[Techtalk] why is Active X in web pages evil, but not Perl/PHP/Javascript?

[chris hardy]

Hi Carla,

It would be more correct to say that using server side scripting reduces
browser compatibility in some cases. 

Server side scripts can be used to identify the browser type and then output
something that will work in that browser. Following a few rules of thumb can
greatly reduce the necessity for that though - namely, developing to w3c
recommendations (see http://w3c.org) and then browser-specific output is
usually just a couple of simple workarounds.

However, server-side output to the browser can still trigger inconsistent
rendering. You see an inconsistency because browsers interpret or implement
web recommendations/standards inconsistently (or in the case of IE they try
to subvert the standards altogether). The other part of the problem is that
people write bad html/css/javascript/whatever and it breaks just as
thoroughly whether it's output by a server-side script or not.

As you noted, javascript is sometimes turned off in browsers so it's a good
rule of thumb to use javascript to perform non-essential tasks i.e. use it
for aesthetics or basic authentication. Javascript is a nice way to validate
data input on the client before it ever hits the server. Just don't make it
a requirement. Use a server side script to sniff for javascript enabled then
output the javascript if it's supported. 

For javascript,
I'd recommend perusing Peter Paul Koch' website
http://www.quirksmode.org/

and the webaim site
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/javascript/

However, your original question was about ActiveX?

hth
-chris

p.s. I'm really enjoying your new book!