By John Russell
JavaScript (aka ECMAScript) is a relatively easy way to make your website visually attractive to clients and other viewers by adding interactivity and dynamics to HTML pages. This page explains why one would use JavaScript in their HTML website design. JavaScript can also be used as a basis for writing utility programs that are platform independent. Programming concepts learned in JavaScript can be rolled over into Java or any modern object oriented language. This page also has links to JavaScript code repositories and references for those who prefer not to reinvent wheels. And finally for those who do prefer to roll their own there are my programming notes, some introductory tutorials, small projects, larger projects and form projects pages.
Why Use JavaScript
- Why should a webpage author use JavaScript in addition to HTML?
- Javascript adds user interactivity.
- Javascript enhances visual displays.
- Javascript allows client-side user form validation.
- Javascript provides more seamless integration with user plug-ins.
- Javascript allows access to some system information that HTML does not.
Language Design Issues
- Because JavaScript uses a high-end approach to security (leaving lapses in the domain of the browser) there are some applications that it is not appropriate for:
- JavaScript does not have user file access. You must use cut/paste techniques to input or save data.
- JavaScript does not have a print method. You must create an HTML page and use the browser menu to print.
- JavaScript cannot run programs on the host machine unless it is through browser plug-ins or associations allowed within the browser.
- JavaScript has no access to the user environment other than what the browser provides. Hence no access to the Windows registry is possible.
- JavaScript is definitely not a system programming language! Use Java or C++ for this type of activity.