-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 During the course of the Online Banking thread, several people have used the terms "Java" and "JavaScript" interchangeably. I thought I'd take this opportunity to be a bit pedantic and point out that Java and JavaScript are not the same thing. They are syntactically similar languages (meaning that an "if" statement in Java looks a lot like an "if" statement in JavaScript, which incidentally looks a lot like and "if" in C), but that's about it. JavaScript is not a stripped down, "scripting" version of Java, as the name might imply. In fact, the standards track for the language refers to it as EMCAScript, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it that JavaScript does, so it hasn't really caught on. :-) Follow this link and read the "JavaScript and Java" section for more info: http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/js/client/jsguide/intro.htm
Generally, JavaScript support is built in to a browser like Mozilla or Konqueror, and is responsible for client side validation of input, and such annoyances as pop-up windows. There is also server side JavaScript, though I'm not sure how popular it is anymore. Java requires a Java Virtual Machine to run, such as those supplied by Sun, IBM, or Kaffe. Applets are Java programs that run within the JVM on the client side, making pretty interactive programs that run inside your browser. There are also servlets, which are Java programs that run within a JVM on the server side, but generally you won't know they're there. Java can also be used to create full-blown applications. Thank you for your attention. :-) Ian -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+b5oZSiY+RXI7JS4RAsV6AJ9w8ANB3P7FxjJXGSdiJQWPmQd8rwCfcFnl G5mDMaCJpNecAlXo3//gXro= =+R18 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
