The merits of using JavaScript are −
· Less server interaction − You can validate user input before sending the page off to the server. This saves server traffic, which means less load on your server.
· Immediate feedback to the visitors − They don't have to wait for a page reload to see if they have forgotten to enter something.
· Increased interactivity − You can create interfaces that react when the user hovers over them with a mouse or activates them via the keyboard.
· Richer interfaces − You can use JavaScript to include such items as drag-and-drop components and sliders to give a Rich Interface to your site visitors.
We cannot treat JavaScript as a full-fledged programming language. It lacks the following important features −
· Client-side JavaScript does not allow the reading or writing of files. This has been kept for security reason.
· JavaScript cannot be used for networking applications because there is no such support available.
· JavaScript doesn't have any multi-threading or multiprocessor capabilities.
Once again, JavaScript is a lightweight, interpreted programming language that allows you to build interactivity into otherwise static HTML pages.
One of major strengths of JavaScript is that it does not require expensive development tools. You can start with a simple text editor such as Notepad. Since it is an interpreted language inside the context of a web browser, you don't even need to buy a compiler.
To make our life simpler, various vendors have come up with very nice JavaScript editing tools. Some of them are listed here −
· Microsoft FrontPage − Microsoft has developed a popular HTML editor called FrontPage. FrontPage also provides web developers with a number of JavaScript tools to assist in the creation of interactive websites.
· Macromedia Dreamweaver MX − Macromedia Dreamweaver MX is a very popular HTML and JavaScript editor in the professional web development crowd. It provides several handy prebuilt JavaScript components, integrates well with databases, and conforms to new standards such as XHTML and XML.
· Macromedia HomeSite 5 − HomeSite 5 is a well-liked HTML and JavaScript editor from Macromedia that can be used to manage personal websites effectively.
The ECMAScript Edition 5 standard will be the first update to be released in over four years. JavaScript 2.0 conforms to Edition 5 of the ECMAScript standard, and the difference between the two is extremely minor.
The specification for JavaScript 2.0 can be found on the following site: http://www.ecmascript.org/
Today, Netscape's JavaScript and Microsoft's JScript conform to the ECMAScript standard, although both the languages still support the features that are not a part of the standard.