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What is ASP? I hear the term used in many places and it does not really seem to be defined well.
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ASP is an acronym that stands for Active Server Pages. This is a technology that was introduced by Microsoft on their web server IIS (Internet Information Server). If you have ever tried to create a web site, you are probably already familiar with HTML pages. An HTML page contains static content. This means that no matter how many times, or when a particular HTML page is accessed, it is always the same. It never changes. At least, not until you physically edit the file and make any changes to it and put it back on your web site. If the information in your pages need to be updated regularly, then it is easy to see that this process can get quite tedious, especially if you have many pages on your site.
A solution to this is generating dynamic pages. This means the same page will change depending on certain factors over time or for different site visitors. The ASP page is very similar to a regular HTML page, except that it can contain program code that is run on the web server. This allows you to create much more interactive content on your web site. An excellent way to create a dynamic web site is by using ASP. Since ASP is based around other technologies that are familiar to many programmers or technical staff that work with Microsoft products, it is often the perfect choice for creating a dynamic site.
A related technology that may be a source of confusion is the use of the ASP acronym to also stand for Application Service Provider. An Application Service Provider is an organization that will host an application on servers it runs and allows you to access via some means. This definition overlaps in meaning to some degree with the overall effect of what is created when using Active Server Pages to create an interactive web site.
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