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Introduction to Server-Side Processing

So now you have seen how user requests are gathered by the GUI Layer and how they are sent across the wire to a web server by the Communication Layer. So now what happens?

Well, in 99.9% of web applications on the other end of the wire from the web browser is a web server. The web server is the entry point to the Middleware Layer.

The purpose of the Middleware Layer is to accept incoming requests and process them, using the resources provided by the web server, the machine that the web server runs on, or by the network of servers and resources that the web server is connected to.

Consider the most basic function of a web server: distributing HTML files. In this case, a web browser requests a given HTML file from the web server. In response, the web server will find the given file on the local (or networked) file system and send it back to the browser.

Of course, the web server has at its disposals a whole world of resources above and beyond file systems. Web servers, in fact, are in close contact with all sorts of resources including data stores, applications, business objects, operating system resources, authentication services (server-based or directory services like LDAP/ADSI) and more.

A good Middleware Layer web application developer will have her fingers in every pie in an organization and will know what resources she can rip off from the work of other developers.

Of course, the next question is how.

Granted, the web server has the ability to grab files from a web document tree. That is built-in web server functionality. But how can a web server get to all those other resources?

Contents:

CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
Perl is the Right Tool for the Job
Perl is Easy
SSI (Server Side Includes)
SSI Directives
SSI Directives Cont.
SSI with Proprietary Tag Sets

Secured Transmission (SSL , HTTPS)
Introduction to the Web Application Development Environment (Tools)
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)