server-side


server-side

(World-Wide Web)Processing or content generation that is doneon the web server or other server, as opposed to on theclient computer where the web browser is running.

An example is server-side include where one file is insertedin another before it is served, rather than, say, having thebrowser request the files separately and combine them using aniframe. A very common kind of server-side processing is theinclusion of data from a database in a web page.

There are many software environments and technologies designedfor server-side processing, e.g. CGI, ISAPI, WebObjectsand ASP.

The greatest advantage of server-side processing is that it isindependent of the many different client software environmentsthat exist on the Internet, chiefly different web browsersand operating systems. The disadvantage is that the usermust wait for a response from the server which is a muchslower form of interaction than is possible with client-sideprocessing using, e.g., JavaScript.

server-side

Any operation that is performed at the server. Contrast with client-side. See server-side programming language.