Advantages of Server-Side Scripting

Server-side scripting means that a script that is executed on a website will be processed by the server and then displayed as regular HTML in the user’s browser. The alternative to it, client-side scripting relies on the user’s own browser, often including plugins, to execute the designated scripts. Both are common, but there are some decisive advantages to taking care of scripting on the server side.

When a website relies on the client’s browser or plugins to execute the script, the assumption is that the necessary plugins or features are actually installed and enabled. If the user does not have the necessary requirements or chooses not to use them, those features on the site will be unavailable. Examples of client-side scripting include Java and Adobe Flash.

With server-side scripting, everything happens internally before the user ever sees the site. By the time the user gets to the page, it is already displayed correctly, and it will be the same content for every user. They do not have to download any extra tools or plugins. Examples of server-side scripting include PHP, Perl, and ASP.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

How to Install Apache Tomcat in CentOS/Redhat/Fedora

Apache Tomcat is free and open source software that implements a Java-based HTTP web server using Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP). It is an option to consider when you are implementing a content management system or creating web applications.

There are four main steps to take to get Tomcat ready for use on a dedicated server:

1. Install Java. Note that many Linux distributions will offer Java installations through their package managers. To install on CentOS, see their wiki.

2. Install Tomcat

The easiest option is to install Tomcat from the default YUM repository:

yum install tomcat*

This will provide an older version of Tomcat than is currently available from Apache. If you want the latest, you can download a binary directly from the Apache website.

Source: coreservlets.com
Photo: Wikimedia Commons