This week’s topic is CGI, or the “common gateway interface.” This is the interface that allows the web server to run a program on the server, and then return the results of the program to the user. Typically, the program will take as an input the contents of a form—whether it’s a simple one-box search form (like Google), or a complex, lengthy registration form.

Before starting on the exercises (which will be a separate post), read Chapter 11 of the Webmaster in a Nutshell book, and the Webmonkey article “CGI Scripts for Fun and Profit.”

You should also review the information we covered on forms, since form attributes like “action” and “method” become very important in the context of CGI.