Penguin
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JavaScript is a ScriptingLanguage? designed by BrendanEich? in 1995 for NetscapeNavigator version 2. It was originally called LiveScript? in beta versions, but was renamed and slightly redesigned for the final release as Netscape had licensed Java from Sun?.

JavaScript has a syntax similar but it has DynamicTyping and semi-colons are optional. There are many different implementations of !JavaScript. The EMCA? standard is called EMCAScript?, Netscape's version is branded as !JavaScript, Micrsoft?'s is called JScript? and the KDE people have one called KJS? (which is the base for the version in Apple's WebCore?). With all these versions implementing a slightly different version of !JavaScript it can be hard to program for. With the proper DOM implementations in Mozilla and InternetExplorer 6, it is much nicer to code in.

Like JavaApplet?s, !JavaScript is designed1? to be secure and thus has many security restrictions on what it can do. With NetscapeNavigator 4 and above and Mozilla you can use SignedJavaScript? to do such things as interacting with windows from other sites and reading this history.

There are many pages on the web about !JavaScript, but one of the best is Peter-Paul Koch's !JavaScript Section at http://www.xs4all.nl/~ppk/js/.

1? well, at least intended to be...