Choices in server-side programming

摘要

One of the fastest growing and changing fields for software developers is in writing applications that are used across the "World Wide Web", which is in turn a client-server system that runs on the Internet. Servers, known by name, can be accessed over the Internet, and a protocol, known as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is used to send requests to servers for text, images (still and moving), audio, and other information. A very large amount of business will be conducted this way, now and in the future, having grown from almost nothing only 5 years ago. Application development on the Web is largely a matter of writing programs that are executed by the server, and we're going to focus our attention on two programming and operating environments that can be used to deliver server-side software.We would like to show how APL can be used to develop programs that run on the server, and we will contrast it with another means of developing and delivering server-side programs. It is not our goal to deliver any judgment about whether or not one system is "better" than the other (we believe that any such statement would be simplistic to the point of being misleading); we intend only to share the results of our experience, help the reader understand what technologies that are available, and assist in making an informed choice if participation in a project of this nature is part of what the reader does.