| FAQ Article: What is a CGI script? |
CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. Most web sites on the Internet use cgi programs (called cgi scipts) to perform useful functions 24 hours a day. CGI scripts are essentially programs which are written and then uploaded to a web site. CGI scripts can be written in a variety of different langauges, the most popular being Perl and C.
Perl is the most commonly used of the above. Not all servers support all the languages above, it may be that a server only lets you use Perl scripts. Usually, cgi scripts are kept in a directory on the web site called /cgi-bin/ - it is not uncommon to be taken to a web site where the address is something like:
http://www.company.com/cgi-bin/login.cgi
CGI programs are a common way for Web servers to interact dynamically with users. Many HTML pages that contain forms, for example, use a CGI program to process the form's data once it's submitted.
Another increasingly common way to provide dynamic feedback for Web users is to include scripts or programs that run on the user's machine rather than the Web server. These programs can be Java applets, Java scripts, or ActiveX controls. These technologies are known collectively as client-side solutions, while the use of CGI is a server-side solution because the processing occurs on the Web server. You can not normally obtain the source code to a CGI script.
A lot of people will disagree with me here - but in my opinion, CGI is dated. Most web sites have switched to scripting languages such as PHP or ASP.
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Posted on: 19-08-1999
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