Web applications require server-side programming and database design. The Institute's web servers use the following open-source and platform-independent web technologies:
A number of custom-built Linux web servers are maintained by the Institute's Computing Services group. These public and internal servers are all running Apache web server.
Web database applications designed in MySQL can handle large data sets. Most web applications will interface with the web database server and store data through web forms. The data can then be retrieved instantly from any public or internal web page.
PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a programming language that can be embedded in HTML pages. The commands are parsed on the web server which returns HTML back to the browser. PHP supports cookies, file handling, form processing, FTP, SQL database access, XML, and many other protocols.