XUL (Pronounced 'Zool')
Another New Computer Language?
I just learned about this rather specialized new language, if indeed it qualifies as a language. It runs under the Mozilla engine on Mozilla or some Netscape browsers but it needs JavaScript to run and can use CSS, HTML, XML, Ruby, PHP or Perl in its programs, which can run either online or offline.
Okay, you have to know a lot of other stuff before you ever begin: JavaScript, HTML and Ruby or PHP as a minimum. But lots of people who design Web pages know all of these anyway and there isn't much in the core XUL itself, making it a natural for those who have been doing Web design. They can drift into XUL programming effortlessly. It will be harder if you first have to pick up the satellite technologies.
XUL programs are said to be solid and the system bugless. XUL is versatile and powerful for RAD (Rapid Application Development). Many XUL-developed programs and games are available for download.
XUL is likely to catch on. You may hear more of it in the future.
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Comments (1)
Based on your description, I wouldn't call XUL a language. For instance, I don't consider DHTML a language but rather the combined used of HTML (or XHTML), JavaScript, CSS, and DOM. And, in much the same way, ASP isn't really a language but rather a tool for utilizing scripting languages (VBScript, JavaScript, AppleScript, et al.) to create dynamic web content.