Discussions are dynamic, of course, needing to change minute to minute, so pages generated on demand were just the thing. When thinking about your site, think in terms of databases and generating pages. You may be able to reduce your development costs with the batch generation of pages as described above. And you may be able to increase the interactivity of the site as with the database-driven discussions we used at Southern Comfort. Creating simple Web pages with text and graphics is simple.
More capable sites can involve programming of various kinds.
Some programs run within the Web browser itself and are good for interactive features on your pages. These programs are commonly written in such languages as Java, JavaScript or ActiveX. Other programs are designed to run on the server machine where the Web pages reside. These programs do database operations, send e-mail, enter online purchases and so on. Programs have the potential to greatly improve the value of your Web site. At the same time, they can greatly increase the cost of the site.