CGI

Definition

CGI stands for:

Common Gateway Interface

It's a protocol defining how scripts/programs on the server can communicate with your browser.

The protocol defines how browser and server must interact to get a server program to create or interact with a web page.

CGI is used to build web sites where the server can dynamically build the web page being requested.

What else

Most ISP's are CGI-capable... well, the ones that you pay for anyway.

Examples

There are many many CGI scripts out there, two common usages are:

• Many "hit counters" are implemented as CGI scripts
• Some shopping carts are CGI scripts

More Info

To find out more:

• This is a very comprehensive web site: http://cgi.resourceindex.com/ 
• There are innumerable books on CGI scripts. If you find yourself needing to write one, I would combine online research ( www.google.com ) with a book on the topic.

However, CGI is an old (and creaky) protocol and will eventually (I presume) become obsolete.

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