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CGI - Common Gateway Interface

In short CGI is a standard, or a protocol for communicating between a Web browser and a Web Server. A full description of what it is and how it works is clearely well outside the scope of this page.

CGI IS NOT a Programming Language

CGI is the vehicle between your viewers borwser and the Web server. IT IS NOT A PRGRAM! In common terms it programs that are written to be used on the Web server are often called 'CGIs', but consider this slang. You can write server side programs in Perl, C, Java, and several other languages. But then the results of these programs must be wrapped up into CGI standards to be communicated back to the viewer.

Forms are a common example of CGIs. The kind of form that you fill out when you buy something online. You fill in the boxes with information which are sent to the Web server to be processed by a form processing program. Again, CGI is used for passing the information to the Web server and on to the program that processes this information.

The CGI BIN

Programs that process CGIs are most often located in a 'cgi-bin'. These programs can be located in just about any directory and can be called just about anything. However, common practice will have it named 'cgi-bin'. If you operate your own Web server you will have more flexibility to call your 'cgi-bin' anything else. The typical Web hosting company has norms to adhear to, and is less likely to call it anything other than 'cgi-bin'.

CGI Scripts or Programs

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