I’m deeply into sever-side Javascript now, and it is so different that it is deceptive to call it Javascript. The two versions are not interchangeable, and once again, it is a language full of patched-up errors caused by bad planning. It also uses retard counting (which starts at 0). And sure enough, even the best text available descends into “IBM-speak” after Chapter 4. IBM-speak is the inexact lingo used by third-rate authors and instructors. Examples.“This variable holds zero or any other number.”
----- Is 675 one number or three numbers?
“A Global.asa is an optional file that must be stored in the root directory.”
----- If it is optional, why must it be stored?
“You can create Application variables.”
----- Does “can” mean it is a merely a possibility, that there are alternatives?
This ambiguous language is very frustrating, and the significance of “Chapter 4” is from a study I reported decades ago. Serious errors start to crop up in IBM/MS after-market books at that point because they don’t expect anyone to actually read beyond that. I have countless examples of this evil trait. While the meaning is usually guessed from context if you already know the subject, my point is that responsible computer text authors should be precise enough for the student.
By late evening, I’ve got the process sketched out. This is not something to take up without a computer background. So much for the claims that anyone can master the techniques. There are at least seven different scripts, formats and formats needed to conduct simple database operations from a browser. This is not counting the knowledge needed to create and populate the database itself. Nothing demonstrates the shortsightedness of the programmers more than this incompatibility over such a necessary operation.
Another disappointment is the error messages. Forty years later, they are still cryptic, a fancy word for meaningless. You’d think the standard errors, which are well known by now, would have either been eliminated or replaced by standardized handling routines. For example, all databases have an end. So why is it still considered an error to read past it? For crying out loud, add one line of code telling it to stop doing that in the first place. Or why design Javascript commands that have to be translated into ASP commands into ADO into OCDB commands into SQL commands which all do exactly the same thing? It’s a mystery to me.
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