Web / Programming

Web Programming Tutorials

Programming is the key to successful computer and Internet applications. This section includes information on the languages and topics that do the behind the scenes work of the Web.

Additional Resources & Articles

ActiveX - A loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information among different applications.

ASP - A specification for a dynamically created Web page with a .ASP extension that utilizes ActiveX scripting -- usually VB Script or Jscript code. When a browser requests an ASP, the Web server generates a page with HTML code and sends it back to the browser. ASPs are similar to CGI scripts, but they enable Visual Basic programmers to work with familiar tools. ASP is also short for application service provider

Book Excerpts - A complete resource covering ASP.NET, Coldfusion, CSS, CURL, Graphics (including 3D), HTML, HTTP, Jabber, Jakarta, Java, JavaScript, JXTA, Lucene, Mozilla, Perl, PHP, RSS, Rule-Based-Applications, Search Engine Marketing, Tapestry, Technical Writing, Web Design, XFORMS, XML, XQUERY and XSLT.

CGI An abbreviation of Common Gateway Interface, a specification for transferring information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program. A CGI program is a program designed to accept and return data conforming to the CGI specification. This could be written in C, Perl, Java, or Visual Basic or any other programming language.

C# (see-sharp) is a hybrid of C and C++ and is a programming language developed by Microsoft to compete with Sun's Java language. C# is an object-oriented programming language used with XML-based Web services on the .NET platform. It offers type-safety, garbage collection, simplified type declarations, versioning and scalability support, etc. It simplfies the development for solutions, most notably with COM+ and Web services.

CMS - An abbreviation Content Management System. In actual practice, CMS is software that allows the addition and manipulation of content on a Web site.

CSS Short for Cascading Style Sheets, CSS gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. Using CSS, designers determin how the different components of a wb page (such as headers, links and text),appear. CSS was created by the W3C.

Databases An abbreviation is DB. Information collected in a manner that makes it easy for a computer program to retrieve information. It's essentially an electronic filing system. Another meanif of the term "database" is database management system.

E-Commerce Sometimes referred to as ecommerce, this is about business conducted over the Internet using technologies such as email, direct marketing, shopping carts, online credit card systems, digital delivery, etc. E-Commerce includes goods and services shipped electronically or by physical means.

Forms A program allowing you to design and fill in forms on a computer. It's common to have templates included with the software that you can modify to your needs.

Hiermenus HierMenus allows you to provide drop down or pop up menus on your Web site, and offer the same convenience--and familiarity--to your site's visitors that they have become accustomed to with their other computer applications. And, perhaps best of all, you don't have to be a DHTML master or JavaScript guru to use them.

HTML Apps (HTA) Just as desktop PCs all but replaced mainframes in the eighties, the web application may be poised to supersede the traditional desktop application. HTML Apps (HTAs) permit web developers to parlay their scripting and design skills to build desktop applications.

Java A high-level programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, containg features for use with the World Wide Web. It contains small applications known as applets which can be downloaded and run on your computer by a browser that offers Java capability, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

JavaScript Developed by Netscape, JavaScript allows Web Designers to create ineractive sites. It can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to add dynamic content to their Web sites. Among it's attributes, it can be used without purchasing a license and is supported by Netscape and Microsoft. Note: Internet Explorer supports a subset only, known as Jscript.

Optimization & Obfuscation Despite increases in bandwidth and connection speed, Internet users still have no patience for slow pages and slow code. These optimization tools help squeeze every ounce of speed out of your pages. In addition, obfuscators can help protect your hard work by obscuring your code while keeping functionality intact.

Perl An abbreviation for Practical Extraction and Report Language, Perl is a programming language designed for processing text and has become one of the most popular languages for writing CGI scripts. An interpretive language, Perl makes it easy to build and test simple programs.

PHP This refers to PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is an open source, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. In an HTML documents one would enclose the PHP script within special PHP tags. This allows authors to jump between HTML and PHP. Also, since PHP is executed on the server, clients can't view the code. PHP is versatile, in that it can handly any CGI task, but its real strength its compatibility with many databases.

Robots and Spiders A Robot is program that runs without human intrevention. It's often give some artificial intelligence to deal with different situtions on the Web. A Spider is a program that automatically fetches Web pages and are used to feed pages to search engines. It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Since many Web pages are interlinked, a spider can begin working anywhere. Large search engines can have mulitple spiders working in parallel.

SSI An abbreviaion for Server Side include. SSI's are HTML comment that directs the Web server to dynamically generate data for the Web page whenever it is requested. The most basic command is #include. This inserts the contents of another file and is useful in making sure that important components of your Web site, such as headers and footers remain consistent. To change the overall appearance, all one needs to do is modify the include file. Currently there is no official standard for their use.

3D 3D Graphics is a category of software that represents 3-dimensional objects on a computer, including CAD/CAM, computer games and animation applications.

Unix is a popular multi-user, multitasking operating system. Created by Bell Labs in the early 1970s. UNIX was designed to be used by programmers only. It was one of the first operating systems to be written in C and allowed the program to be installed on almost any computer, assuming a C compiler was present. In addtion, it was portable and inexpensive, making it a popular choice at universities. UNIX is a leading operating system for workstations, but is less popular in the personal computing marketplace.

VXML An abbreviation for Voice Extensible Markup Language. VXML, a.k.a. VoiceXML allows users to to interact with the Internet using voice-recognition technology and relies on a voice browser and/or the telephone. The user listens to pre- recorded or computer synthesized audio. Input is transmitted using the user's natural speaking voice or through a keypad, such as a telephone.

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Revised: February 27, 2006

URL: https://webreference.com/programming/