:: CGI-BIN

The common gateway interface (CGI) is a standard way for a Web server to pass a Web user's request to an application program and to receive data back to forward to the user. When the user requests a Web page (for example, by clicking on a highlighted word or entering a Web site address), the server sends back the requested page. However, when a user fills out a form on a Web page and sends it in, it usually needs to be processed by an application program. The Web server typically passes the form information to a small application program that processes the data and may send back a confirmation message. This method or convention for passing data back and forth between the server and the application is called the common gateway interface (CGI).

Be Interactive!

We encourage development of highly interactive, successful sites. For your site to be truly interactive you need to be able to run computer programs in your own cgi-bin. You can also run cgi scripts outside of your cgi-bin, but you would have to name them with the .cgi extension for security reasons. Cgi scripts placed inside the cgi-bin can have any valid extension, .cgi, .pl, etc.