1.2 Flexibility

Apache processes requests in phases (e.g. read the request, parse headers, check access, etc.). These phases can be implemented by functions called handlers. Traditionally, handlers are written in C and compiled into Apache modules. Mod_python provides a way to extend Apache functionality by writing Apache handlers in Python. For a detailed description of the Apache request processing process, see the Apache API Notes.

For most programmers, the request and the authentication handlers provide everything required.

To ease migration from CGI and Httpdapy, two handlers are provided that simulate these environments allowing a user to run his scripts under mod_python with (for the most part) no changes to the code.