[thelist] Client side vs. Server side?

Dear List
              I have had my nose in various books for the last 6 weeks
trying to learn ASP for my project & quite frankly I am sick to death of the
whole bloody thing! I now feel it's time to actually start doing things to
see how much I have learnt & how much of the info has stuck. Before I start
this I would like your opinion on something.
             My site will involve logging on using a name & password. In
everything I have read it makes it clear that validating the information can
be done either client side or server side. The arguement given are that
client side validation saves server processing time but the page will be
quicker to load cos there is not so much code. However, doing it client side
means that there is a lot of to-ing & fro-ing between the browser & the
server. 6 of one & half a dozen of the other :)
              I suspect that, for security reasons, doing the log-in
validation would be best done server side, but I also intend to have a form
for people to join the service so should this  be validated client or server
side (I suspect this is just a matter of preference). I know enough
JavaScript to do this client side so that won't be a problem.
              And while I'm on the subject, does anyone have a script that,
when the user types in a password, it comes up as a series of *********
instead of their actual password?
             Thanks in advance.

K
kev.skindrill@bigfoot.com
www.skindrill.freeserve.co.uk