Java, JavaScript, ActiveScript, VBScript and JScript

Gee!  We can't blame the Java versus Javascript name confusion on Microsoft.

These cause more of the "similar name but different program" confusions that occur all too frequently. [See also Messenger and Messenger and Other Confusing Program Names]

Java is the older of the two.  Java was developed at Sun Microsystems in 1991, long before the World Wide Web took off.

Java is actually a full-fledged programming system that was designed so that programs could be easily written on one operating system (say, Linux) and then used with few, if any, changes on other operating systems (such as, Windows, Mac and Solaris).

JavaScript, originally called LiveScript, first appeared in the Netscape browser in 1995.  It was a creation designed to be integrated into the web browser, in order to give the browser the ability to handle programming embedded in web pages (assuming it is JavaScript programming).

We can't blame the JavaScript name on Netscape alone, as Netscape and Sun Microsystems worked together on the name!

ActiveScript is Microsoft's name for its interpretation of JavaScript, as implemented in Internet Explorer.

VBScript is a Microsoft creation based on Visual Basic.  It is unique to Internet Explorer -- it doesn't run on anything except IE.  Fortunately, we do not see much VBScript any more.

JScript is Microsoft's name for its JavaScript-compatible language, which was released in 1996 with IE 3.0.  It is not JavaScript, it just performs like it.

What about those "Javascript errors" that we see occasionally?  Although they imply that the web site's programmer made an error in the code, they usually mean that he used a JavaScript or JScript function that is not in your computer's web browser.  Updating to a later version of IE (everyone should be running IE 6) will probably solve the issue.  By the way, I've never seen that message with Firefox!

Link to this page — just add this code to your web page!

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Copyright © 2005-2006 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.