Dr. Dobb's Sourcebook May/June 1997

How Does JavaScript Fit Into the Picture?

By now, you are probably wondering how JavaScript fits into the picture, or you may be wondering if you can really develop advanced database connectivity and management solutions with a technology that uses web scripting. Well, the first implementation of what we now know as JavaScript was originally called LiveScript.

Netscape developed LiveScript as a client-side solution to web scripting. The server-side implementation of LiveScript is the LiveWire object framework, which contains JavaScript objects specifically designed to be used with servers. These server-side objects allow web developers to maintain state information related to individual requests, clients, applications, and servers.

The LiveWire object framework also provides you with read and write access to files on the server and advanced database connectivity solutions. Using these server-side objects, you can work with files, maintain and validate lists of user names and passwords, and perform many other functions that would otherwise be handled by CGI scripts, server plug-ins, or server extension modules. But best of all, you can also use LiveWire objects to query, update, and maintain your Sybase, Informix, Oracle, or other ODBC-compliant database from the web.

-- W.R.S.