Most seasoned HTML authors have been looking for a more versatile and flexible scripting language for some time. ActiveX controls and Java applets were fine, but often required long downloads and sometimes local installation. there could often be a delay while support files for components written in C++ or VB were installed. Scriptlets provide a way round all this, with small files that download quickly and perform relatively fast.
Many people are also coming to prefer the HTML metaphor to something like Microsoft PowerPoint, or other presentation software. In particular, Dynamic HTML provides lots of new ways of producing animated and exciting presentations. Scriptlets offer that extra something that finally makes the process of creating all kinds of pages so much easier where special custom effects are required. We just create a Scriptlet component to provide the effect we want, and can use it in a Web page, a PowerPoint presentation, a custom application, or even drop it into a Microsoft Word document. Scriptlets are HTML components that can fully exploit the power of Dynamic HTML, and offer an excellent way to put script reusability into practice.
It's difficult to say now if Scriptlets will be widely accepted by the programming community in the months to come. We've consciously used the word "programming" instead of "Web developing", because there is a good chance that Scriptlets will soon populate and animate the Windows 98 desktops and folders as well as appear in some new applications. As for the Internet, don't forget that today Microsoft's implementation of Dynamic HTML – on which Scriptlets are based – is supported only by IE 4, and only under Win32. This will change soon, maybe by the time you read this, but it's unlikely that Dynamic HTML will be supported by Netscape or other browsers in its present form. Like it or not, this will delay the acceptance of Scriptlets. On the other hand, we have the Active Desktop and Windows 98, which offer an integrated environment and put the Web browsing objects (and hence the browser metaphor) everywhere. It's likely that this, more than the Web side, will determine the success of Dynamic HTML and Scriptlets.
In any case, in this chapter, we've shown you what Scriptlets are, and what they can do. There's no doubt you'll agree that they are a compelling new technology, and one that can only make IE4 developer's lives that bit easier.