Comparing both

Comparing between client side and server side scripting.

Client side scripting.

This involves the writing of scripts which are usually executed on the client's side on the client's computer.

Uses of client side scripting.

·         They make interactive webpages

·         They create dynamic web pages.

Server side scripting.

This involves the writing of scripts that are usually executed on the web server rather than on the client's computer. 

Differences between server side and client side scripting.

Server side	Client side
They are executed on the web server	They are executed on the client’s computer
Server side scripts cannot be copied by the clients because it cannot be accessed by the clients.	Client’s side scripts can be copied by users.
They make use of the server resources	They make use of the client’s computer resources.
It is usually affected by the processing speed of the server.	It is usually affected by the processing speed of the client’s computer.
It does not require plugins	It requires plugin (Wilson, 2015)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Client side scripting.

Advantages	Disadvantages
They make our webpages more interactive.	It takes time for the web developer to develop the scripts.
They are executed quickly because the execution is done on the client’s computer.	Scripts can be copied by other web users and used for personal work.
They are alternatives for substitution if a user’s browser does not support scripts.	Different browsers have different syntax that they use in presenting this script.
They give web developers control over the layout and content of their webpages.	Client side scripting will not function if it has been disabled in the browser. (Bollaert, 20014)

Advantages and Disadvantages of server side scripting.

Advantages	Disadvantages
It reduces the work load that the client’s computer does because no scripting technology is carried out on the client’s computer.	It most times require the server operating system to be installed on the server.
It does not require the user to download plugins unlike in the client’s side.	It is usually affected by the processor speed of the web server.
It allow users to create dynamic web pages using content management system without necessarily editing codes.	Exploited by hackers
Extra security as the clients cannot view its source codes	Complex debugging as there are lots of scripts on the server.
There are often security consideration when sending when sending important details or information. (Wilson, 2015)

In conclusion, there are two ways a web developer can customize his webpages. It could either be on the client side or rather on the server side. In client side scripting, the execution of the scripts is done on the client’s computer and server side scripting involves the execution of the scripts on the web server.

Web server scripting is simply technology whereby a client’s sends a request from his or her computer that is then processed in the webserver and sent back as HTML files to the browser that then translate this files to the graphics and text on the website. It also has a lot of features such as; its execution on the client’s side and the inaccessibility of the scripts by the clients. It helps in the download and upload of files as well as in the analyzing of websites. 

It makes use of already set standards like adjustable fonts to meet the accessibility standards of websites. Web server scripting is highly recommended because of its security advantage over the client side scripting.         

References:

Bollaert, J., 20014. Advantages and Disadvantages of client side scripts. [Online]
Available at: http://www.opensourcetutorials.com/tutorials/Design-And-Layout/Usability/web-widgets-part-2/page2.htm
[Accessed 4 December 2015].

Wilson, M., 2015. Server side scripting- Pros and Cons. [Online]
Available at: http://www.eukhost.com/blog/webhosting/server-side-scripting-pros-and-cons/
[Accessed 4 December 2015].

Functionality, Accessibility and Features

Functionality, Accessibility and Features

Functionality of web server scripting.

There are a lot of uses and functionalities of web server scripting such as; Login access, E-commerce, Shopping carts, forums, uploading files, Web management, managing user profiles, web analysis etc.

·        Login access: The web server stores all the data concerning a user's account on the internet thereby managing the user's profile. When a user puts in his login details, the website then sends a request from the web browser to the web server which then checks the database for this details and sends back a response allowing the user to log in. If the user entered the wrong details, an error message would be sent back to the user without giving him access to the page he wanted to log into.

·       Changing previous details: Many people often change their account details often for security reasons which is also handled by the webserver. A user who is trying to change his E-mail password would be requested to put in his previous password before the new one. If the previous password is correct, the user would be granted access to change the password but if the old password is wrong, the user would not be granted access to change the password.

·       Analyzing of websites: Web server scripting also helps in analyzing websites such that most websites visited can account for the number of viewers that visited the page. Even as a blogger, the number of page views you get on your blog daily can be shown to you with the help of web server scripting.

·       File upload and download: Scripts on the server also plays a role in the uploading and downloading of files. When a file is uploaded to a server, it is seen in a temporary location as a hypertext markup language (HTML) until the scripts on the server takes it to a permanent location on the server. Clients can download this file whenever they want to as all the need to do is to send the request to the server that then send this file to the clients for downloading. A good example is the YouTube channel where people can upload videos to the web server that can also be downloaded when needed.

Accessibility of web server scripting.

The two pieces legislation for handling web accessibility issues from the United Kingdom (UK) government was introduced as well the Special Educational needs and disabilities (SEDNA) as well as DDA (disabilities discrimination act) (Rowlands, 2014).

In collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) government, the authorities of the web have come up with standards that must be adhered to and met to ensure good web accessibility. Below are some of them;

·        Resizable font size: Font size should be resizable to any size when a client is not comfortable with the default size.

·        Support for screen readers: An accessible website should also have option for screen readers where a software is used in reading or interpreting the content of the page. This would help people with visual ailments access the websites comfortably. A good example is the text to speech software. 

·        Alternative text: This should also be available so that when the default font is not available on the client’s browser, there would be another option for another font size to show. This could be done using html by declaring the font you want and a comma before the next alternative font example; verdana, arial.

·        Color blindness: Good and accessible website should have good color selection for their web pages for easy readability especially with people with color blindness.

·        Adjustable fonts: A website font should also be adjustable either by increasing or decreasing the font size as the case may be.

·        Resolution: The screen resolution should also be considered making sure that higher number of pixels is used for the content of the web page with high resolution images.

·        Alternative color scheme: There should also be options that allow the default color on the webpage to be changed if a user is not comfortable with the present color of the web page.

       Features of a web server.

·        Large data storage support: The main or primary aim of a web server is to store or house web pages so that they can be accessed by a client when requested for. This web servers therefore tend to have large storage capacity to enable it store or house as many web pages as possible for multiple websites.

·        Improved security: Unlike in client side scripting where the scripts are executed on the clients computer, web server scripts are usually executed on the web server which restricts the clients from viewing the source codes of the requested pages. Many web developers clone pages today with the help of client side scripts but the improved security in server side scripts does not allow the users see the scripts talk less of cloning the requested web page.

·        It is not browser selective: In our world today, different web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, google chrome etc. are used in accessing web pages. Web server scripting technology does not necessarily select the kind of browser to use because the scripts are not stored on the browsers themselves but on the web servers. In other words, any browser can be used in web server scripting only if the scripts of the requested page is stored and executed on the web server.

·        Easy for the users: Web server scripting is relatively easy for the users as compared to client side scripting. The only work the user does here is to send a request for a webpage to the web server using his or her browser and the rest of the process is done on the web server without involving the clients that sends the request.

·        Bandwidth regulation: Modern web servers have the feature of controlling their traffic. The web servers can minimize the excess network traffic by setting its choice of bandwidth values to control the rate at which data is transmitted over the internet. This also helps to eliminate the down time in web sites that is usually caused by excess traffic. 

Features of web server scripting.

·        They are executed on the web server.

·        Server side scripts cannot be accessed by the clients.

·        They make use of the server resources.

·        It is affected by the processing speed of the server.

·        It does not require plugins.

·        Extra security for the scripts on the server. 

References:

G., A., 2013. What is website scripting?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.greengeeks.com/kb/3684/what-is-website-scripting/
[Accessed 3 December 2015].

Rowlands, C., 2014. Principles of web server scripting. [Online]
Available at: https://prezi.com/otsyyzsgalzx/unit-27-principles-of-web-server-scripting/
[Accessed 4 December 2015].

Introduction to web servers.

Introduction to web servers.

SERVERS: A server basically can be simply defined as any computer device on a network that servers as a provider of services to other computer devices on that network (Whalts, 2015). Some examples of servers are; a file server which is a computer device on a network that houses or store files in it other for other people with their devices to access. Also, print servers are computers also on a network with a printer device attached to it with the primary aim of sharing that printer device to any other computer on that network.

 (G., 2013)

WEB SERVERS: There are many individuals today that know how to drive a vehicle without really knowing the real mechanism behind the process. The same mechanism is applied in websites as many people who view webpages on the internet do not really know the process involved and what causes the web pages they are looking for to be sent to them. This whole process of delivering the web page a user searched for is done with the help of a web server.  

A web server could simply be defined as a computer program that stores or houses websites (Hypertext markup language (HTML) pages, files etc.) so that people can visit them on a network (Techopedia, 2015). These web servers respond to the HTTP (Hypertext transfer protocol) request from a client by delivering the content of the requested page to the client.

          The web browser in a computer is a web client that requests for webpages in form of HTML (Hypertext markup language) files from the web servers. This process is achieved when a user types in the uniform resource locator (URL) example; www.konga.com in a web browser. The device that the web browser is running on with the help of its internet protocol (IP) address sends a request to the Internet protocol (IP) address of the device serving as the web server for the requested web page by the client.

     

       A daemon is a computer program that continually runs and exists for the purpose of handling periodic service request that a computer service expect to receive. All web servers have HTTPD (Hypertext transfer protocols daemon that continually waits for request to come in from web clients or users and forwards the request to other programs as appropriate. These request is then processed from the web servers via Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to the web browser that requested for the page as only HTML data. The web browser now translate these files to images, text, videos, links etc. that the end users see on many web pages. If the requested web page is not found, the web server send an error message to the client.

(Maryskc, 2015)

(Wilson, 2015)

The diagram above explains the concept of how web pages are gotten from web servers over the internet and displayed for the clients as explained above.

It is also important to note that web servers also have software installed on them that can be accessed by the clients. Examples of such software are; Wordpress and Joomla.

Some examples of these web servers includes; Microsoft Internet Information services (MIIS), Apache hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server etc. 

References

Techopedia, 2015. Web servers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4928/web-servers
[Accessed 5 December 2015].

Whalts, 2015. Server. [Online]
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/server 
[Accessed 3 December 2015].

Whalts, 2015. Web servers. [Online]
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Web-server
[Accessed 5 December 2015].

Web server scripting and language

Web server scripting and language

Web Server’s scripting.

Scripts could be defined as series of command belonging to different scripting languages that are often embedded and linked to web pages. Scripts are being interpreted rather than compiled.

Scripts are written to add more functionality to pre-existing programs. It could either be a server side script or client side script. Server side scripts are blocks of codes that are executed on the web server while client side scripts are executed by the user’s browser on the client side.    

       

Web server scripting can therefore be defined as a technique in web development where a client's request is responded to with the help of the execution of the scripts on the web server. A good example of this technology is when a user tries to login in to his or her E-mail account. He or she enters the credentials and clicks the login button which sends a message like a request to a server. The web server now properly checks the login details and pulls out the account from the database and sends the HTML page before the browser translates it to the text and graphics the client see.  

These scripts are written in different languages such; the Hypertext preprocessor (PHP), Java, Ruby, Perl, Python, web DNA, cold fusion, Active server pages (ASP) etc. Below is an explanation of some of these relevant scripting language;

• Active server pages (ASP): As the name implies, the Microsoft Active server pages was developed by Microsoft. It is not a scripting language but is rather referred to as a frame work used in combining other scripting languages such as Java scripts and visual basic (VB) scripts with software components. Most of these software component that the Active server page relies on for it to function are windows specific which makes ASP closely related to the windows operating system. ASP could also run on other operating system like Linux as the case may be. Although while ASP is expensive especially while purchasing these software components developed in languages like c/c++, ASP is also fairly easy to learn.

•  Hypertext preprocessor (PHP): PHP (Hypertext preprocessor) is general purpose server side scripting language which is open source and can also be used on Mac, Linux, Windows operating system etc. Its comprehensive function library and familiar syntax has attracted lots of programmers to it. As compared to ASP, PHP also has a simple syntax but is free therefore giving it an edge over ASP. Compared to Perl, PHP can do almost everything that Perl does and faster because while Perl runs a CGI (common gateway interface) program to handle page request, PHP does not.

·        Perl: This language was developed before the World Wide Web itself and many other web server scripting languages as its first version was released on the 18th of December, 1987 (Yank, 2001). Perl was actually created before the (WWW) World Wide Web because its reason for creation was not actually for web development. This multipurpose scripting language was designed to handle task involving text manipulation from various sources that is then brought together to form one document which is also what is what happens in web development on the server side. 
             Complex functionalities such as the common gateway interface (CGI) can be embedded into this language. CGI can be used in the creation of dynamic web content which is also supported by many web servers. Although it is widely used because of its flexibility, other scripting languages can get your web development job done easily because Perl was not mainly created for web development. It is also important to note that Perl is not an acronym as many people refer it to as Practical Extraction and Report Language. See more at; http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PerlIsNotAnAcronym 

·        Cold fusion: Originally created by Allaire in 1995 but was bought by Macromedia later on (Yank, 2001). Unlike all other scripting language, it tends to act more like hypertext markup language (HTML) because it gives you tags to use like HTML tags. Its latest version has over 300 tags already built in its library alongside extra ability to use customized tags of programming language like Java, C++ and C makes cold fusion flexible. <CFQUERY>to query the database to retrieve information and <CFOUTPUT> that displays the query results are examples of the cold fusion tags.

References

G., A., 2013. What is website scripting?. [Online] Available at: https://www.greengeeks.com/kb/3684/what-is-website-scripting/[Accessed 3 December 2015].

Rowlands, C., 2014. Principles of web server scripting. [Online] Available at: https://prezi.com/otsyyzsgalzx/unit-27-principles-of-web-server-scripting/[Accessed 4 December 2015].

Yank, K., 2001. Which server side language is right for you?. [Online] Available at: http://www.sitepoint.com/server-side-language-right/[Accessed 4 December 2015].