Active Scripting is a component-based scripting language used in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It relies on OLE automation and is popular for lightweight applications like web pages. It has been replaced by .NET programming platforms and can be used for functions such as changing the appearance of the menu, validating form entry, and calculations. Javascript is another popular scripting language used in web pages. However, scripting languages can raise security issues, and browser developers have added “sandbox” functionality to limit what scripts can do.
Active Scripting is a Microsoft Windows operating system version of a component-based scripting language. It relies on OLE automation, which is a mechanism that allows applications to interact with other applications, often passing data between them. Scripts have been used in web pages and software programs.
A script is an interpreted language. An application written in a scripting language is not compiled and is translated as it runs. In turn, it won’t run as fast as a compiled application, but it may be easier to develop. Therefore, scripts are more popular for lightweight applications, such as web pages.
Active Scripting, also known as ActiveX scripting, was commonly used in Microsoft web application technology known as Active Server Pages (ASP). Microsoft supported the technology in the Internet Explorer 3 (IE3) browser in 1996 and its Internet Information Services (IIS) web server platform, also in 1996. In Microsoft technology, it has been used to automate Microsoft Office applications, such as Excel, where it was known as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Active Scripting is no longer updated; it has been replaced by the .NET programming platforms.
Scripts can be used for functions such as changing the appearance of the menu based on user actions, validating form entry, and calculations. When scripts are run on the client side, such as in a browser, they can prevent a trip to the server, thus improving the user experience because the response to user actions can be faster. For example, when a form entry is validated on a web page, the user will immediately be notified that, for example, they have not entered a required field. If the validation happened on the server, the web page will send the incomplete information, a program on the server will validate the entry, find that the information is missing, and then send a response to the browser.
Javascript is another popular scripting language that is also often used in web pages. It can be confused with a popular web programming language known as Java. While both are based on the C programming language, they are two different languages. The Javascript language is interpreted and usually Java is compiled.
Scripting languages can raise security issues. The code is human-readable, so experienced web users can view it and find information that should be kept secure. An example is a situation where the script references the database of a web application. This information can allow malicious users to gain access to this resource.
The scripts can also be used maliciously to steal user information, such as a user’s login name and password to a banking website. To combat this, browser developers have added “sandbox” functionality that limits what the script is allowed to do. Another security concept, “website of origin”, does not allow the use of information used on one site on another site. Despite these security efforts, many users choose to disable Active Scripting or Javascript in their browsers.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
