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21.2 Pieces of the Puzzle

You may be thinking, "Yeah, that sounds fantastic, but so did that time-share in the
Bahamas. What's the catch?"

The catch is that dynamic Web sites are more complex and require more technologies
to get off the ground. Simple static Web sites only require the computer you use to
build them and a Web server to dish them out. In fact, as you can see by previewing
your site in a Web browser, you don't even need a Web server to effectively view a
static Web site.

Dynamic Web pages, by contrast, require more (see Figure 21-2). Not only is there
a Web server that handles requests for Web pages, there are also two other types of
servers: an application server and a database server. And dynamic pages contain more than HTML; they also contain some form of programming code. An application server
processes this code and sends a complete HTML page to the Web server, which, in
turn, sends that on to the visitor. In many cases, the programming code requires the
application server to retrieve information from a database and then merge it with
the HTML of a page.

NOTE

In this context, a server is software that dishes out particular types of informationWeb pages, database
queries, or the output of a program. It doesn't necessarily mean a separate computer; you can (and frequently
do) have Web, database, and application servers all running happily together on a single machine.

The technology
behind a simple Web
site is straightforward:
When you
come to the site, the
Web server sends
your computer (the
client computer)
the Web pages,
graphics, and other
elements of the page.
When you come to
a dynamic page,
on the other hand,
the Web server
must communicate
with an application
server, which in turn
communicates with a
database server. The
final results are sent
back to you through
the Web server.

Because dynamic Web sites require more technology, you can't just open a dynamic
page on your own computer, before it's been posted online, as you can a regular Web
page. You must view a dynamic page through a Web server that has an appropriate
application server running.

It also requires setting up a database and connecting that database to your application
server. Although this can be quite complex, it's not difficult to set up a basic
Web server, application server, and database on your own computer. It's also easy to
connect to other computers that are already configured to run dynamic, databasedriven
Web pages.

And once you or your company's system administrator have set up the Web server and
other assorted components, Dreamweaver MX 2004 can easily create complex Web
pages that access databases and let you build powerful Web applications, all without
ever learning any programming.

Even so, there are literally hundreds of combinations of Web, application, and database
servers, and Dreamweaver doesn't work with all of them. However, it is capable
of working with five of the most popular and powerful combinations, using seven
different programming languages!

NOTE

The term Web application refers to Web pages that work together to complete a task. For example, code that builds pages that let visitors search a database of products, view individual product pages, and add
products to a shopping cart would be considered a Web application.

21.2.1 Understanding Server Models

In Dreamweaver MX 2004 lingo, the different application servers and programming
languages are called server models. Dreamweaver recognizes several Server Models,
including ASP and ASP.NET (pronounced "a-s-p" and "a-s-p dot net"), ColdFusion,
PHP, and JSP. Each server model has its own set of unique requirements and its own
methods of performing identical tasks.

Which one you use depends on which resources you have available: which type of
Web server hosts your site, the operating system it uses, and which application server
is available. For example, if you're hosting on Linux or Unix, you'll most likely end
up using PHP; if you're hosting on Windows NT or 2000, meanwhile, you've already
got access to ASP and possibly ASP.NET. It all comes down to what you have on your
computer, what your company uses, or (if you're using a Web hosting service) what
the host computer understands. Here's a brief description of each.

21.2.1.1 ASP

ASP (Active Server Pages) is one of the most common ways to start building database-
driven Web sites. This Microsoft technology is well established, so you'll find
numerous resources to help you along. In addition, if you're working on Windows 98,
NT, 2000, or XP Professional, you already have the software you need to get started:
Personal Web Server (PWS) on Windows 98 or Internet Information Server (IIS) on
Windows NT, 2000, or XP.

NOTE

Windows XP Home Edition and Windows ME can't run Personal Web Server. Microsoft, of course,
recommends upgrading to Windows XP Professional (ka-ching!).

Both PWS and IIS are Web servers that have a built-in application serverthe part
that understands ASP code. In fact, it understands two different programming languages:
VBScript and server-side JavaScript, both of which Dreamweaver MX 2004
speaks fluently. (Although you don't need to know either of these programming languages
to get startedjust pick one and let Dreamweaver take care of the restyou
will find many more resources for using VBScript with ASP pages. So if you plan to
expand your knowledge of ASP beyond what Dreamweaver can do, you might want
to use VBScript.)

If you don't have either the PWS or IIS software already set up on your computer,
here's where to get them:

You can download Personal Web Server from Microsoft. There's an easy step-bystep
tutorial (including a link to the download file) at
www.asp101.com/resources/haneng/042199.asp
.

IIS is included on the installation CDs of Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional.

ASP can work with a variety of databases. For small projects, you can use Microsoft
Access (the database program that comes with some versions of Microsoft Office), since it's fairly easy to use. For more demanding projects where lots of data needs to be stored and many users will access it, Microsoft's SQL Server is a better choice.

21.2.1.2 .NET

.NET is the newest Microsoft server technology. It's actually an entire suite of technologies
intended to integrate many activities over the Internet.

ASP.NET is more advanced and more powerful than ASP, but also more difficult to
learn. Since it's a relative newcomer, you'll find fewer teaching resources available to get
started. ASP.NET can be programmed in numerous languages, including Microsoft's
VB.NET, C# (pronounced "see sharp"), and JScript.NET, as well as more than 20 other
languages. Dreamweaver MX 2004 recognizes both the C# and VB languages.

Like regular ASP, ASP.NET runs in conjunction with Microsoft's IIS Web server. You
need to be running Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional, and have IIS installed.
You also need to install the .NET Framework, downloadable from
www.asp.net
.

Like ASP, ASP.NET works with many different databases.

21.2.1.3 ColdFusion

ColdFusion is a server application from Macromedia (the maker of Dreamweaver).
It works in conjunction with several different Web servers, including IIS and Apache,
and uses its own programming language, which resembles HTML. For this reason,
some Web designers find it easier to learn than other programming languages.

The downside is that this application doesn't come cheap. You can always download
a developer's editiona free version that runs on your computerbut if you want
to host the Web site on the Internet, you have to buy the ColdFusion Server package,
or find a Web hosting company that offers ColdFusion hosting.

The Developer Edition of ColdFusion comes with the Macromedia Studio MX package
and is available for download at
www.macromedia.com/software/trial_download/
.

Like ASP and ASP.NET, ColdFusion works with many different databases.

21.2.1.4 JSP

JSP (Java Server Pages) is a server language based on Sun's popular Java programming
language. It requires a Java application server, like Macromedia's JRun server.

This approach is not for the faint of heart, however, since setting up a Java Server and
connecting it to a database can be tricky. JSP is one of the more difficult languages
to learn, too. If you don't have a knowledgeable guide, you're better off starting with
a simpler technology like ASP.

A widely used version of JSP is Tomcat, available at
java.sun.com/products/jsp/tomcat/
. It's open source (that is, polished by a worldwide population of volunteer programmers), free, and able to work with the Apache Web server and many different databases.

21.2.1.5 PHP

PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a programming language that was created
specifically for building dynamic Web pages. It works in conjunction with a variety
of Web servers including IIS, but was initially created for the Apache Web server. Like
Apache itself, it's available as a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, or any flavor
of Unix or Linux. Download it from
www.php.net.

While PHP can work with a variety of different database servers, Dreamweaver MX
2004 only understands MySQLanother free product available at
www.mysql.com
.

21.2.2 Picking a Server Model

With so many choices, you're probably wondering which server model to choose. If
you've never built a dynamic Web site before, are on Windows, and want to be operational
as quickly as possible, your best bet is to start with ASP using a Microsoft Access
database. You can create a database using Access (a relatively inexpensive program)
and take advantage of either Personal Web Server (PWS) or IIS to run ASP pages.

In fact, since this is the easiest method, this book's tutorials will concentrate on
building ASP pages. Once you get the hang of Dreamweaver MX 2004's dynamic
Web-building tools, you can always try any of the other server models to build your
sites. (However, switching a single site from one server model to another is difficult
and not recommended.)

However, when you're building a real-world Web site, this decision may be out of
your hands. You may be working for a company that's already using ColdFusion
for its Web site. Or, if you've already got a Web site up and running but want to add some database-driven content, you'll have to use what's installed on that server. For
instance, if your site is currently hosted at a Web hosting company, you should contact
them to find out which operating system, Web server, and databases it uses. If they're
Windows-based, odds are that they use IIS, meaning that you can use ASP and either
Access or SQL Server databases. On the other hand, if they're a Unix operation, you'll
most likely find the Apache Web server, PHP, and MySQL database.

Fortunately, the tools Dreamweaver MX 2004 provides for the different server models
are largely the same. Once you learn Dreamweaver, you'll be able to build pages for
any of the seven server models it works with.