CGI Full Form- Common Gateway Interface

What is CGI? The full form of CGI is Common Gateway Interface. 

A protocol that makes interaction between external databases and  web servers or information sources easier is called the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). 

By serving as middleware, it enables communication between web servers and programs that handle data processing and return replies. 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) established the CGI standard, which describes how software communicates with a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol server. 

By offering a framework that enables an HTTP server to communicate with a program that is provided on a URL, CGI aims to increase the functionality of an HTTP server. The CGI application can receive parameters thanks to the structure of the URL.

Advantages and Disadvantages of CGI

Advantages-

• Fast implementation: For basic web-based activities like data manipulation or form processing, CGI might be a simple and rapid solution. For instance, processing user input from a web form and producing a response may be accomplished quickly with the development and deployment of a CGI script.
• Simple to utilize preexisting code: CGI scripts have a sizable preexisting code base, particularly in Perl, which may be easily adapted for particular needs. For instance, a plethora of CGI scripts are available to handle operations like file uploads, data validation, and form processing.
• Well-defined and well-supported standard: CGI is a commonly used standard in web development that guarantees platform and system compatibility.
• There are several CGI-based counters and CGI programs available for basic tasks.

Disadvantages- 

• Security: There remains a chance of security flaws because CGI scripts are run on the server. For instance, the script can be open to SQL injection attacks if user input is not adequately validated.
• Scalability: CGI is not designed to handle high traffic or request volumes. The server's performance may degrade as the volume of requests rises, resulting in sluggish response rates or even breakdowns.