Operation Manual
499
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 3/28/2012
1. Web browser requests static page. 2. Web server finds page. 3. Web server sends page to requesting browser.
In the case of web applications, certain lines of code are undetermined when the visitor requests the page. These lines
must be determined by some mechanism before the page can be sent to the browser. The mechanism is discussed in
the following section.
Processing dynamic pages
When a web server receives a request for a static web page, the server sends the page directly to the requesting browser.
When the web server receives a request for a dynamic page, however, it reacts differently: It passes the page to a special
piece of software responsible for finishing the page. This special software is called an application server.
The application server reads the code on the page, finishes the page according to the instructions in the code, and then
removes the code from the page. The result is a static page that the application server passes back to the web server,
which then sends the page to the requesting browser. All the browser gets when the page arrives is pure HTML. Here’s
a view of the process:
1. Web browser requests dynamic page. 2. Web server finds page and passes it to application server. 3. Application server scans page for
instructions and finishes page. 4. Application server passes finished page back to web server 5. Web server sends finished page to requesting
browser
<HTML>
<p>H1
</HTML>
Web browser
WEB SERVER
1
2
3
Response
Request
Application
server
<HTML>
<p>H1
</HTML>
<HTML>
<code>
</HTML>
Web browser
WEB SERVER
1
2 3
45
Response
Request