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Web Technology Comparative Analysis
Ms. Patricia Anderson
Web Programming – WEB420
July 24, 2004
Learning Team – A
Dana Hones, Shadd Sauers, Gabriel Hare
Gary Ervin, Mathew Robano, Marc Winner
Wayne Madhlangobe
Abstract
Interactive HTML business web sites are mandatory to attract customers and multiple programming languages are available for creating useful information gathering web pages. JavaScript, VBScript, Perl, Java, Active X and JavaBeans were developed with web site usefulness in mind. ... In this project, Learning Team “A” (LTA) gathered information, evaluated and conducted a comparison / contrast of the following web programming languages: JavaScript, VBScript, Perl, Java, ActiveX, and JavaBeans. ... After each language analysis was completed, a comparison and contrast of the following pairs of languages was conducted: JavaScript versus VBScript; Perl versus Java; and Active X versus JavaBeans. ... In University of Phoenix’s WEB/420, the primary focus was on JavaScript, so that is where LTA started. ... Even though JavaScript is confined to a Web browser, it is still very powerful. Almost any element of the browser and the Web page can be controlled and manipulated with JavaScript. ... JavaScript was created to make Netscape Navigators newly added support for Java applets more accessible to non-Java programmers and web designers, a powerful scripting language too often described as "simple." Plagued in its early days by security flaws, crippled by a lack of powerful development tools such as integrated development environments, debuggers, and meaningful error messages, extended to contexts that range far beyond the initial intent of its designers, and saddled with the legacy of incompatible browser object models, JavaScript has suffered for years at the hands of those who would criticize it for being too unlike Java, or too much like Perl, or too often used by well-meaning but otherwise ignorant web designers, shoehorned into pages without thought of future compatibility, intelligent abstraction, or code reuse.
Yet it is by far the most popular language on the Web, the foundation for the next generation of dynamic client-side Web applications, a solid core with amazing potential and power. ... Before JavaScript, programming dynamic content in a Web page could only be accomplished in Java, with everything happening in a square box. These Java programs, called applets, had no way of interacting with other elements on a Web page either. ... These strengths mean that JavaScript can be easily and quickly used to extend HTML pages already on the Web. ... Because the World Wide Web, by its very nature, is platform-independent, JavaScript programs created for one browser are not tied to any specific hardware platform or operating system. ... Because the source code of JavaScript script presently must be included as part of the HTML source code for a document, there is no way to protect code from being copied and reused by people who view web pages. ... Most people who have accessed the Internet lately have had the lovely experience of an out-of-control pop-up window that seem to take over the screen, with a new one opening as another is closed, or web pages that will not allow the use of the "back" button to go back to a previous page. ... In reality, JavaScript can only control elements of a Web document, and write small files called "cookies" to the users hard drive in a special "cookies folder".
It is up to web page maintainers to educate people on the reality that JavaScript is not a bad thing, and is really quite useful. ... While developers suites like Microsoft’s Visual Studio contains JavaScript debugging components, most web developers that employ JavaScript use a common text editor like Notepad. ... ” Most popular Web browsers support JavaScript directly, making it perfect for enhancing web pages. ... While it doesnt offer the robust functionality of Visual Basic, it does provide a powerful, easy to learn tool that can be used to add interaction to web pages. ... The web browser receives scripts along with the rest of the web document. ... The initial target audience was web developers so system administrators saw no need to get involved since it was used in Web Development. ... com, 2004)
Primary Use
VBScript was primarily released to facilitate client-side scripting in web pages. ... (O’Reilly, 2003)
Weaknesses
Currently, Internet Explorer is the only Web browser that supports VBScript directly, which can pose a problem for those viewing a page via Netscape. ... (Thurrott, 1999)
Conclusion
VBScript as a tool for providing dynamic content to a web document is robust. ... Combined with scriptwriting tools such as ActiveX Control Pad one could make short work of adding VB script to web documents. ... VBScript is a robust web scripting language that provides users with a dynamic web experience. ... VBScript
The two main client-side scripting languages being utilized in web development today are VBScript and JavaScript, but which is better? ... There are two common scripting methods used in the development of web pages: client-side and server-side. With client-side scripting, the scripts are processed by the individual web browser, on the client side. ... There are literally millions of Visual Basic Developers who can instantly become web developers without much of a learning curve. ...
Development Tools
While simple text editors are often used to add scripting to a web page, there are certainly more simple methods of performing the same task. ... While developers suites like Microsoft’s Visual Studio contains JavaScript debugging components, most web developers that employ JavaScript use a common text editor like Notepad. ... Each provides a unique set of tools that provide users with a dynamic experience when interacting with a web page. ... The technology was licensed by IBM, Symantec, Inprise and Microsoft. ... It is mostly used for server interaction web sites that allow a multi communication conduit between the user and the server. ... It can also be used to build a small application module or applet for use as part of a Web page. Applets make it possible for a Web page user to interact with the page. ... Some of Perl’s main uses are:
CGI, or Common Gateway Interface, scripts for dynamic Web pages. ...
Strengths/Weaknesses
Perl’s strengths include:
Widely used
Large user base
Excellent basic introduction
Very good references available
Unix-centric, but available for Windows
Faster than shell scripts
Good support for web development
Good database connectivity
Good security support
A very "loose", flexible language
Perl’s weaknesses include:
A very "loose", flexible language
Code can be hard to read
Code can be hard to maintain
Just a scripting language
Is not always fast. ...
Development tools
In doing a web search on Perl development tools one will find literally hundreds of development tools both commercial and shareware for Perl programming. ... Embracing both Java and OLE object technology, ActiveX provides promising new Internet and intranet capabilities while extending and capitalizing upon existing technologies.
History
COM-based technologies, the broad set of technologies that are built using COM, were originally given the label "OLE” (Object Linking and Embedding), which defined the compound documents technology from which the acronym was derived. ... When the term was first introduced, it was used to refer to technologies that were somehow associated with the Internet and the World Wide Web, and the label still retains much of that flavor. ...
Primary Use
The ActiveX technologies are extremely powerful and have the potential to enable Web-based applications to do things that were previously impossible. Using ActiveX technology in combination with HTML, the software developer can develop truly interactive, interesting applications using the Web browser as the operating environment. ... Developers can then compile these controls to generate different binaries and put these on a Web site. ... (MSDN, 2004)
Strengths
ActiveX is most effectively used in a homogeneous environment where the platforms that access a particular web applet are controlled and standardized. ...
Language Independence: ActiveX objects also have one additional advantage: They can be written in any language and can be called from any other language
Weaknesses
While Microsoft has provided avenues for ActiveX to be used in broader heterogeneous Web environment this is not where their true strength lays. ... In a comparative association to Java, ActiveX controls are indeed large. ... The following image displays tools that are used to create various components of ActiveX technology. ... It provides a viable solution to embedded interoperability of web documents. ... Embracing both Java and OLE object technology, ActiveX provides promising new Internet and intranet capabilities while extending and capitalizing upon existing technologies. ... Web Application without JavaBeans (Schaler, 2002). ... Web programming maintenance can get very difficult. ... - Web Application with JavaBeans (Schaler, 2002).
As presented in the second illustration, JavaBeans strengths lie in the allowing it to control the business logic within web programming. Allowing other web programming applications to focus on their functions (as illustrated above, JSP for presentation and Servlets to act as the process controller) allows web programmers can isolate maintenance functions within applications. ...
Conclusion
In summary, JavaBeans is a ‘bolt-on’ application code that works well with other web programming applications. ... " These containers include Web browsers and other document viewers.
JavaBeans is an integration technology -- a component framework that allows component objects (called beans) embedded within documents to communicate with one another and within the framework. This means that components written to the JavaBeans specification will be able to interact in Web browsers and other environments that support JavaBeans. ... This integration will take place via Microsofts Web browser, Internet Explorer. ... The Active Server is a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to be provided with Microsofts Web server, Internet Information Server 3. ... ActiveX essentially extends Microsofts existing Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and Component Object Model (COM) technologies to the Web. ... They are embedded in ActiveX documents such as Web pages in the same way that Beans are embedded in JavaBeans documents. ... The order-entry application illustrates ways to activate the Internet with Microsoft technology today.
Approximate Word count = 8221
Approximate Pages = 32.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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