What is ASP?

It is the server-side scripting language created by Microsoft.

ASP (Active Server Pages) is the technology developed by Microsoft for creating dynamic server pages. ASP is written on the web page itself, using the language or Jscript (Microsoft’s Javascript).

A server-side language is one that runs on the web server, just before the page is sent over the Internet to the client. Pages running on the server can perform database access, networking, and other tasks to create the final page that the client will see. The client only receives a page with the HTML code resulting from the execution of the ASP page. Since the resulting page contains only HTML code, it is compatible with all browsers. We can know more about server and client programming in the article.

The type of servers that use this language are, obviously, all those that work with the Windows NT system, although it can also be used on a PC with windows 98 if we install a server called . Even on Linux systems we can use ASPs if we install a component called , although it seems clear that it will be better to work on the web server for which it is designed: .

With ASPs we can make many different types of applications. It allows us access to databases, the server’s file system and, in general, to all the resources that the server itself has. We also have the possibility of buying ActiveX components manufactured by different software development companies that are used for multiple uses, such as sending mail, dynamically generating graphics, and much more.

Currently, the second version of ASP, ASP.NET, has already been presented, which includes some improvements in terms of language possibilities and the speed with which it works. ASP.NET has some syntax differences from ASP, so one has to be treated differently from the other.

To find out what ASP is and learn to program in the language, we have a .