ServerSide

Server-side, often written as serverside, refers to computations and operations performed on a remote server rather than in a web browser. In web applications, server-side components handle tasks such as request routing, authentication, business logic, database access, and content generation before sending a response to the client. The generated content can be static HTML, data in JSON, or rendered templates.

Common patterns include server-side rendering (SSR), where HTML is produced by the server for each request, and APIs that expose data via endpoints consumed by client-side applications. Server-side processing supports consistent behavior irrespective of the client, simplifies search engine optimization since crawlers receive markup, and centralizes security controls for data handling. Architectures include monolithic apps, microservices, and serverless functions, with caching and load balancing used to improve performance.

Technologies span many languages and platforms, including PHP, Python (Django, Flask), Ruby on Rails, Java (Spring), .NET, Go, and JavaScript runtimes such as Node.js. Advantages include strong control over data, security, and SEO; drawbacks include higher server resource usage, potential latency, and more complex deployment and scaling compared to client-side rendering.

Security and best practices emphasize validating and sanitizing inputs on the server, enforcing access controls, using secure connections, and keeping dependencies up to date. Server-side logic is critical to enforce business rules and protect sensitive data, while balancing latency and scalability with appropriate caching, asynchronous processing, and architectural choices.