MACROMEDIA 38028779 - Macromedia Dreamweaver - Mac, Using Manual, Page: 536 / 582

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Extending Dreamweaver: Basics
Dreamweaver is designed to be extensible. It includes a JavaScript interpreter, so it
can read and execute JavaScript code; and it provides an application programming
interface (API), a large set of JavaScript functions that allow developers to extend
the capabilities of Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver also provides a Document Object
Model (DOM), which allows extensions to examine and modify a document’s
structure and contents.
Using the JavaScript API, you can create objects, behavior actions, commands,
Property inspectors, floating panels, and data translators (all of which are
collectively called extensions).
You can also create new objects and simple commands without knowing
anything about programming; for details, see “Creating a simple object” on page
516 and “Creating new commands from history steps” on page 165. But to
add more advanced capabilities to Dreamweaver, you must write extensions in
either JavaScript or C. For information about the DOM and the API, see
Extending Dreamweaver .
After you create a Dreamweaver extension, you can package it and distribute it on
the Macromedia Exchange site if you want other Dreamweaver users to be able to
use it. For more information, see the Macromedia Exchange for Dreamweaver site.
To package an extension, you must first download the Package Manager installer
from that site, then install the Package Manager with the developer option.
About JavaScript
JavaScript is an interpreted programming language. To learn more about
JavaScript, read a good JavaScript book, such as
JavaScript Bible by Danny
Goodman (IDG) or JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan
(O’Reilly). For information on using JavaScript to extend Dreamweaver, see
Extending Dreamweaver .
Note: Despite the resemblance between the two names, JavaScript is not related to
Java in any way.