JavaScript and CGI: General questions

[Joel Hammer]

There would not be a lot of processing going on, just reformatting some input
forms. The amount of data that would be transferred is minimal. NO IMAGES.

I am really impressed by the lack of standardization on the part of
javascript implementations.  And, I am impressed that users can do
things like turn off javascript and popup menus, which will defeat
javascript. I can't see a customer having the patience to figure out why
my javascript won't run on his computer.  Aside from Internet Explorer,
no two versions of any other browser I have tried have worked the same,
if they have worked at all.  I mean, the typeof command seems to be
killing netscape and the book claims that netscape originated that
thang. A very attractive characteristic of Internet Explorer seems to be
that there isn't much the user can do to (mis)configure it. I know that
the lack of configurability bothers some people, but the advantages become
obvious right away when you start writing javascript. So, MS delivers
on the idea of a mass market, and they will reap the big bucks. That's
proves the universe is just.

So, I guess the message is, do everything possible on the server side,
and keep the javascript short and very compatible.

I a sorry to hear that PHP has shot itself in the foot with progress. That's
typical. Who ever thought of leaving a good idea alone. Anyway, this means I
can keep my books on PERL and CGI programming with PERL!

Joel


otOn Sun, Jul 21, 2002 at 12:51:53PM -0700, Kevin O'Gorman wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 21, 2002 at 11:22:50AM -0700, Ken Moffat wrote:
> > Joel Hammer wrote:
> > > This sounds interesting.
> > > Will it make it impossible/difficult for people to steal your web site
> > > content by just downloading the html and using it locally? It sounds like it
> > > will.
> > > Joel
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > Yes, the code is generated by php, so all the browser sees is the 
> > resulting output, which is not your source.
> > 
> > Python is also excellent, as noted by Richard. Just depends on where you 
> > are comfortable.
> > 
> > -- 
> > Ken Moffat
> 
> Seems to me there's a bit of confusion here.  The use of Javascript is
> orthogonal to the use of Python for sure, and maybe PHP as well.  That's
> because Javascript is executed by your browser and allows things to happen
> there without further interaction (and delays) over the internet.  Python
> for instance, is perfectly capable of emitting Javascript mixed in the
> HTML; probably PHP can do this is as well.  They can be used together
> because they do very different things, and do them at different places.
> 
> This is the disctinction between server-side and client-side programming.
> Python is server-side, and your browser sees only what the Python program
> outputs (HTML, XML, Javascript, binary images; whatever) and not the Python
> source.  Client-side things like Javascript and Java applets have to be
> downloaded for them to execute on the browser.  With Java, bytecodes are
> downloaded, not the source, so it's moderately secure (but can be dis-
> assembled to recover something very like the source).  With Javascript,
> the source itself is downloaded, which is why you can enable/disable
> Javascript at the browser.  You'll note that you cannot disable Python
> or PHP, because they don't execute on your machine but at the server.
> 
> If you have a task you want done _at the browser_ you cannot expect to
> satisfy the need with a server-side programming tool.  Javascript is
> therefore going to be around for a while.
> 
> ++ kevin
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Kevin O'Gorman  (805) 650-6274  mailto:kevin at kosmanor.com
> Permanent e-mail forwarder:  mailto:Kevin.O'Gorman.64 at Alum.Dartmouth.org
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> 
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