CodeCharge StudioOnce the CodeCharge Studio setup is complete you are almost ready to start generating and viewing dynamic database driven web pages. To use CodeCharge Studio to produce web applications you will need the following:
CodeCharge Studio works in concert with a database, which should be put in place before creating an application with CodeCharge Studio. If you have a Windows web server, the database is usually MS Access or MS SQL. If your production web server is hosted on Linux, Sun, or another UNIX flavor, then you will most likely use the popular and free database-MySQL. Although MySQL can be accessed remotely you can also install it locally on your Windows computer for testing your programs.
The test web server is usually installed on the same desktop computer as CodeCharge Studio. It is used to test web pages during the web application development process. For example, when you create a new page go to Live Page to see how it works; CodeCharge Studio will generate and open the web page. You can use an externally hosted web server for testing but it's much quicker to generate programs to your local hard drive and then have a local web server run them.
Obtaining a web server is quite easy since many Windows operating system come with free IIS, while PWS (Personal Web Server) is also freely available for Windows 95, 98 and Me. Refer to "Web Servers" for more information.
Note: Some organizations also use a staging web server that allows end-users or customers to perform the final testing before approving the launch of the site. This also gives developers the ability to continue making changes and testing on the test web server. A staging web server is especially useful if there is already an existing live web site that you don't want to replace until your customer or users approve the new web site.
This is the main web server where you will publish your final application.
In some cases this can be the same server as the test Web Server; in most cases you'd have a separate, externally hosted Web server that is publicly accessible. There are various web hosting companies that offer Windows-based web hosting from anywhere between $10 and $50 (or more for advanced needs).
Scripting Engines, such as ASP or PHP, are usually pre-installed on most systems that have a web server. If you use a web hosting service it consists of a web server and one or more scripting engines. Check with your web hosting provider to obtain the list of supported web technologies or refer to "Choosing Web Technology" if you need help making this decision.