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Web Servers

14. What is an application server? (ASP)?

ASP is Microsoft's recommended technology for generation dynamic web pages. Only Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Personal Web Server (PWS) support ASP natively. A product called Chili!ASP from Chili!Soft can be installed to emulate ASP on other platforms.

Definition. An Active Server Page is a file with the extension .ASP that contains a combination of HTML statements and server-side script logic. Either JavaScript or VBScript can be used to compose Active Server Pages.

Discussion. While ASP itself is just a mix of HTML and server-side script, its power - and its importance to Microsoft - come from ASP's ability to integrate COM components. In practice ASP script is used primarily to establish program flow and to invoke Active Server Components that implement business logic and data connectivity. Several useful components ship with IIS4.

Resources. A growing number of sites are dedicated to ASP development. A few we like are listed below.

• 15 Seconds
• ASP Hole
• ActiveServerPages.com
• Steve Genusa's ASP Developer's Site