Compiled Versus Interpreted Classes

A compiled language such as C or C++ tends to be smaller and faster, whereas interpreted languages, like Perl or Rexx sometimes require loading a large interpreter upon start up.

Before you choose your language, you must first consider your priorities. You need to balance the speed and efficiency gains of one programming language versus the ease of programming in another.

If you think you want to learn another language rather than use one you already know, carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the two languages. Perhaps the two most commonly used languages for CGI programming are C and Perl. Both have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Perl is a very high level, yet powerful language especially useful for parsing text. Although its ease of use, flexibility, and power make it an attractive language for CGI programming. Its relatively large size and slower performance sometimes makes it unsuitable for certain applications at times. C programs are smaller, more efficient, and offer more low level control over the system, and yet are more difficult to program, do not have easy built in text processing routines, and are more difficult to debug.

Which language is the best opted for CGI programming language? Whichever language you are most comfortable in programming. Both are just as effective for programming CGI applications, and with the proper libraries, both have similar capabilities. However, if you have a heavily accessed server, you might want to use smaller compiled C programs. If you need to quickly write an application that requires a lot of text processing, you might want to use Perl instead.

There are some important alternatives to CGI applications. Many servers now include a programming API that makes it easier to program direct extensions to the server as opposed to separate CGI applications. Server APIs tend to be more efficient than CGI programs. Other servers include built in functionality that can handle special features without CGI such as database interfacing. Finally, some applications can be handled by some new client side technologies such as Java. Many of the limitations of CGI are limitations of HTML or HTTP. As the standards for the Web in general evolve, so does the capability of CGI.

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