RE: CGI--- WAS: Professional Courtesy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christie Cooksey" <christie(at)thearmidalemall.com>
To: "HWG-Techniques" <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 5:17 PM
Subject: Professional Courtesy

I am going to butt in here a little late: I agree with Christie, web
professionals would show common courtesy to the owner/developer of a website
by not sending false orders, etc.

On the other hand, I have asked legitimate questions of developers and
webmasters concerning their sites and roughly half either never replied or
told me to bug off.

I have not ask detailed questions about how something worked, but general
questions like "What s/w package did you use to do that?" (Forums, content
managers, etc.) and "are you happy with that?" are fair, I feel. Those
whoanswer my questions will usually reply with more information than I asked
for, some even inviting me to ask more questions. 8>)

Also, I have no qualms about reading source code -- MOST of which is so bad
I wouldn't use it under any circumstances! -- but I never directly copy and
paste someone else's code unless I have permission, while ideas and how-to's
of a *general*  nature are fair game, I feel.

In regards to CGI, it is a protocol, and any good programming or scripting
language can be used. The original CGI scripts were written in plain ol' C,
and even Visual Basic can be used, with some effort. CGI is not limited to
database transactions. It can be used to actually execute bona fide
programs, if the language is capable of it.

PHP and other "web" scripting languages are designed specifically for the
webserver/database environment and Perl is an interpreted language with uses
outside the web but with many good features for the web. Which one you use
is almost a relegious choice, like Mac or PC. I know of a few old salts (and
some new users) who think Power Basic is the end-all for CGI!

Thanks for letting me rant!

Mike

ironmike(at)inav.net

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