There are many reasons why programmers want to use server-side scripting in their projects. Accessibility where users can reach the web content using any browser, any device and anywhere, the manageability where codes can be changed easily, security since the source code is not exposed and the web-based 3-tier architecture that enables scalability are some of the reasons that programmers choose server-side scripting.
Below is an evaluation of the three server-side scripting languages
- JSP/Servlets
- ASP/ASP.net
- Python
JSP/Servlet
JavaServer Pages (JSP) is a combination of HTML, XML, Java Servlet and Java Beans technologies and it is regarded as a powerful tool for Java Web developers. It is easy to separate business logic from presentation because JSP can handle presentation layer while business layer be handled by Java code.
Many developers have agreed that JSP is very easy to write for Java developers hence is the developer has Java background experience it will be easy to use JSP. Developers can design JSP pages once and run them on many platforms across the web servers without recodingor altering the program.
There are many supporter of JSP language because Java has a large community hence it is easy for one to get solutions on the particular issue. Additionally JSP is an open source hence the project will not incur licensing expenses. This is a client side scripting where the developer must be concerned about the browser the user has loaded.
ASP/ASP.net
Active Server Pages is a technology for dynamic web content. It is a language that uses B=VBScript and Jscript code in the normal HTML web page to generate a dynamic part. The advanced part of ASP includes COM (ActiveX) components which are written in a C++ programming language.
Execution and compilation of the ASP.net code is done at the server side hence improving the responsive speed compared to other scripts. Program maintenance is reduced in this script language because the content and program logic is separated. It is easy to customize existing codes to generate new controls.
ASP.net is the latest version of ASP which has improvement. The language uses executable languages such as C# Jscript.NET instead of scripting languages used previously. This tools needed to develop a system in this server-side scripting are not open source hence they should be licensed from Microsoft cooperation. This is a server-side scripting where the developer is not concerned with the browser used to load the webpage.
Python
This is a scripting language that is extensively used by many IT solutions such as Google search engine. It is a free language and you do not need licensing. It is also a well-documented language with agile syntax hence easy to use.
References
Danesh, Arman and Wes Tatters, 1996, JavaScript 1.1, Developer’s Guide. Indianapolis: Sams.Net
Walther, St., Steven B., Aaron B., Craig E., Christian G., Keith M., and Jeff S., (1999), Active Server Pages 2.0. Indianapolis: Sams.
Wyke, R. A., Jason D., and Charlton T. (1999), Pure JavaScript, a Code-Intensive Premium Reference. Indianapolis: Sams.
