> From: "WALLYWORLD" <ran...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> CGI is just programming with some special types of input and a
> few strict rules on program output. Everything in between is
> just programming.
I disagree. CGI forces a completely different kind of program
management from other kinds of programming (such as "main" program
calling subroutines, GUI event-driven, or distributed actors
exchanging messages). The application is dominated by the need to
process the form contents (and optionally cookies) to re-establish
the program state for picking up where it previously left off, and
then for somehow saving the program state after transmitting the
next user form before closing the process. Some applications can be
completed in a single CGI transaction, submit form and get results
and you're all done, no state needs to be saved after a
transaction. But that's only a special case, such as a Google
search. Consider instead multi-transaction applications such as
Web-based e-mail
(log in, browse folders, view messages, compose and then send
outgoing messages, move messages between folders, log out),
or computer-assisted instruction
(log in, choose topic, see mini-tutorial and question, answer
question, read discussion of your answer, move on to next
question likewise, log out),
or online store
(log in, browse merchandise categories, read merchandise
descriptions, logically put instances of items in virtual
shopping cart, present credit card or PayPal card at checkout),
etc. Imagine how different such a program would be organized for
CGI (or JSP etc.), compared to event-driven GUI on a single
machine, or "main" program calling a command loop. The "business
logic" might be the same in all three cases, but the overall
program organization would be grossly different.
> CGI changes the Web from just a simple collection of static
> hypermedia do***ents (html) into a whole new interactive medium,
> in which users can ask questions and run applications.
Nicely written, although the present tense of it would apply circa
1992 or thereabouts. Couldn't you have used past tense?
> Choose an HTML Editor
Who *needs* an HTMP editor? A regular text editor is good enough.
> When Should You Create a Database Driven Web Site?
Well, to a large degree it depends on whether a relational database
is even available where you are doing your CGI programming.
I don't know of any free Web hosting services that provide it.
(For example, 5gbfree provides MySQL, but only for PHP, not for CGI.)
> In a way, CGI is as easy as using simple recipes.
I think that statement is a bit misleading.
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