ASP Introduction
ASP files can contain text, HTML tags, and scripts. Scripts in ASP files can be executed on the server.
Prerequisites
Before proceeding, you should have a basic understanding of the following:
- HTML / XHTML
- Scripting languages such as JavaScript or VBScript
If you wish to learn these topics first, please visit our homepage for tutorials.
What is ASP?
- ASP stands for Active Server Pages (Dynamic Server Pages)
- ASP is a technology developed by Microsoft
- ASP runs in IIS
- IIS stands for Internet Information Services (Internet Information Services)
- IIS is a free component of Windows 2000
- IIS is also part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
- This optional pack can be downloaded from the Microsoft site
- PWS is smaller - but has the full functionality of IIS
- PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD
ASP Compatibility
- Running IIS requires Windows NT 4.0 or later
- Running PWS requires Windows 95 or later
- ChiliASP is a technology that allows ASP to run on non-Windows operating systems
- InstantASP is another technology that allows ASP to run on non-Windows operating systems
What is an ASP File?
- ASP files are similar to HTML files
- ASP files can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
- Scripts in ASP files can be executed on the server
- The file extension for ASP files is ".asp"
How is ASP Different from HTML?
- When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
- When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine. The ASP engine reads the ASP file line by line and executes the scripts in the file. Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser in pure HTML format.
What Can ASP Do for You?
- Dynamically edit, change, or add any content on a webpage
- Respond to queries or data submitted by users from HTML forms
- Access data or databases and return results to the browser
- Customize webpages for different users, enhancing their usability
- The advantage of using ASP over CGI and Perl is its simplicity and speed
- Provides security - since ASP code cannot be viewed from the browser
- Good ASP programming can minimize network traffic
Note: Since ASP scripts run on the server, the browser does not need to support scripts to display ASP files!