ASP is an abbreviation for Active Server Pages, which is a server-side scripting technology developed by Microsoft in 1996 to dynamically generate web pages. ASP scripts are embedded within HTML pages and processed by the server before the results are sent to the user. ASP allows for advanced scripting capabilities to optimize and customize web pages and user experiences. It functions by having the user's input sent to a script on the server via the browser, which then accesses a database to build and customize the results page before sending it back to the user. However, ASP requires a Windows server and is not compatible with Linux servers that typically use PHP for scripting.

1. What is ASP? It’s Properties and Uses
ASP is the abbreviation for Active Server Pages is a technology which can be used for
advanced level scripting. It was the first Server side scripting language developed by
Microsoft in 1996 and was used for optimizing web pages which have been generated
dynamically. “What is ASP?” entails the questions which involve queries on its
characteristics and features etc.
Active Server Pages in Scripting
ASP (Active Server Pages) is not a programming language like all the other computer
programming languages but was developed as an add-on technology with the IIS (Internet
Information Services) released with the Windows developed Option Pack. ASP is an
advanced level scripting language which can be used to optimize the data on your web pages
or website. Technically speaking, ASP is may be considered as a HTML web page which
includes scripts (one or more) which are small programs embedded in the source code. These
ASP scripts are processed by the server of Microsoft before the desired and most appropriate
results are sent and displayed to the customer. “What is ASP?” also involves server side
scripting processes.
Server Side Scripting with ASP
The presence of a CGI (Common Get way Interface) in Active Server Page (ASP) makes it
somewhat similar to the Server side scripting languages which use the said technique. This is
because both of the programs which are being run on a server and they usually accessorize
the web pages with additional features in order to make the web experience more enjoyable.
An instance of Server Side Scripting with ASP
An instance of Server side scripting with ASP can be portrayed as follows: A user sends his
input through the script embedded in the web browser; that script then uses that data obtained
from the user to match and access data stored in the server database; the script then builds
and customizes the results web page according to the search requirements of the user; finally
the results web page is sent to the user and displayed in his web browser window.
Limitations of ASP
The Active Server Pages requires for its operation a Windows based server and his hence not
available for other systems such as Linux which employs PHP for Server side scripting.
Further PHP is included as a default server side scripting language on most Linux systems.
“What is ASP?” is therefore a question whose answer encompasses in it all the above
arguments. ASP is used for the simplest of purposes to make a web page more attractive or
can be used for even more complex purposes such as dynamic web page generation.
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