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> Microsoft supported a model with pluggable scripting engines which was supported both on Internet Explorer (for client side scripts) So what happened? Given

> Microsoft supported a model with pluggable scripting engines which was supported both on Internet Explorer (for client side scripts) So what happened? Given that we lived through an era of Internet Explorer dominance, and Windows/IE was apparently shipping with a variety of scripting languages built in, how did that not lead to options for client-side scripts? (This all took place before my career change into programming, so I didn't really notice as I was living through it – sorry if that results in some ignorant questions).

goto11 5y ago
IE only shipped with JavaScript and VBScript built-in. Other language engines could be installed (Perl and Python for example), but realistically nobody would write client-side code in a language which required a visitor to install support for it. VBScript was the only viable contender, but it never really had any compelling advantages compared to JavaScript. JavaScript is often criticized for quirky design and syntax, but if anything VBScript was worse. Also the pluggable script engines were based on COM, so only worked on Windows. I don't think VBScript was ever supported in IE for Mac. I don't think Microsoft ever saw a strategic advantage to promoting alternative languages on the web. Otherwise they would have done a lot more.