What are CGI scripts used for these days?

Question

I\'m pretty well up to speed on general web programming languages, but one of the tools I\'m working with right now is in CGI. All I can tell is that CGI scripts are quite slow.

Answer 1

A project I left a few months ago still uses CGI. However, the site is for a very small user set (it only has about 40 users, and probably less than 5 use it frequently). While the hardware has been replaced 3 or 4 times, some of that code has been running for almost 10 years, with little or no modification. I'm sure other technologies would provide a performance improvement, but current performance is acceptable, and manpower to make a change is short, spread over too many areas, and not well versed in web technologies (especially since I left). This leads to an attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

As for replacements I've used/plan to investigate: In my new position, I've developed a web app with PHP. However, I'm more of a Python fan and plan to look into WSGI soon. I also plan to use AJAX to replace a CGI program on a site I voluntarily maintain for a non-profit.