Active Scripting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Active Scripting (formerly known as ActiveX Scripting) is the technology used in Windows to implement component-based scripting support. It is based on COM (more precisely, OLE Automation) and allows installation of additional scripting engines in the form of COM modules.
Usual applications of Active Scripting include ASP server scripts, Internet Explorer, and Windows Script Host (WSH) scripts automating routine tasks, being the Windows counterpart of Unix shell scripts. The interfaces to Active Scripting engines are public, so any developer can create his own applications that are programmable in Active Scripting languages.
Initially Windows comes with VBScript and JScript engines preinstalled, but there are many free and commercial Active Scripting engines available. For example, one can add support for Perl scripting to Windows by installing ActivePerl engine, or HaskellScript engine for Haskell support.
Active Scripting is now being deprecated in favor of .NET, and no new versions of VBScript or JScript will be produced (the newer and incompatible languages Visual Basic .NET and JScript .NET are marketed as replacement for them). Originally, the .NET Framework had a scripting technology of its own, and the interfaces to that were also available via Active Scripting, allowing even .NET-unaware applications to be scripted using .NET languages. However, that entire technology was deprecated in version 2.0 of the Framework, leaving no clear upgrade path for applications desiring script support.
