Okay, so now your here at the site what's all this about Active Server Pages? Here's a brief introduction to Active Server Pages (ASP).

What are Active Server Pages?

To quote Microsoft (who developed ASP) an Active Server Page is "the server-side execution environment in Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 3.0 [or later] that enables you to run ActiveX™ scripts and ActiveX server components on the server. By combining scripts and components, developers can create dynamic content and powerful Web-based applications easily". 

Okay, so what does this mean?  Well basically ASP pages can create dynamic content - again to quote Microsoft - "Web pages that are customized for each user on the fly, based upon their actions or requests. For example, new visitors to your site can be shown a different welcome page than returning users see, or pages in an online catalog can be queries to a database so customers always see the most current information and availability".

What Do I Need To Use ASP Pages?

ASP pages require that the server on which the pages are run is running Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 (or greater) along with the Internet Information Server (IIS) version 3.0 or greater. ASP pages can also be run on Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (or greater) running Peer Web Services.

You can also run ASP pages on Microsoft Windows 95 or 98 as long as the machine is running the Personal Web Server and has had the ASP software installed.  (Most of these can be found on the Microsoft site).

How Much Will It Cost?

IIS is available free from the Microsoft web site but must be installed on an NT server.

So What Can I Do With It When I've Got It?!

Once you have IIS installed and are able to run ASP pages you can begin developing your own pages or make use of the thousands of resources already out there.

If you have any comments or feedback on the site or its contents please e-mail me at ollertonk@postmaster.co.uk.

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