Web scripts provide a way to write small extensions to Alfresco using JavaScript and FreeMarker.
Alfresco web scripts provide a unique way to programmatically interact with the Alfresco content application server. Unlike other interfaces exposed by Alfresco, web scripts offer a RESTful API for the content residing in the content repository. The REST (Representational State Transfer) web architecture is based on HTTP requests and responses, URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), and document types. Web scripts let you implement your own RESTful API without tooling or Java knowledge, requiring only a text editor. This approach to developing an Alfresco API means that web scripts offer many advantages over existing technologies, including ease and speed of development, and flexibility in API design. By focusing on the RESTful architectural style, web scripts let you build custom URI-identified and HTTP accessible content management web services backed by the Alfresco content application server.
Web scripts provide RESTful access to content held within your Alfresco content repository. You can place controls on your content to manage it and provide uniform access for a wide variety of client applications and services, such as a browser, portal, search engine, or custom application. Because of the inherent distributed nature of this interface, all Alfresco content repositories within the enterprise can resemble one logical collection of inter-related documents (like the web), letting you apply web technologies such as caching, authentication, proxies, and negotiation to your repository resources.
You can build your own RESTful interface using lightweight scripting technologies (such as JavaScript and FreeMarker), allowing you to arbitrarily map any content in the repository to resources on the web, or you can use out-of-the-box web scripts that already encapsulate many of the mappings. The Alfresco CMIS (Content Management Interoperability Services) AtomPub binding is implemented as a series of web scripts.
You can use web scripts for various solutions, such as:
- Integrating Alfresco with third party systems Providing feeds
- Developing data services Developing UI services such as portlets
- Customizing search Acting as a back-end to client tools, such as
- Orbeon Forms Integrating with Microsoft Office
- Developing Facebook applications
- Building UI components in Alfresco Surf
Source: http://docs.alfresco.com/5.1/concepts/ws-overview.html
