I need some computer help

[April]

Can anyone tell me where to find a basic description and/or explanation of stuff like PHP, Java, ASP, and the like? I'm really confused and ignorant. I've been browsing through Cnet for quite a while, and can't find anything basic enough.

I want to understand what these things are, and what they do. I'm looking for a web host, and they reference these terms, so I want to know what I'm looking at. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Neale]

Try doing a Google.com search

Or AskJeeves.com

Phrase your query like: Java tutorial

or PHP tutorial

 

[Neale]

Try this link, too:

http://www.webopedia.com/

 

[Weird Harold]

I want to understand what these things are, and what they do. I'm looking for a web host, and they reference these terms, so I want to know what I'm looking at. Thanks for any help you can give.

I've found that the Dummies series of books are very helpful.

PHP, CGI, and ASP are different scripting languages that run on the host computer. JAVA is a scripting language that runs on the client computer. (your computer instead of the one that hosts the site.

I know there is a JAVA for Dummies book out, and CGI is the extension used for PERLE scripting. I'm not sure of which languages use the other extensions.

 

[April]

Thanks Neale and Weird Harold. I really appreciate your help. Very useful ideas and information. I didn't even know that PHP, for instance, was a language. I thought it was hardware or something. LOL

 

[DarkAngel]

this is the best place you

can get the infor you are looking for....

http://wdvl.com/

 

[BubbaRednek]

Can anyone tell me where to find a basic description and/or explanation of stuff like PHP, Java, ASP, and the like?

They are all languages used to create pages dynamically, when requested by a visitor to your site.

In the beginning, (of the web, anyway ), pages were simple files stored on a server somewhere. When a visitor dropped by, the file would be sent to their computer and displayed in their browser. One of the problems with this is that it's not really suited to certain needs because to change the page, a webmaster had to edit the file, and re-upload it to the server.

If your website is something like Literotica, where you want to send out content (such as messages) that are constantly being updated, simple static pages won't work.

PHP and ASP are files of instructions that tell the server what content to send to the visitor everytime they receive a new request. So the page you're looking at right now isn't really a "page" at all, it's a stream of data that was sent to your browser when you clicked on the message topic.

Now that I'm out of breath from spewing more than you wanted to know, I'll just say that if you're looking for someone to host a website that you are doing yourself, the ability to handle these "scripting" languages probably isn't worth paying extra for. You would have to learn to write programs in one of them for it to be useful. It's not all that difficult, but it can be time-consuming.

 

[April]

Thanks, BubbaRednek. I'm probably not gonna learn those languages, but I think the more info I have, the better off I am.

Thanks, DarkAngel. I will go look at that site tonight.