Creating interactive web content is a primary goal for many web developers and is achieved through a variety of means. Web browsers have the capability to add dynamic content through the use of video clips, sounds, and downloadable programs. Although other interactive methodologies are also capable of presenting compelling content, scripting languages offer significant advantages to the developer who is trying to create interactive web pages. For our purposes, we define a scripting language as any set of program instructions that can be embedded in an HTML page and executed by a browser.
The most significant advantage of scripting languages is their ease of use. Because these languages are contained directly in an HTML page and created in plain ASCII text, they are simple to implement and change. The developer does not have to endure the trials of the compilation and debugging process. Scripting languages are sufficient for most of the fundamental interactive functions required by a web site, such as data validation, and can easily provide interactive experiences, such as games. Currently two scripting languages are predominant: JavaScript and VBScript.