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Some time ago JavaScript was heralded as the new do everything code for the Internet with client end capabilitiy in which browsers allow people to fill in forms and send the content off somewhere to more powerful server end applications. Almost everyone associates JavaScript with those slightly slow client end scripts; most people think that that is all JavaScript does. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most widespread server end implementation script in the world In the late 1990s, JavaScript was in danger of fragementation when several private companies began to attempt to create their own flavors. To prevent atomization of this language the ECMA* organized a successful standardization effort in 1996 which resulted in a stable core JavaScript known as ECMAScript. This has become accepted as ISO standard 16262. This product has gone through several editions accompanied by enhancements. It is now in its 4th edition, known as E4X which has added XML support for ECMAScript. The stability created by this standardization process has lowered the risk and therefore encouraged the creation of extensions to the language including special functions and so-called primitives. If the extension developers maintain compatibility with the core then such extensions will normally work with ECAMScript (JavaScript) and this provides a means whereby different extensions can communicate. This has important marketing and maintenance implications. Flavors or dialects of ECMAScript including JScript and subsets of VB Script work with most browsers and in particular Miscrosoft® Internet Explorer, Mozilla and its derivatives such as FireFox®, Opera and Konqueror. Some of the major developments in ECMAScript applications are in the form of extensions for server end applications. Advanced audio-visual scripts MacroMedia® Flash is coded in Action Script, an ECMAScript extension. This has been so successful that it is estimated that the Flash platform operates on over 500 million Internet user computers. MacroMedia®'s ECMAScript extension is the world leader in audio visual content design and implementation. Advanced process scripts In terms of raw processing power, the ability to create complex business online processing systems applying algorithms, sophisticated expert systems, optimization and simulation the best solution can be found in yet another ECMAScript extension. DScript®, created by Vanguard® Software is a server end powerhouse for building sophisticated online business applications. Advanced applications module libraries One of the most extensive server end libraries for online business applications modules has been built up by the Systems Engineering Economics Lab and Navatec.Com. Navatec.Com use these modules known as Seel-Telesis®-Scripts to support short design-to-implementation cycles in their online business applications services. Seel-Telesis®-Scripts are written entirely in DScript®, ECMAScript (JavaScript) and MacroMedia® Action Script and cover the critical needs for information processing in most horizontal and vertical applications. Seel-Telesis®-Scripts were originally developed to be sold as modules but then it was decided to keep them as a strategic resource to help sustain Navatec's performance in the increasingly severe competition in the online business applications service market. The question of speed One of a important advantages of server end JavaScript is speed of processing. Server end JavaScript executes at roughly 100 times the speed of client end JavaScript. In spite of the distance between a client and a remote server, the increase in telecommunications link bandwidths and broadband results in a delivery of the speed advantage directly to the client end. For the user a server end Java Script application appears to operate at the same speed as a Windows application. VBScript? Although Microsoft® VB Script is often cited as an alternative to JavaScript, the core operational code which can work at browser and server end is an almost exact copy of JavaScript with some minor syntactical variations; its broad adoption reflects a combination of Microsoft®'s marketing power and the viability of the JavaScript model. On the other hand VB Script does not have the powerful scripting ability of ECMAScript extensions such as MacroMedia® Action Script nor Vanguard® DScript Business implications According to Navatec ECMAScript-based development is preferred because of its very wide adoption. The specific tools and extensions used boil down to two factors:
Here is your answer JavaScript has become a pervasive presence throughout the Internet at the server end and the client end. It is a vital resource and yet for many Internet users its fundamental role is often not fully understood. But next time, if someone asks, "Whatever happened to JavaScript?" then since they asked the question they might be surprised if you tell them that it dominates online server end processing; your answer could be summarised by stating that, "It's hiding behind the server!" ;-) Update Note: To review the rapid mid-2006 advances in the spreading use of JavaScript see: "AJAX, Adobe’s Flex 2 & Navatec’s VCT" *ECMA - European Computer Manufacturers Association |
