HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) originated as a simple word processor and found success on the web. HTML continues to evolve today and it is what nearly all
web languages today are currently based on, however, HTML has one very large down-side: it is not dynamic. HTML is known as a 'static' language. Because HTML is
static, database interaction, which is so heavily relied on today, is not possible using HTML.
Before going any further, you must understand that dynamic scripts and/or code actually outputs static content. Your content does not remain dynamic because it is
translated by the server and outputted to the client's machine. You will notice this by looking at the source of a dynamic page. For instance, a dynamic index page may be
calling for the integration of several pages into the one page, which may very well be only one line of code on that page. However, it may output hundreds of lines of code
on your page, which is read as static content, or rather, content that you, the client, can see.
In order for a language to be dynamic and interact with databases (essential for e-commerce), it needs to function like a program or piece of software. At the time, in the
early 90s, it seemed logical to use a common language such as 'C' to code dynamic sites. Thus, CGI and Perl were born, being direct derivatives of C. CGI and Perl are
still used widely today, however the language has reached its lifespan and is on its way out the door. Although Perl is a sufficient and fast language, in order for Perl to
remain fast and efficient, it must be used on fast machines. Perl consumes mass amounts of resources including memory and processing.
In lieu of Perl's problems, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) was born in the late 90s. PHP hasn't caught on until the past few years, now being ever-so-common among
discussion board systems such as Invisionboard, phpBB and vBulletin. PHP doesn't necessarily offer a huge speed difference over Perl, which it can do at times, but
more importantly PHP offers a HUGE stress relief off of server resources.
So where does ASP fit in this picture? Let's go back to the mid 1990s when Perl was still new in the picture. Microsoft had introduced its new Windows NT server
software and with IIS, a web server that was specifically designed for interactive websites using a code called ASP (
