Web Security, Privacy & Commerce, 2nd Edition

JavaScript

Invented by Brendan Eich and originally called LiveScript, JavaScript is a programming language that Netscape developed to add forms validation, other local calculations, and some forms of interaction to web browsers. JavaScript programs reside in HTML files, usually surrounded by <script> tags (so that they will be recognized by JavaScript-enabled browsers) and HTML comment tags (so that they will be ignored by browsers that do not understand JavaScript).

Full JavaScript allows HTML files to command the browser. JavaScript programs create new windows, fill out fields in forms, jump to new URLs, process image maps locally, change the HTML content of the page itself, compute mathematical results, and perform many other functions. JavaScript can also modify the appearance of web browsers, making visual elements of the web browser appear or disappear dynamically. JavaScript makes messages appear in the status line of web browsers—some of the earliest JavaScript applications displayed moving banners across the web browser’s status line. Early versions of JavaScript could even reprogram a browser’s history, although this feature has now been disabled. (It was abused by pornographic web sites.)

A web page can contain multiple JavaScript sections, called scripts . The scripts are programmed to run when the web page loads, when a button or link on the page is touched or clicked with the mouse, or after a certain amount of time has passed. Scripts can also access elements on the ...