Exercise 10.9: Application server platforms in e-commerce

Question 9.
What are the similarities between JavaScript, VBScript and ZOPE’s DTML?

JavaScript and VBScript are very similar scripting languages. They are used on both the client-side and the server-side. VBScript is the default scripting language for ASP on the server-side, but JavaScript can be selected if required. JavaScript is the default client-side scripting language for browsers and has cross-platform support from all the popular browsers whilst client-side VBScript is supported in Internet Explorer only. If VBScript is used as the scripting language it is used where Internet Explorer is the only browser in use or is used on the server-side only.

Further differences are as follows:
There are different versions of the JavaScript language released with different versions of browsers so client-side code written for one version may not work in another.
JavaScript is case sensitive and VBScript isn't.
JavaScript uses the + character for concatenation and addition whereas VBScript uses the & character for concatenation and the + character for additon.
VBScript is a cut down version of Microsoft's Visual Basic language so users with experience with Visual Basic find VBScript easy to use.
JavaScript uses the ; and } characters and is influenced by the C syntax.

DTML stands for Document Template Markup Language and is a server-side scripting language for Zope. Commands are executed by Zope at the server, and the result of that execution is sent to the web browser. DTML is a templating facility which supports the creation of dynamic HTML and text. It is based on tags embedded in HTML that cause parts of the page to be replaced with "computed" content.

References
Basic DTML (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Books/ZopeBook/2_6Edition/DTML.stx
JavaScript vs. VB Script (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://uopteamc.tripod.com/javavb.html