Introduction

In this article, we will learn about Client-side vs Server-side Programming Languages.

Basic Background

Web development is all about communication and data exchange. This communication takes place via two parties over the HTTP protocol.
These parties are:
Client side and Server Side

Server

The Server is responsible for serving the web pages depending on the client/end-user requirement. It can be either static or dynamic.

Client

A client is a party that requests pages from the server and displays them to the end-user. In general a client program is a web browser.
Example | Working
We can explain this entire mechanism using the following:
  • The user opens his web browser (client)
  • The user starts browsing
    (for example http://c-sharpcorner.com)
  • The client forwards this request to the server, for accessing their web page.
  • The server then acknowledges the request and replies back to the client program.
    (An access link to that web page)
  • The client then receives the page source and renders it.
    (Into a viewable/under a stable website)
  • Now the user types into the search bar
  • The client then submits data to the server
  • The server processes the data and replies back with a related search result
  • The client again renders it back for the user's view
  • The user gets access to the requested link.

Server-side Programming

Server-side programming can be explained as:
It is the general name for the kind of program that runs directly on the server.
Or we can say that server-side programming must deal with dynamic content. It runs on the server. Most web pages are not static since they deal with searching databases.

Server-side Uses

  • It processes the user input
  • Displays the requested pages
  • Structure of web applications
  • Interaction with servers/storages
  • Interaction with databases
  • Querying the database
  • Encoding of data into HTML
  • Operations over databases like delete, update.

Server-side Languages Example

There are several languages that can be used for server-side programming:
  • PHP
  • ASP.NET (C# OR Visual Basic)
  • C++
  • Java and JSP
  • Python
  • Ruby on Rails and so on.
Server-side Example
  1. // This is a sample C# code.
  2. using System;
  3. // namespace
  4. class ServerSide
  5. {
  6. public static void Main()
  7. {
  8. System.Console.WriteLine(“Hello C# Corner”);
  9. // printing a line
  10. }
  11. }

Client-side Programming

Similarly to server-side programming, client-side programming is also the name of the entire program that runs on the client.
Or we can say that client-side programming mostly deals with the user interface with which the user interacts in the web. It is mostly a browser, in the user's machine, that runs the code and is mainly done in any scripting language like JavaScript (or we can use Flash instead of JavaScript or VNScript).

Client-side Uses

  • Makes interactive web pages
  • Make stuff work dynamically
  • Interact with temporary storage
  • Works as an interface between user and server
  • Sends requests to the server
  • Retrieval of data from Server
  • Interact with local storage
  • Provides remote access for client-server program

Client-side Languages Example

There are many client-side scripting languages too.
  • JavaScript
  • VBScript
  • HTML (Structure)
  • CSS (Designing)
  • AJAX
  • jQuery etc.
(Some other languages also can be used on the basis of the modeling/designing /graphics/animations and for extra functionalities.)
Client-side Example
  1. // sample HTML code
  2. <html>
  3. <head>
  4. <title>Client Side </title>
  5. </head>
  6. <body>
  7. <h1>
  8. Hello C# Corner
  9. </h1>
  10. </body>
  11. </html>

Summary

In this article, we learned about Client-side vs Server-side Programming Languages.