Le Stang Jean-Baptiste wrote:

> >> Now if we can just get ascgi back into Server.
> >
> > Any particular reason why? CGI is a crude, inefficient mechanism,
> > and AS isn't a good language choice given its total lack of web-
> > related infrastructure.
>
> 	Can you elaborate on what you call web-related infrastructure?

Anything from decent url libraries upward. Look at the feature list  
for any popular common or garden web framework: you've got url-driven  
dispatch, cookie management, session management, caching, templating,  
persistence, MVC support, and so on. With AS you're damn lucky to  
find a simple URL encoder that works.


> > ACGI is a niche within a niche within a niche, and Apple is,
> > sensibly, much more interested in adopting well supported
> > mainstream solutions (e.g. Ruby on Rails will be included in  
> Leopard).
>
> 	IMHO ACGI is only the equivalent of mod_perl or mod_python, this is
> simply an add-on to Apache WebServer, so if "ACGI is a niche within a
> niche within a niche", the same can be said for Perl and Python

mod_perl and mod_python are niches within Perl and Python, but Perl  
and Python have far larger user bases and much better web programming  
support in general. Heck, even something like mod_python comes with a  
half-decent toolkit, plus what the standard library provides - still  
way more than AS has. Handy for the basics, though most folk won't  
even bother with that, going straight to the full web frameworks like  
RoR, Django, etc.


> > If you really want to do ACGI then get a copy of ACGI Dispatcher
> > <http://www.sentman.com/acgi/>. It's only a few bucks and does the
> > job. For serious web work there's far better frameworks and
> > languages available and they'd be well worth looking into.
>
> 	Satimage is offering an alternative to ACGI dispatcher that also
> does the job and get you connected to your AppleScript environment
> very easily and quickly, ie you can have access to all the features
> of AppleScript and it is far easier to use than ACGI Dispatcher.

Indeed; folk who really want to use AS aren't without options, even  
if Apple no longer support ACGI themselves. It'll still require an  
awful lot of unnecessary (and probably not very good) wheel  
reinvention for anything but the most basic of tasks though. Other  
languages are just so much better equipped for web work it's not  
funny. Best tool for the job and all that.

Also, don't forget that Perl and Python also have good AE and OSA  
bindings (better Ruby bindings are on the way), so can be easily  
integrated with existing AS-based code if that's what you want,  
giving you the best of both worlds.


This is all starting to get a bit OT, mind you, and I'm still curious  
why the OP wants ACGI in OS X Server. As I say, I think Apple's  
decision to drop ACGI is entirely reasonable, not to mention  
sensible. I also think Perl, Python and Ruby have great potential  
here, but it's not a market I know so I wouldn't really know how to  
advance it myself (though I'd certainly like to).

Cheers,

has
-- 
http://freespace.virgin.net/hamish.sanderson/