JavaScript is a compact, cross-platform, object-oriented scripting language developed by Netscape that enables the creation of interactive web pages. A JavaScript enabled browser, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, interprets JavaScript statements embedded in an HTML page. This enables you to create server-based applications similar to Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs.

The JavaScript language resembles Java in that it supports most of Java’s expression and basic control-flow constructs. However, there are some fundamental differences between Java and JavaScript. JavaScript lacks Java’s static typing and strong type checking and supports a smaller number of data types. For more information about JavaScript, we recommend the following Web page: http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6408-10/.