What Kinds of Things Can You Do with JavaScript and JScript?

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What Kinds of Things Can You Do with JavaScript and JScript?

The relatively simple and straightforward HTML that helped to make the Internet explode upon the scene in the mid-1990s enables you to create Web pages that display static information. Over the years , HTML has lost much of its luster. Markup languages are great for formatting the display of text, but they lack the capability to interact with visitors . People surfing the Internet have come to expect and demand more than a static presentation of data from Web sites. If you want people to visit your Web site, to enjoy themselves , and to return again, then you have to find ways to make it more interesting. One of the best ways to do this is with JavaScript.

JavaScript provides your Web pages with the capability to do many exciting things. The following list provides a preview of what you will learn how to do with JavaScript in this book.

  • Display pop-up messages that display and collect information from visitors

  • Create rotating banners

  • Open new windows

  • Redirect people using older browsers to non-JavaScript HTML pages

  • Detect the browsers and plug-ins being used by people visiting your Web site

  • Validate forms and package their contents in an e-mail message

  • Perform simple animations such as rollovers

  • Exercise greater control over HTML frames and forms

  • Take control of the status bar and create scrolling messages

JavaScript can do a lot of different and exciting things. However, there is one thing that it cannot do. JavaScripts cannot run outside of the browser. This "limitation" helps make JavaScript more secure because users do not have to worry about somebody writing a JavaScript that might erase their hard drive or read their address book and extract private information.

NOTE

JavaScript, as covered in this book, focuses on client-side scripting. By client-side scripting I means scripts that execute within the browsers of people that visit your Web pages. A server-side version of JavaScript also exists.This version of JavaScript is designed to run on Web servers and is used by professional Web site developers to create scripts that provide dynamic content based on information received from visitors, as well as from information stored in a server-side database. A discussion of server-side JavaScript is beyond the scope of this book. From this point on, when I refer to JavaScript, I will be talking about client-side scripting.

Like JavaScript, JScript is limited by the constraints of its execution environment. When run by the WSH, JScripts don't have access to Web content. They don't work with HTML frames or forms. Instead, the WSH opens up a whole new execution environment that provides JScripts with the capability to access both local and network computer resources. In this context, JScript's primary reason for existing is to facilitate the development of scripts that automate tasks .

JScript provides an especially powerful tool for developing scripts that can automate repetitive and mundane tasks or tasks that are complicated and prone to error when performed manually. The following list provides a preview of what you will learn how to do with JScript in this book.

  • Create and configure desktop shortcuts

  • Generate text reports and log files

  • Manage the Windows file system by copying, moving, and deleting files and folders

  • Manage operating system resources such as Windows services, the registry, and event logs

  • Create and administer user accounts

  • Manage local and network resources such as network printers and disk drives

  • Interact with and control other applications

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Learn JavaScript In a Weekend
Learn JavaScript In a Weekend, Second Edition
ISBN: 159200086X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 84

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