Building Web Sites All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 2. An Introduction to ASP

In This Chapter

• What is ASP?

• Running ASP on your computer

• Installing the IIS

• Introducing ASP scripting

• Rotating images and ad banners

The thought of writing code sends a shiver down the spine of many Web designers, including yours truly. However, at times you have to buck up and actually dive into the deep end of the pool to satisfy a client. ASP (Active Server Pages) is code that is parsed by the server, therefore it's known as server‐side technology. ASP pages can change on‐the‐fly to suit the need of the site visitor. One prime example of ASP pages is plucking information from a database and then serving it up to the client (the Web site visitor). The client submits the request to the server, which can be in the form of a query. The server responds to the query, writes the page, and sends it back to the client. With a fast server, the transaction is seamless. While this miniscule chapter is by no means a substitute for the heady subject of creating ASP pages, it shows you enough to know whether you want to venture further or put a clove of garlic on a piece of string and wave it in front of any client that says, “Oh by the way, do you do ASP?”

Understanding ASP

ASP is the brainchild of Microsoft, the same people who brought you Windows Me. Okay, Windows Me was a bust, but ASP isn't. ASP can do a lot of things that HTML could never even dream of. If you're going to create ASP pages for a client, you must run them on a Windows server. You can create ASP ...