Mention ASP (Active Server Pages) to any Linux programmer and they'll probably do one of three things:
- explain that ASP can't be done on Linux and to use PHP instead
- explain that Apache servers can have an additional module to allow ASP (except that the pages will have to be rewritten in Perl)
- explain that ASP pages are only available on a Windows based web server
That is, of course, if they don't know about Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 - with Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 installed a programmer can develop ASP on a Linux system.
Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 Platforms
Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 is not soley available on Linux, it is also available for:
- AIX
- Solaris
- Unix
- Windows
This is the big advantage to any ASP programmers - they are no longer bound to Windows only; they can now move to any platform, benefiting from the reductions in cost (since the Linux operating system is free).
Installing Sun Java System Web Server 7.0
Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 may be downloaded from the Sun Download Center (http://www.sun.com/download/) by using the Sun Download Manager. Once the required files have been downloaded and uncompressed then a simple installation program can be run to install and to start the server.
Adding ASP Support to Sun Java System Web Server 7.0
Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 does not support ASP by default - for that Sun Active Server Pages 4.0.3 must be installed as well.
Sun Active Server Pages 4.0.3 is also available from the Sun Download Center, and again it is downloaded using the Sun Download Manager. However, unlike Sun Java System Web Server 7.0, a Sun online account is required in order to download ASP 4.0.3 - fortunately creating that account is free and only takes a few minutes.
With the account in place and the files downloaded then it's just a matter of running another installation script - this one will automatically update and restart the web server.
Creating a Sun Active Server Pages 4.0.3 Web Page
If Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 has been installed on a Linux system then the installation process will have created a directory named something like:
for example, for host name 'aeneas' the process will have created:
it is this directory that will contain the pages for the web site, for example a simple page called hello.asp:
This ASP will now be run correctly regardless of whether the ASP is on a Linux server or a Windows server.
Conclusion
ASP has now become a cross-platform programming language thanks to Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 - a web server which is:
- like Apache (but unlike Windows) in that it is free and available for a number of different operating systems (in particularly Windows and Linux)
- like Windows (but unlike Apache) in that it supports ASP applications
With Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 a web developer can have best of both worlds - the reliablity and security of Linux and the power and versatility of ASP.
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