What is Curl?
Curl is a programming language used in the creation of interactive websites. It is markup language similar to HTML and an object-oriented program similar to Java or JavaScript.

Curl is part of the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and got its name from the “curly” brackets used in language formatting. Part of the team that developed Curl is Tim Berners Lee, the person who invented HTML.

Curl’s design is geared toward web applications such as RIA or Rich Internet Application. It can also be used for client side processing and data persistence, and asynchronous processing of http requests. Curl is said to combine the features of HTML, Java, and JavaScript in the creation of web pages. Its software is free for personal use, but not for commercial or enterprise use. It is also very simple like HTML making it easy for beginners. But it also has features for the more advanced programmers and it may be linked with other languages.

In terms of webpage display, the Curl program can accomplish the task of HTML. But it also has object-oriented programming capabilities allowing for quick client-side computing with the help of JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler. Applets of this program can also be viewed through a runtime environment plug-in intended for web browsers.

Curl is supported by various operating systems like Microsoft’s Windows and Linux platforms. A version for Macintosh operating systems is also under development. Supporters of the program see its big potential with HTML and Java like features. But critics are not so happy with Curl’s setup in terms of its viewing through the browser plug-in. What happens is that the browser plug-in sends back a “report” to the Curl Corporation and a fee is charged depending on the amount of code the plug-in executes. This browser plug-in reporting setup may raise some privacy issues for the users of the programming language.