What Is Classic ASP?

Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, is Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services (IIS) via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, it was subsequently included as a free component of Windows Server.

Web pages with the .asp file extension use ASP, although some Web sites disguise their choice of scripting language for security purposes (e.g. still using the more common .htm or .html extension). Most Classic ASP pages are written in VBScript, but any other Active Scripting engine can be selected instead. JScript (Microsoft's implementation of ECMAScript) is the other language that is usually available. PerlScript (a derivative of Perl) and others are available as third-party installable Active Scripting engines.

Although at first it was thought that ASP.NET would supercede and altogether replace ASP over time, business owners have come to realize the higher truth that the viability of Classic ASP is never going to end. Or at least, not any time in the near future, and not nearly as fast as others have. It is time tested, works just as well today as it did when it was first released, and the end result is a market of seasoned professional developers whom are very well versed with this technology. Many of the top major sites listed in Alexa can be seen using Classic ASP to deliver rich dynamic content and powerful web services to their visitors, including:

DoubleClick is a company that develops and provides Internet ad serving services. Its clients include agencies, marketers (Universal McCann Interactive, AKQA etc.) and publishers who serve customers like Microsoft, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Motorola, L'Oreal, Palm, Inc., Visa USA, Nike, Carlsberg among others. DoubleClick was founded in 1996. Unlike many other dot-com companies, it survived the bursting of the dot-com bubble. In March 2008, Google acquired DoubleClick.

Sports Illustrated is an American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week.

The Weather Channel (also TWC) is a U.S. cable and satellite television network that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news 24 hours a day. In addition to its cable TV programming, TWC also provides forecasts for terrestrial and satellite radio stations, newspapers, and websites, and maintains an extensive online presence at Weather.com.

Digg is a social news website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and voting and commenting on submitted links and stories. Voting stories up and down is the site's cornerstone function, respectively called digging and burying. Many stories get submitted every day, but only the most Dugg stories appear on the front page. Digg's popularity has prompted the creation of other social networking sites with story submission and voting systems. The website ranked 106 by Alexa.com as of December 2009.

LogMeIn (NASDAQ: LOGM) is a suite of software services that provides remote access to computers over the Internet. The various product versions are designed for both end users and professional help desk personnel.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of October 2009, LinkedIn had more than 50 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.