• Parses form data, correcting for defective and/or inconsistent browsers • Transparently accepts both GET and POST form data • Accepts uploaded files as well as regular form fields • Provides functions to set and retrieve "cookies" (browser-side persistent information) • Handles line breaks in form fields in a consistent manner • Provides string, integer, floating-point, and single- and multiple-choice functions to retrieve form data • Provides bounds checking for numeric fields • Loads CGI environment variables into C strings which are always non-null • Provides a way to capture CGI situations for replay in a debugging environment, including file uploads and cookies

* FastCGI is actually CGI with only a few extensions. * FastCGI provides a way to improve the performance of the thousands of Perl applications that have been written for the Web. * FastCGI provides greater security than APIs.