ASP (Active Server Pages) | what is ASP?

                    ASP (Active Server Pages)

Introduction
ASP is a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive Web pages. An ASP file can contain text, HTML tags and scripts. Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server.

What is ASP?

• ASP stands for Active Server Pages
• ASP is a Microsoft Technology
• ASP is a program that runs inside IIS
• IIS stands for Internet Information Services
• IIS comes as a free component with Windows 2000
• IIS is also a part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
• The Option Pack can be downloaded from Microsoft
• PWS is a smaller - but fully functional - version of IIS
• PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD

 

ASP Compatibility

• To run IIS you must have Windows NT 4.0 or later
• To run PWS you must have Windows 95 or later

 What is an ASP File?

• An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
• An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
• Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
• An ASP file has the file extension ".asp"

           How Does ASP Differ 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 as plain HTML

           What can ASP do for you?

• Dynamically edit, change, or add any content of a Web page
• Respond to user queries or data submitted from HTML forms
• Access any data or databases and return the results to a browser
• Customize a Web page to make it more useful for individual users
• The advantages of using ASP instead of CGI and Perl, are those of simplicity and speed
• Provide security – since ASP code cannot be viewed from the browser
• Clever ASP programming can minimize the network traffic.

Key Features of ASP

• Runs on Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services)
• Supports scripting languages like VBScript and JavaScript
• Can connect to databases like MS Access, SQL Server
• Can track user sessions and cookies
• Enables form handling and dynamic page updates

🔹 Advantages of ASP

• Easy to learn for those familiar with HTML and VBScript

• Tight integration with Microsoft technologies

• Good for intranet and Windows-based applications

 

🔹 Limitations

• Runs mainly on Windows servers
• Not as popular today due to newer technologies like ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js

 

🔹 Modern Replacement: ASP.NET

ASP.NET is the upgraded version of ASP. It’s faster, more secure, and uses modern programming languages like C#. If you’re starting new development, ASP.NET is preferred over classic ASP.

To understand how ASP works, it’s important to first know the basics of HTML and CSS, which handle page structure and design.