science

JavaScript Style Sheets

JavaScript Style Sheets is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand JavaScript Style Sheets rather than just read about it. In short: JavaScript Style Sheets (JSSS) is an obsolete stylesheet language technology proposed by Netscape Communications in 1996 to provide facilities for defining the presentation of webpages. It was an alternative to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) technology.

Key takeaways

JavaScript Style Sheets belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect JavaScript Style Sheets to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of JavaScript Style Sheets from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

JavaScript Style Sheets (JSSS) is an obsolete stylesheet language technology proposed by Netscape Communications in 1996 to provide facilities for defining the presentation of webpages. It was an alternative to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) technology. Although Netscape submitted it to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the technology was never accepted as a formal standard and it never gained acceptance in the web browser market. Only Netscape Communicator 4 implemented JSSS, with rival Internet Explorer choosing not to implement the technology. Soon after Netscape Communicator's release in 1997, Netscape stopped promoting JSSS, instead focusing on the rival CSS standard, which was also supported by Internet Explorer and had a much wider industry acceptance. The follow-up to Netscape Communicator, Netscape 6 (released in 2000), dropped support for JSSS. It now remains little more than a historical footnote, with web developers generally unaware of its previous existence. The proposal did not become a W3C standard.

Syntax Using JavaScript code as a stylesheet, JSSS styles individual element by modifying properties of a document.tags object. For example, the CSS:

is equivalent to the JSSS:

JSSS element names are case sensitive. JSSS lacks the various CSS selector features, supporting only simple tag name, class and id selectors. On the other hand, since it is written using a complete programming language, stylesheets can include highly complex dynamic calculations and conditional processing. (In practice, however, this can be achieved using JavaScript to modify the stylesheets applicable to the document at runtime.) Because of this JSSS was often used in the creation of dynamic web pages.

Example The following example shows part of the source code of an HTML document:

Similar to Cascading Style Sheets, JSSS could be used in a <style> tag. This example shows two different methods to select tags.

Browser support Javascript Style Sheets were only supported by Netscape 4.x (4.0–4.8) but no later versions. No other web browser has ever implemented JSSS.

References

External links Netscape's JavaScript-Based Style Sheets submission to the W3C The dynamic, powerful abilities of JavaScript Style Sheets JavaScript Style Sheet Reference

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with JavaScript Style Sheets

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what JavaScript Style Sheets claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to JavaScript Style Sheets before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about JavaScript Style Sheets ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of JavaScript Style Sheets

In research: JavaScript Style Sheets appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses JavaScript Style Sheets in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: JavaScript Style Sheets is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics JavaScript, Netscape, Stylesheet languages, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for JavaScript Style Sheets outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study JavaScript Style Sheets in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what JavaScript Style Sheets means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain JavaScript Style Sheets out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is JavaScript Style Sheets in simple terms?

Why does JavaScript Style Sheets matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study JavaScript Style Sheets?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on JavaScript Style Sheets.