VBScript Programmer's Reference, Third Edition

Chapter 20. Server-Side Web Scripting

Talk to most people about VBScript and usually the first thing that pops into their heads is Active Server Pages (ASP). The two technologies are linked together in the minds of many web developers. Sure, you can do a lot with VBScript on the client side and even create stand-alone applications, but ASP is where all the power is!

The preceding chapter focused mainly on client-side scripting and applications. Now it's time to take a look at the server side of things. Creating web sites with only client-side scripting is all well and good, but your functionality and power are severely limited. By adding server-side scripting, you add a whole new dimension to the web site and gain a huge advantage. You can draw upon the wealth of data available to you on the server and across the enterprise in various databases. You can customize pages to the needs of each different user that comes to your web site. In addition, by keeping your code on the server side, you can build a library of functionality. You can draw from this library again and again to further enhance other web sites. Best of all, using server-side script libraries allows your web sites to scale to multitier, or distributed, web applications. To do all this, you need a good understanding of the HTTP protocol, and how an HTTP server interacts with a browser. This model is important to understand when developing web applications that exist on the client and server side.

Next, you're introduced ...