Online Software Services and Programming Platforms
ActiveX controls - a method of an embedded controlling system that gets deployed on your computer from a website so that certain websites can perform more robust functions - that’s what it is basically. It was a Microsoft creation, and when the internet was young and not as powerful, it was a goldmine for web-based software. Some major websites that use ActiveX controls is MLSLINK for realtors (Multiple Listing Service which provides real-time online listing data). Also, Quickbooks online (an accounting management system that tracks income and expenses) uses ActiveX control for their online platform.
It’s getting out of fashion. It’s in its dying breaths, because web languages have evolved enough to be able to handle very complex tasks in a visually friendly and speedy manner without having to rely on ActiveX controls anymore. I have observed how the MLSLINK system works and all of these functions could be performed just the same (if not better) using a blend of Javascript, AJAX, and robust server-side scripting using PHP or ASP.
Why use ActiveX controls to program your stuff, when other more common codebases can handle it all the same, and you have more learning resources for Javascript/PHP/AJAX online than ActiveX documentations? Also note that having to install ActiveX to be able to use a platform is a tedious task. The whole point of many web-based software is so that you can observe and modify your data from virtually anywhere in the world where you have internet. If I were using Quickbooks online, and I was in a hotel far away from home, it would take me a few extra steps to be able to use it at that computer.
Javascript, PHP, AJAX is more than enough to create very robust and functional data handling web-applications, and you don’t need to install anything everytime you use it on a different computer.
Down with ActiveX controls - in comes Web 2.0.
Very true. Not to mention that ActiveX only supports Windows computers running Internet Explorer with ActiveX enabled. And it is often disabled for security reasons, because it is not sandboxed like a web application platform should be. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Java applets or Flash in there, they were basically ActiveX done right, but they are still losing ground to Ajax apps.
It’s amazing how computers have evolved from fancy typewriters to the machines we have today.. Part of what helped us there was new programming languages.. I hope it never stops!
ActiveX is being use less, but that’s because its being replaced by ASP.NET applications. C#/VB.NET web applications are much more stable than PHP one due to them being strongly typed languages and truly object oriented. I would rather use C# to build web site than PHP, but there are many more Linux web servers out there and they cost less than the Windows ones.