Desirable Features

• A way to place arbitrary state information in a URL. Preferably, the state information is entirely encoded in the URL, alternatively, it is a pointer to some information stored on the server.
• Built-in database access. Databases accesses are frequent; they must be fast and easy.
• Low latency. Anything over 1 second is an annoyance to the users.
• Extremely forgiving data input. The program will usually be either:
  • Reading data that a human typed, or
  • reading data that another script prepared for a human to read (and the author may update it at any moment).
• Identification and security.
  • Personalization must be painless. People are not willing to put out any effort to see a web page until they know it is useful.
  • If the web is to be used for cooperation, you need some security. The only application that doesn't need any security is advertising.
• Error reporting to the maintainer via e-mail. Users almost never report errors.

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