JavaScript is an interpreted programming or script language from Netscape. It is somewhat similar in capability to Microsoft’sVisual Basic, Sun’s Tcl, the UNIX-derived Perl, and IBM’sREXX. In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured and compiled languages such as C and C++.

Script languages generally take longer to process than compiled languages, but are very useful for shorter programs.

JavaScript is used in Web site development to do such things as:

• Automatically change a formatted date on a Web page
• Cause a linked-to page to appear in a popup window
• Cause text or a graphic image to change during a mouse rollover

JavaScript uses some of the same ideas found in Java, the compiled object-oriented programming derived from C++. JavaScript code can be imbedded in HTML pages and interpreted by the Web browser (or client). JavaScript can also be run at the server as in Microsoft’s Active Server Pages before the page is sent to the requestor. Both Microsoft and Netscape browsers support JavaScript, but sometimes in slightly different ways.