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[Browser Kit] [Browsers]

JavaScript
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The most important thing to know about JavaScript is that it's not Java. It's not nearly as powerful nor as elegant; nor is it as hard to use.

Introduced by Netscape, JavaScript was designed to extend the browser's functionality, and has been used to craft such features as the floating tool bar on the front door of HotWired, the "ticker tape" app that co-opts URL pr eview bars, and Web-based clocks.

Although it was introduced as a quick-fix - to tide Netscape users over until the company's Java-compatible browser was ready for prime time (we're waiting) - JavaScript may have caused more trouble than it was worth.

Shortly after its introduction (with Navigator 2.0), some serious security holes were discovered. In its next beta version, Netscape gave users the option of turning JavaScript off, which solved one problem, but introduced another: publishers could no longer design anything that depended on the possibly disabled scripting language. And that wasn't the end of it. With the release of Navigator 3.0b, many publishers learned that their scripts from 2.0 no longer worked on the later versions.

Nonetheless, JavaScript is the playground du jour for Web developers. Chalk it up to ease of use. JavaScript is relatively simple and can be implemented (in basic forms anyway) by nonprogrammers. Plus the code is included in the HTML itself, so you can piece together how it works by simply viewing a document's source code.

And in a medium that lives and breathes by View Source, that's the ticket to popularity, however short-lived.



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