Understanding VBScript

VBScript is a Basic-like language that many popular applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer—IE) and many developer products (e.g., Microsoft Visual Studio—VS) use. VBScript descends from Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which is the language Visual Basic (VB) and Microsoft Office products rely on. Although Microsoft initially designed VBScript as a scripting language for the Web, VBScript has become a popular language for writing Windows-oriented batch files through the Windows Scripting Host (WSH). With WSH, the Windows OS treats a VBScript file as an executable—in other words, like a batch (.bat) or executable (.exe) file. As a result, you can use VBScript's rich and powerful functions and syntax to compose system-level scripts.

In this five-part series, I'll provide you with a global look at VBScript's evolution in the Windows-based scripting scenario. I'll also delve deep into all the aspects of the language. In this first installment, I give you an overview of the system context in which VBScript works and introduce you to the WSH and ActiveX scripting environments. Then, I describe three basic syntax elements: variables, constants, and data types, or simply types. . . .