Amazon.com description: Product Description: Activate your server to create a dynamic HTML pages personalized for any Web browser!
-- Unlock the power of an Active Server into your Web site and Web pages
-- Understand how to create dynamic Web sites personalized to individual users
-- Discover the commands and routines available in server-side scripting
-- Explore the programming languages that allows you to create dynamic Active Server Pages (ASP) on your Web server

First there were Web pages created with HTML. These pages were static-basically text with pictures. Next, ActiveX controls, Java applets, and animated graphics all added flair to Web pages giving them a more dynamic appearance. This was followed by scripting languages such as VB Script, JScript and Javascript which helped to add an even more dynamic and interactive nature to Web pages.

With all these additions to Web pages, the person browsing gained the ability to see animation and to interact with the individual pages; however there were drawbacks. The first drawback was that a Web page had to be written to respond to every browser that might download it. If a piece of functionality -- such as an animation -- were to be included, it may need to be provided in multiple formats so that all browsers would be able to see it. For the animation example, an ActiveX control could be used for Internet Explorer, a Java applet for Netscape Navigator, and an animated GIF for other browsers. Regardless of the browser, the control, applet, and GIF were always downloaded making the load time for the page very high. Another drawback was that of providing feedback to and from the server. Once the page was downloaded, there really was no communication with the serverwithout using CGI with a high level language such as C++ or Perl. For example, a counter required that a CGI program be called from the user's browser.

Active server pages solve these problems and more. Unlocking Active Server Pages shows you how. With Active Server Pages, a Web page is created dynamically on demand for an individual browser and even for an individual user. This allows personalization of a Web page for the browser making the request. The functionality for other browsers does not need to be downloaded because a page is created "on the fly". Additionally, Active Server Pages move a large part of the processing to the server rather than the user's browser. This makes doing actions, such as counting the number of users, simple.

Unlocking Active Server Pages is a tutorial on how to create dynamic Web sites and use Active Server Pages. This will include the directives that can be used, pre-existing functions, using ActiveX Components, using Visual InterDev, and more.

The CD-ROM provided with this book will include source code and example programs from the book as well as additional Active Server Pages examples.