"Source" is most often called the code of a program in a human-readable (high-level) programming language. With this code, you can make changes to the program (script, flash movie, java application, application program, etc.). The author or distributor of the program himself decides whether to distribute the source code along with the finished product. There is a whole class of applications that are distributed “open source”, the source code of other programs (for example, JavaScript-scripts or HTML-pages), by definition, cannot be hidden, and the source code of other programs is subject to copyright.
Instructions
Step 1
Get the source code of the open source application from the site of the author or distributor of this software product. You can usually find out the address of the site in the section of the menu with the name "Help", if you select the item "About" in it.
Step 2
Right-click a web page if you want to access its source code. In any browser, the drop-down context menu will contain the view source command, although its wording may differ slightly. You can do without the context menu - the ctrl + u key combination duplicates the call to the source view command. Some of the browsers have built-in browsing tools (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome), others use external programs for this - most often Notepad. You can save the page source obtained in this way to a file.
Step 3
Save the web page along with the resource files it uses if you want to get the source JavaScrip scripts contained in separate files. The save dialog is invoked in browsers by pressing the ctrl + s key combination, and in order to save all auxiliary files, including JavaScrip sources, in the File type drop-down list, select the Complete web page item. The files you need will have the js extension.
Step 4
If you need the sources of server-side scripts (PHP, Perl, etc.), you won't be able to get them in the same way - unlike client-side scripts, they are not sent to the browser of the site visitor. It will not work to get them from the server on your own without using illegal methods if the software is configured correctly there. To get them, contact the owner or try to find an analogue on the Internet.
Step 5
Almost the same is the case with the sources of flash elements, with the difference that they are not stored on the server - the sources (files with the fla extension) are compiled into program code (files with the swf extension) even before being posted on the Internet. But, although the original sources can only be obtained from the owner or author, it is possible to recreate them with a sufficient degree of accuracy. For this purpose specialized programs are intended - for example, Flash Decompiler Trillix.
