10 Tips Every Beginner Should Know About Web Applications

Monday, February 25th, 2008

Categories: Web Development

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Here’s a really, really basic list for all you beginner’s out there who aren’t quite familiar with some of the aspects of web applications.

ASP.NET and ASP (sometimes known as classic ASP) are not the same.
ASP, PHP, ASP.NET is a short list of server-side languages. HTML code and other server-side bits are generated based on these coding languages on the server before it ever reaches someone’s browser. That’s why if you viewed the source of a PHP page and HTML page with the same content, they would look the same.
ASP and ASP.NET can only supported on Windows-based servers. PHP can be supported on both Linux and Windows environments. Other languages will have their own requirements.
Javascript is executed by the browser after the page is viewed. This is why you see the Javascript code when you view source. Javascript can be disabled in the user’s browser.
SQL is a language for manipulating databases (including MSSQL and MySQL).
MSSQL and MySQL (among others) are types of databases. The basics are the same as in the both house data. MSSQL is supported by Microsoft (and only runs on Windows-based servers). MySQL is supported by a community and can be run on both Linux and Windows environments.
XML is used to store data in a text file that can be parsed by most other server-side programming languages. It’s a lot easier to move an XML file around then a database.
You don’t need a special program to code any of these languages as long as you have a server that can handle them.
All forms need to be processed by a server-side application to do anything interesting. (Contact forms, registration forms, etc.)
The internet is a wealth of information. Any language can be learnt sifting through resources available to you.