An Introduction to Server Side Processing
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008Server side processing is a powerful tool in web design, providing your website with a level of intelligence that can be surprising. Read on to see how you can save time and improve your visitors’ experience.
What is server side processing?
Server side processing refers to processing of code that occurs on the server when a request is received for a webpage. In other words, when a user fires up their browser, and tries to open up the webpage, the server reads through the code to see if there are any calculations or changes it needs to apply and then it produces the webpage to send out to the visitor.
Why server side processing is so useful
- Database interaction
- Server side processing allows you to interact with databases via webpage forms, adding, removing or changing information. As a result you can store information submitted on a form directly to a database.
- Dynamic pages
- Dynamic pages are webpages that are “intelligent”. They can respond to user choices to present them with customized webpage. This point is related to “Database interaction”, as dynamic webpages often contain data from databases. For example, you could code your website so that certain pages were only visible to users who submitted a correct username and password: a password-protected section of your website.
- Includes
- Includes are code fragments that the server adds in just before serving the webpage to a visitor. Includes are particularly useful for websites with many pages. By using includes, a web designer can ensure that changing one file can alter all the webpages. This can lead to enormous time savings when it comes to managing and changing websites.
- Strong validation
- Although it is possible to do some user validation using JavaScript, this can be avoided if the vistor has JavaScript disabled. With server side validation, there is no way for a user to submit data that is not valid. Having guaranteed validation like this is important to prvent your website being hacked.
How do you do server side processing?
Server side processing can be done using a variety of languages. Some of the more popular languages to achieve this are PHP, ASP, JSP, and Ruby on Rails. The language chosen depends on the coder’s expertise, whether the web host provides support for the language, and in some cases the particular strength of a language in relation to the task in hand - e.g. some languages are more appropriate for manipulating text.
Learning a server side language is harder than the basic web design language, HTML, although some languages are much easier to learn than others. PHP is a very popular language as it is free, comparatively easy to learn, and has a very large community of coders to provide assistance.
Conclusion
Migrating at a later date to server side processing is simple, but it is something to consider before your website grows very large. For any larger website that has repeating themes (e.g. sidebars, headers), which is usually every website, using includes is highly recommended.
Another factor to bear in mind with regards to server side processing is that it calls for greater server workload, as the server must read the webpage code each time a webpage is browsed. This is not normally an issue for an average website, but for a website that receives many visitors, the increased demand on the server can cause problems and even lead the server to crash. Websites that receive a large number of hits should either ensure their web hosting package can handle high volume server usage or reduce or avoid server side processing.
Server side processing is a technique that can bring enormous benefits to your website. While small and simple websites would not benefit extensively from the implementation of server side processing, for larger and more complex websites, it is likely to be the preferred solution.
Real Free Websites specialises in hosting and coding in PHP server side processing, and will gladly discuss whether server side processing is what your website would benefit from.
