uppercase letter (Lu)”, “Lowercase letter (Ll)”, “Titlecase letter (Lt)”, 
    “Modifier letter (Lm)”, “Other letter (Lo)”, or “Letter number (Nl)”. 

UnicodeCombiningMark 
    any character in the Unicode categories “Non-spacing mark (Mn)” or “Combining spacing mark (Mc)” 

UnicodeDigit 
    any character in the Unicode category “Decimal number (Nd)” 

UnicodeConnectorPunctuation 
    any character in the Unicode category “Connector punctuation (Pc)” 

UnicodeEscapeSequence 
    see 7.8.4. 

HexDigit :: one of 
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f A B C D E F

which creates a lot of opportunities for naming variables and also in golfing. Let's try some examples.

A valid identifier could start with either a UnicodeLetter, $, _, or \ UnicodeEscapeSequence. A unicode letter is any character from these categories (see all categories):

• Uppercase letter (Lu)
• Lowercase letter (Ll)
• Titlecase letter (Lt)
• Modifier letter (Lm)
• Other letter (Lo)
• Letter number (Nl)

This alone accounts for some crazy possibilities - working examples. If it doesn't work in all browsers, then call it a bug, cause it should.

var ᾩ = "something";
var ĦĔĽĻŎ = "hello";
var 〱〱〱〱 = "less than? wtf";
var जावास्क्रिप्ट = "javascript"; // ok that's JavaScript in hindi
var KingGeorgeⅦ = "Roman numerals, awesome!";