server side language

[cmldesigns]

What is the difference between HTML and these: PHP, ASP, ASP.net, CGI-Perl, JSP, ColdFusion, ect. Can someone exlpain what server side language or server side scripting means? I am so very new at this I feel like an infant learning to speak and walk and drive a car at the same time.

Thanks for your help.

[web_roshan]

HTML if a Mark Up language. It means, HTML would help you describe how text / graphics would be displayed on a browser.

PHP, ASP, JSP, Coldfusion are all Server Side scripting language. In essence, these are used for serving pages that are dyamically generated with content at the server and delivered to the client.

A simple example:
If you look at any HTML page, all the content on the pages is as seen in its source code. Nothing is 'actually' being generated; the page is delivered as it is.

If you look at the souce code of an ASP page, you'll still see only HTML code. But there's a possiblity that most of it is being generated, at the server side and being delivered to you.

To make it further simpler, if you have worked with Databases, in Visual Basic, you'll know that you can display records in a grid, only by supplying connection strings and source of information. Anytime you add or remove data from the data from the database, the same is reflected for the grid.

Hope this helps.

[ray326]

<nitpick>JSP isn't a scripting language. It's a preprocessor for a Java compiler.</nitpick> The others are called "server parsed HTML", an extended form of HTML page that is examined and rewritten on the fly each time it's requested.

[drhowarddrfine]

HTML is a simple language contained in a text file that describes the contents of a web page. It is delivered to your browser from a server. The browser reads this 'text' file and interprets how the page should display and what it contains.

Server side languages work on the server only. They are used for obtaining information and data and generate the HTML for the same type of HTML 'text' file. They are used for pages that are not 'static' but change frequently, therefore, are dynamic; an order page for an ecommerce site, for example.

[crazycoder]

Server side scripts are executed by the server so when they reach your browser they have already been executed and don't appear to be there. eg it won't appear in your source. Also, they allow ifs and variables. They have more functionality, editing of files, databases, et cetra.