Various Server Side Technologies for Web Design

Web technology is based on the client/ server model. The client computer runs a web browser to see the web page. The software sends the request by the internet to the software program, which acts as the web server, running on the server computer. This responds and the web page is sent back to the browser. The web server software which runs on the server computer has many helpers to perform the tasks, which are the server side technologies for advanced web design. The tasks performed by the client side server, are all client server technology for advanced web design.

If a file has server side script then, the script inside the HTML file is performed by the server before the file is returned to the browser as plain HTML It works in many ways:

1.    A web page can be dynamically changed, edited or any content added to it.
2.    It can respond to any question or any data that is submitted from the HTML forms.
3.    It can access any data or database. This results obtained can be returned to the browser.
4.    The webpage can be customized to make it more useful for each user.
5.    The server side technology can provide security. This is necessary as the server code cannot be seen by a browser.

Some of the ‘server side scripting’ languages are:

1.    ASP/ASP.NET (.asp/.aspx) – ASP or Active Server Pages was developed by Microsoft for making advanced web pages in a web application framework. It helps in building dynamic website, web applications and web services. The most common language is VBScript.
2.    PHP(.php) – PHP:Hypertext Preprocessor is easy to learn. There are many readymade scripts available. It also helps in producing dynamic web pages and is a general purpose scripting language. It runs on the web server and has to be configured to process PHP code and create web content. It is free of charge. Most web servers and operating systems and platforms can display it.
3.    JAVA via Java server pages (.jsp) – This is a very popular web server side technology.  In this, the server tags are mixed with html. This is hard to learn and complicated. It has good programming techniques.
4.    ColdFusion Markup Language (cfm.) – This is from Macromedia and this server is not free. However, you can install a free ‘developer edition’. This can be used for developing and testing your applications. It is easy to learn as it consists of xml/html like tags. It is best used for web applications that are not too complicated.
5.    Perl (.pl) – It is also widely used. It is a powerful and advanced scripting language. This is mainly available in many cheap web hosting packages.
6.    Python (.py) – It is also easy to learn, but is not as widely used as PHP, ASP or even Perl. The disadvantage with this scripting is that it does not have a standard web application framework.

Besides these you also have Lasso(.lasso), Ruby (.rb) and SMX (.smx). There are all these server side scripts to choose from.

The most widely used server side script on Unix/Linux platform is PHP. It is not only easy to learn, but also fast to program. The Java/JSP/Servelets is the preferred choice for all the bigger projects. An expert Windows programmer will use ASP. Each one right from ColdFusion, Perl and Python are good, each having their own unique specialty.

It would be best for a beginner to learn one server scripting language first. With the experience gained, he can then go on to learning the other ones, as it will be easier.

The Other Side of a Free Web Hosting Plan

Mostly, new people get attracted towards the concept of free web hosting plan. However, they don’t know about the actual issues involved in a free web hosting plan, until they use it. One must understand that a paid web host provider has got better services to offer, compared to free hosts. Free web hosting facility might be suitable for personal homepages and other types of websites which do not depend on online advertising or sales revenues. A paid hosting service is ideal for those in business and who are interested in online selling or just want to have a professional web presence with regard to their business.

You might be hunting for an appropriate host for your website and then suddenly you feel like asking yourself, “why should I pay for a web hosting plan, when I can get easily acquire a free website for myself?” Well, it all depends on the type of website that you are dealing with. With a free hosting plan, you might end up being frustrated due to various reasons. Some of the points are explained as follows:

1) Down time is common in free hosting plans:

It is common to experience downtime issues with free web hosts. Since you do not pay for the service, free hosting providers feel less obligated to offer good service. The free web hosting providers don’t really value a free subscriber, since they feel that this group is not really beneficial to them. Hence, free web hosting providers are not bothered if their users are dissatisfied with the service.

2) Free flow of advertisement:

In a free hosting service, you will definitely be disturbed by constant, unwanted ads on all your web pages. You may even see a pop up banner as soon as you click a link etc. You can hardly do anything about this situation because many free hosts rely solely on these advertisements in order to make money. So, you must be aware of the fact that these advertisements will reduce your professional image just because you have opted for a free web hosting plan.

3) Bad customer support:

Most of the free web hosting providers cannot effort to provide customer support facility to their users. In such a case, it is always better to rely on the FAQ page (frequently asked question). The FAQ can come to your rescue when in case, live or email support is denied by the free web hosting provider.

4) Restricted hard disk space:

Think twice before you opt for a free web host. If your website is large enough, you might then experience free web host being quite limited. Mostly, free hosts can provide hard disk space of about 5 to 10MB. You will experience difficulties when your website is growing and you are thinking of expanding your website beyond your allotted disk space.

5) Lengthy domain names:

In a free hosting plan, customers are not allowed to use their own names, as in the case of paid hosts. Those users who are opting for free hosting services are required to choose a sub domain off the host’s name. Thus, you land up having a lengthy domain name for your website. Visitors will find it difficult to remember your lengthy domain name. Hence, you are then likely to loose potential customers. If customers want to access your website, they will have to bookmark your site instead of depending on their own memory.