CGI-Bin
CGI-Bin, short for Common Gateway Interface Binaries, is a directory on a Web Server where executable files or scripts are stored. These scripts run on the server and dynamically generate web pages based on user input or other data, bridging the gap between static web pages and dynamic, interactive web applications.
History
- Origin: The concept of CGI was developed in the early 1990s as part of the evolution of the World Wide Web. The first widely used CGI implementation was introduced by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in their HTTPD server.
- Evolution: Initially, CGI scripts were written in languages like Perl, C, or shell scripts. Over time, with the advent of more server-side scripting languages and technologies like PHP, ASP, and JSP, CGI's use became less common due to performance issues and the rise of more efficient alternatives.
Context and Use
- Functionality: CGI scripts are invoked when a user submits a form or accesses a URL that points to a CGI script. The script processes the request, interacts with databases, files, or other resources, and then outputs HTML or other content back to the user's browser.
- Security: CGI scripts need to be carefully written to avoid security vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows or command injection, as they execute with the permissions of the web server user.
- Performance: CGI suffers from performance issues since a new process is spawned for each request, leading to high resource usage. This was a significant factor in the development of alternatives like FastCGI and Mod_Python.
Technical Details
- Directory: The CGI-Bin is typically located in the server's document root directory, but can be configured to be elsewhere for security reasons.
- Script Execution: Scripts in the CGI-Bin must be executable by the server. The server recognizes CGI scripts by their file extension (e.g., .cgi, .pl for Perl) or by being placed in the CGI-Bin directory.
External Resources
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