Fears that multiple implementations of Netscape Communications Corp’s JavaScript blend of the LiveScript scripting language and Java are getting out of step and leading to incompatible Web environments have prompted the creation of a JavaScript reference specification and JavaScript 1.1 implementation, now available to Netscape One developer licensees. Microsoft Corp and Borland International, which created their own versions of JavaScript – Microsoft integrating it with COM – are expected to bring their implementations into line soon. Netscape submitted its specification to the European Computer Manufacturers Association for standardization a couple of weeks back after the World Wide Web Consortium and Internet Engineering Task Force turned the thing down claiming not to be in the language business and also to be overworked. JavaSoft and SunSoft claim the lack of a specification has held up their promised support for JavaScript in their products. This has meant that Java environments such as the HotJava browser which runs on Sun’s shiny new JavaStation cannot support Web pages created with JavaScript. While Java is used by programmers to create new objects and applets, JavaScript was designed for use by HTML developers to script – or add interactive features – to the behavior of objects running on either the client or the server. The problem is that the rise of the intranet has pushed JavaScript into use as a full- blown client-server development product, not just a scripting language, Netscape says. The relationship between Java and JavaScript is described by Netscape as analogous to that between OCX OLE controls and Visual Basic. Netscape says it is now documenting the 300,000-odd Web pages it reckons use JavaScript to figure out differences their implementations contain so it can support them in future versions of JavaScript. The forthcoming Communicator suite will use a JavaScript 1.2 implementation.
