An Introduction to JavaScript
A Brief History:
Netscape introduced a scripting language called "LiveScript" with the release of
Netscape Navigator version 2.0b1 in 1995. Their intention was to provide a set of commands
that would expand the capabilities of standard HTML. Later in that year
Netscape reached an agreement with Sun Corporation (the inventors of the Java language) to
rename the language to "JavaScript". Microsoft resisted JavaScript and
introduced its own scripting language for Internet Explorer called "VBScript".
User pressure forced Microsoft to make Internet Explorer compatible with JavaScript. This
eventually happened with the release of Internet Explorer version 3.0 All versions of
Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer since then have been able to make use of
JavaScript.
What is JavaScript?:
JavaScript is simple, structured code that can be imbedded into an HTML page. JavaScript commands are interpreted directly by the Browser itself without the need for a 'compiler'. Since the Browser actually 'runs' JavaScript the language is hardware independent. JavaScript Web pages written for IBM compatibles will work just as well on Macintosh systems. JavaScript is written into the HTML page using a simple text editor.
(NOTE: Some Web page Authoring software may not like your JavaScript commands. FrontPage98, for example, may interpret non-standard HTML as an error and automatically edit-out your JavaScript commands when saving. - The solution? - Use a basic text editor like MS Notepad.)