The following is from the Microsoft® MSN® Web site:
Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition, a subset of the Microsoft®
Visual Basic® programming language, is a fast, portable, lightweight interpreter
for use in World Wide Web browsers and other applications that use Microsoft®
ActiveX® Controls, Automation servers, and Java applets.
What Is VBScript?
Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition, the newest member of the Visual
Basic family of programming languages, brings active scripting to a wide variety
of environments, including Web client scripting in Microsoft Internet Explorer
and Web server scripting in Microsoft Internet Information Service.
Easy to Use and Learn
If you already know Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications, VBScript
will be very familiar. Even if you do not know Visual Basic, once you learn
VBScript, you are on your way to programming with the whole family of Visual
Basic languages. Although you can learn about VBScript in just these few Web
pages, they do not teach you how to program. To learn programming, take a
look at Step by Step books available from Microsoft Press.
ActiveX Scripting
VBScript talks to host applications using ActiveX® Scripting. With ActiveX
Scripting, browsers and other host applications do not require special integration
code for each scripting component. ActiveX Scripting enables a host to compile
scripts, obtain and call entry points, and manage the namespace available
to the developer. With ActiveX Scripting, language vendors can create standard
language run times for scripting. Microsoft will provide run-time support
for VBScript. Microsoft is working with various Internet groups to define
the ActiveX Scripting standard so that scripting engines can be interchangeable.
ActiveX Scripting is used in Microsoft® Internet Explorer and in Microsoft®
Internet Information Service.
VBScript in Other Applications and Browsers
As a developer, you can license VBScript source implementation at no charge
for use in your products. Microsoft provides binary implementations of VBScript
for the 32-bit Windows® API, the 16-bit Windows API, and the Macintosh®.
VBScript is integrated with World Wide Web browsers. VBScript and ActiveX
Scripting can also be used as a general scripting language in other applications.