JavaScript is the most popular and widely used client-side Web programming language. JavaScript is not only easy to learn and use, but it's also a diverse language with extensive features for client-side use.

Netscape originally created JavaScript for scripting in the Netscape browser. Microsoft then developed its version known as JScript. JavaScript and JScript are similar, although not identical, and JavaScript is much more widely used.

JavaScript is a full-featured scripting language that works well as a way to learn basic Web programming techniques. You'll be using JavaScript through the rest of this course to illustrate programming concepts.

The main advantages of JavaScript are as follows:

• Widespread use
• Widespread availability
• It's supported in most widely used browsers, such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera

You can do the following with JavaScript:

• Validate the data collected with HTML forms.
• Make dynamic changes to HTML pages.
• Use events to trigger dynamic changes such as image rollovers.
• Perform calculations.
• Display date and time on a page.
• Get user input through alert boxes and prompt dialogs, and respond in real-time.

And that's just for starters!

In the meantime, if you'd like more information on JavaScript, see:

• JavaScript Tutorial
• Javascript.com
• JavaScript Central

Moving On

In this lesson, you learned how to add basic Web programming skills to your Web toolkit to create dynamic effects and add interactivity to HTML pages. You found out about the key features of the major Web scripting and programming languages, such as JavaScript. In Lesson 2, you'll learn some basic programming terminology. In addition, you'll learn how to add JavaScript to HTML pages to create interactivity, do calculations, and add strings of text together.

Before you move on, don't forget to do the assignment and take the quiz. In addition, visit the Message Board to introduce yourself to your fellow students and find out what they're up to.