Programming languages and functions

The use of existing and new programming languages have extended the capabilities of the Web What follows is a basic guide to a group of the more common languages and functions in use on the Web today.

CGI, Active Server Pages: CGI (Common Gateway Interface) refers to a specification by which programs can communicate with a Web server. A CGI program, or script, is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification. A common use for a CGI script is to process an interactive form on a Web page. For example, you might fill out a form ordering a book through Interlibrary Loan. The script processes your information and sends it to a designated e-mail address in the Interlibrary Loan department.

Another type of dynamically generated Web page is called Active Server Pages (ASP). Developed by Microsoft, ASPs are HTML pages that include scripting and create interactive Web server applications. The scripts run on the server, rather than on the Web browser, to generate the HTML pages sent to browsers. Visual Basic and JScript (a subset of JavaScript) are often used for the scripting. ASPs end in the file extension.asp.

Java / Java Applets: Java is probably the most famous of the programming languages of the Web. Java is an object-oriented programming language similar to C++. Developed by Sun Microsystems, the aim of Java is to create programs that will be platform independent. The Java motto is, «Write once, run anywhere». A perfect Java program should work equally well on a PC, Macintosh, Unix, and so on, without any additional programming.

Web-based Java applications are usually in the form of Java applets. These are small Java programs called from an HTML page that can be downloaded from a Web server and run on a Java-compatible Web browser. A few examples include live newsfeeds, moving images with sound, calculators, charts and spreadsheets, and interactive visual displays.

JavaScript / JScript: JavaScript is a programming language created by Netscape Communications. Small programs written in this language are embedded within an HTML page, or called externally from the page, to enhance the page's the functionality. Examples of JavaScript include moving tickers, drop-down menus, real-time calendars and clocks, and mouse-over interactions. JScript is a similar language developed by Microsoft and works with the company's Internet Explorer browser.

VRML: VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) allows for the creation of three-dimensional worlds. These may be linked from Web pages and displayed with a VRML viewer. Netscape Communicator comes with the Cosmo viewer for experiencing these 3d-worlds.

XML: XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a Web page creation language that enables designers to create their own customized tags to provide functionality not available with HTML. XML is a language of data structure and exchange, and allows developers to separate form from content. At present, this language is little used as Web browsers are only beginning to support it.

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