Script vs Program

[Greg Jorgensen]

"Tim Hammerquist" <tim at degree.ath.cx> wrote:

> To my understanding, Netscape included "JavaScript" in its web clients,
> whereas MSIE, ever stubborn, included it's own modified but similar
> "JScript."  JavaScript has been standardized by ECMA.  The standard is
> available http://www.ecma.ch/ under the code ECMA-262.

JavaScript (formerly LiveScript) was the scripting language in Netscape's
LiveWire server, then they implemented it in the browser and client-side
scripting was born. Microsoft implemented JavaScript in IE (along with their
own Visual Basic-derived VBScript) back when they didn't have dominant
browser share and had to stay compatible with Netscape. Microsoft's language
implementation is compatible with Netscape's (and now Microsoft's
implementation complies more or less with the ECMA standard, whereas
Netscape's doesn't). Internet Explorer's Document Object Model (DOM) is not
compatible with Netscape's, and that is the main source of incompatibilities
at the client side. I think MS had to call their implementation JScript for
legal reasons; Netscape owns the name JavaScript (they changed the name from
LiveScript to associate LiveScript with Java, and JavaScript books are still
mixed up in the Java section at most bookstores). In the Microsoft/Active
Server Pages community it's usually understood that "JavaScript" refers to
the client-side language and JScript refers to the server side. They are the
same language, but with different object models. Internet Explorer
understands both <script language="javascript"> and <script
language="jscript">, but Netscape Navigator doesn't recognize the JScript
variant, so you rarely see that designation in a web page.

--
Greg Jorgensen
Deschooling Society
Portland, Oregon, USA
gregj at pobox.com