A few of more common technologies are listed below.

ASP - Active Server Pages are used to perform server-side scripting. This is a way to get things done on web server, as opposed to, say, JavaScript, which lets you get things one on client (browser). Although there is a Unix and Linux version of ASP, it is primarily intended for use on Microsoft web server based systems.

ASP is useful for tasks such as maintaining a database, creating dynamic pages and respond to user queries (and many other things as well).

CGI - Common Gateway Interface is one of older standards on internet for moving data between a web page and a web server. CGI is by far and away most commonly used method of handling things like guestbooks, email forms, message boards and so on. CGI is actually a standard for passing data back and forth and not a scripting language at all. In fact, CGI routines are commonly written in interpreted languages such as PERL or compiled languages like C.

CSS - You use Cascading Style Sheets to format your web pages anyway that you want. CSS is complicated, but complication pays off by being able to create web pages that look much better than otherwise. One very nice feature is ability to define formatting commands in a single file, which is then included in all of your web pages. This let's you make one change to modify look of your entire site.

HTACCESS - The .htaccess file allows you to set parameters for your web site and folders (directories). The most common use is to protect directories by defining usernames and passwords. Htaccess can be used for many other things as well, including denying access to specific addresses, keeping out hostile spiders and redirecting traffic transparently to user. The downside of htaccess is language used is often extremely obscure, difficult to understand and extraordinarily precise. A small error in your htaccess file can disable your entire web site until error is fixed.

The letters FTP stand for File Transfer Protocol, and that's exactly what FTP allows you to do - transfer files from place to place. In fact, FTP is by far most efficient (the fastest) way to copy large files across internet.

Today many people use a sophisticated FTP client to get files to and from their web sites. This has several advantages over method commonly used by amateurs on free web sites. Many newbies who don't know any better use gadgets provided by their free host to edit their sites. The problems with this are many and varied.

First, gadgets are not very impressive as editors. Most users who want to create a web site of any size and complexity will find themselves constrained horribly by these tools. Probably only good thing about these editing tools is they give people a nice, easy way to start creating web sites without a huge learning curve. But take my word for it, you will outgrow them soon enough.

In addition, a major problem is editing is generally done directly on host site. This means you do not have a back up of your site on your own hard drive. If your host decides to close your account, goes bankrupt or just plain is unavailable, you lose your site. If you ever want to have a frustrating experience, just try and call your host and ask them to restore your site from one of their backups!

Other people use products such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, which include site updating capabilities. These are often very convenient until they don't work or perform unexpected actions. For example, I spent several days trying to figure out why my CGI routines were not working, until I realized that FrontPage was uploading files incorrectly. From that moment forward, I used an FTP package to upload my files.

Most of modern FTP clients are very simple to use. You just launch program, enter some basic information (such as site address, account name and password) and connect. Once connected, you can usually just drag and drop files from your own hard drive to site.

Precisely why is it a good idea to use an FTP client over, say, FrontPage (or Dreamweaver) or direct editing on a hosts web site?