Introduction

JavaScript is a scripting language widely used for client-side web development. It was the originating dialect of the ECMAScript standard. It is a dynamic, weakly typed, prototype-based language with first-class functions. JavaScript was influenced by many languages and was designed to look like Java, but be easier for non-programmers to work with.

"JavaScript" is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. It was used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape Communications and current entities such as the Mozilla Foundation.

Although best known for its use in websites (as client-side JavaScript), JavaScript is also used to enable scripting access to objects embedded in other applications (see below).

JavaScript, despite the name, is essentially unrelated to the Java programming language, although both have the common C syntax, and JavaScript copies many Java names and naming conventions. The language's name is the result of a co-marketing deal between Netscape and Sun, in exchange for Netscape bundling Sun's Java runtime with their then-dominant browser. The key design principles within JavaScript are inherited from the self and Scheme programming languages.

What's the difference between JavaScript and Java?

Actually, the 2 languages have almost nothing in common except for the name. Although Java is technically an interpreted programming language, it is coded in a similar fashion to C++, with separate header and class files, compiled together prior to execution. It is powerfull enough to write major applications and insert them in a web page as a special object called an "applet." Java has been generating a lot of excitement because of its unique ability to run the same program on IBM, Mac, and UNIX computers. Java is not considered an easy-to-use language for non-programmers.

JavaScript is much simpler to use than Java. With JavaScript, if I want check a form for errors; I just type an if-then statement at the top of my page. No compiling, no applets, just a simple sequence.