ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Common Gateway Interface

The Common Gateway Interface, or CGI for short, is a special program that allows a website to communicate with a server. Think of it like a secret handshake that only certain websites and servers know.

When we visit a website, we might want to do things like sign up for a newsletter or buy a product. These actions require the website to communicate with the server to process our request. CGI allows this to happen by running a special program on the server that handles our request and sends a response back to the website.

CGI programs can be written in different programming languages, depending on the needs of the website. Some common languages include Perl, Python, and Ruby.

Overall, CGI is an important tool that allows websites to interact with servers and enables us to do things like make purchases or sign up for services online.