How much of web development happens on the server or by the host?

I am wanting to get beyond simply writing html code and designing nice looking pages and I want to learn more abotu content rich, dynamic, database driven websites.



I have heard that if you want to have dynamic material on your site a lot of it depends on your host and your hosts server. Like if you want to run cold fusion programming that your server must support it. Or if you want to use perl, php, server sife includes.



I don't even know what much of that really means. This is what I want to learn about.



Specifically, I want to know right now how much of dynamic content is actually dependent on the host.



I would like to use sql for my database as that is what I have edited in the past. Does my host and server need to know this? Do they need to do anything for this to work and will they charge extra?How much of web development happens on the server or by the host?
First of all, what happens with a normal web page is the user's browser sends in a web address, the web server sends back a static text file called "whatever.html" and the browser interprets and displays it.



With a dynamic web page, the browser sends the name of a data file (whatever.php, whatever.perl, whatever.asp, etc.), often with parameters attached (form data and hidden fields). The server sends that to the proper program, which processes the data (accessing databases or other files on the server as necessary) and sends back a text file in html format, which the browser then displays.



That is, all the work is being done on the server. (By the way, a "Web Host" is just a name for a "Web Server" which you are leasing space on.)



You need your site hosted on a server which supports the programming language and database you're going to use. Each of these are software which has to be installed on the server, so there may be a charge (or it may be included as features in the bundle you pay for. Perl is often included, for example.)



Basically, if you're using PHP or Perl you want a Linux/Unix server, if you're using ASP, you want a Windows based server.



The database program you use also has to be installed on the server. On a Linux system, MySQL is probably the most common, and it works nicely with PHP and Perl. I'm not sure what is used on Windows servers beyond Access (which is OK for small applications) and MS SQL Server, both of which (like anything Microsoft) will cost. Cold Fusion is expensive as well, though there's a free version you can install locally for development.



SQL is the query language used by every major database system (from Access to Oracle), so that's not going to affect your choice much.



If you're really low-budget, it's possible to do up a simple dynamic website using Perl as the language and keeping your data in tab-delimited text files. I've done this, but it's tedious and I don't recommend it for a sizeable project.How much of web development happens on the server or by the host?
When it comes to server-side includes, that's what it means - the server must process the content you want to include.



Dynamic sites like you describe are generated by the hosting server and is totally dependent on the host server having the backend needed to provide the dynamic content. The host company might simply provide a web server and a database backend. Some might provide an application framework. Others might even provide an entire content management system where you only have to tweak the look and add the information.



The last link below gives a decent idea on what one hosting company provides. I am not affiliated in any way with that company, it is linked for information only.



Good luck!How much of web development happens on the server or by the host?
U can try Kohli Hosting... they r the best host and they will surly help u in understanding ur problem as well as they will provide u wid the cheapest webhosting plan wid all stuffs loaded already for u!!! http://www.kohlihosting.com/