Server side internet applications are created by placing interactive server side components (ISSC's) on internet pages. ISSC's encapsulate dynamic page functions including processing of user responses on the server and thus can be reused, which drastically reduces programming effort. The ISSC technique remembers information (in form of an ISSC object) about each ISSC during dynamic page generation on the server. Then, it generates HTML code in a way such that the ISSC event is sent to the server using a conventional HTTP GET or POST request. On the server, the event is then passed to the corresponding ISSC object. All components work without disturbing each other, even when nested or combined. A browser based editor can also be used to place ISSC's on pages and to modify their properties. During dynamic page generation, scripts and handles are embedded into the page that permit editing of the page itself.