Ok, as a web designer myself, I am interested in some of the answers to the following questions (along with an explanation as well please).
Note: Yes, Javascript/JScript and VBScript are not on the list, but there are reasons for that.
Note: I also realise that the answers to the second question are somewhat reliant on the answers to the second, however some of these servers can run quite a few of the options from the first poll [with plugins].
Myself, from the first list I prefer ASP.NET (I like how it is very easy to create powerful dynamic content, leveraging my Visual Basic skills. Also there are many useful, easy to use components, including AJAX ones), and as for web servers, IIS is usually pretty handy (though Apache is quite nice I will admit, I have chosen IIS for conveinence reasons, and I have yet to rigourously test over ASP.NET servers, though I am testing out Abyss at the moment)
The preference depends on the context of the decision. I didn’t vote, but here is what I think:
Professionally, I use Java (on the back-end) and JSP. When that decision was made – by someone else, and many years ago – I’d say that combination was just as good as the older ASP and had the advantage of running on non-Windows hosts.
An Apache/PHP approach would be equally universal. That would be a particularly good choice if one were targeting the application for all-and-sundry hosting. If individuals are going to be installing your application on their personal web-sites (e.g. Gallery/Photo Album tool), then I’d guess that most individuals have Apache/PHP hosting, either on Windows or Linux. If the project is sizable, then one would absolutely need a good IDE to work around the problems of using a scripted/interpreted language like PHP.
After .NET came on the scene, I’d say that it has the upper hand in ease-of-use (a.k.a. productivity). I have only “played” with it, rather than using it professionally, and while I prefer the JAVA-related IDEs when it comes to language-coding, Visual Studio is easier when it comes to the Web-Pages/Presentation side. (Having said that, the best Java IDES have almost caught up to MSFT again.) I would be wary of using ASP.NET if the ability to run on non-Windows host was more than just a “nice-to-have”.
The preference depends on the context of the decision. I didn’t vote, but here is what I think:
Professionally, I use Java (on the back-end) and JSP. When that decision was made – by someone else, and many years ago – I’d say that combination was just as good as the older ASP and had the advantage of running on non-Windows hosts.
An Apache/PHP approach would be equally universal. That would be a particularly good choice if one were targeting the application for all-and-sundry hosting. If individuals are going to be installing your application on their personal web-sites (e.g. Gallery/Photo Album tool), then I’d guess that most individuals have Apache/PHP hosting, either on Windows or Linux. If the project is sizable, then one would absolutely need a good IDE to work around the problems of using a scripted/interpreted language like PHP.
After .NET came on the scene, I’d say that it has the upper hand in ease-of-use (a.k.a. productivity). I have only “played” with it, rather than using it professionally, and while I prefer the JAVA-related IDEs when it comes to language-coding, Visual Studio is easier when it comes to the Web-Pages/Presentation side. (Having said that, the best Java IDES have almost caught up to MSFT again.) I would be wary of using ASP.NET if the ability to run on non-Windows host was more than just a “nice-to-have”.
Hmm, I have not used Java/JSP, however from what I hear, it is something that I might want to take a look at one of these days, as it is also relatively easy and quite powerful as you say.
The results are much as I would have thought, with Python a little further ahead so far, hmm interesting, however there have only been 6 votes so far.
Personally, while I grant that PHP is powerful and certaintly gets the job done (and has a lot of good web applications built with it), it seems a little inefficent next to ASP.NET, and requires a lot of often tedious coding much of which isnt neccessary using ASP.NET. However then there is the advantage of cheaper hosting on its side as well.
Not sure if by “inefficient” you mean run-time speed or development productivity.
I’m not sure about productivity with PHP, but if you’re thinking about hand-coding it and comparing that against using Visual Studio or Eclipse it’s not apples-to-apples. An IDE like Zend Studio would make it pretty productive. The $300 price tag would be steep for most learners and hobbyists, but not for someone using PHP for a job.
As for server-side, run-time speed, with the right platform all the options you listed are good enough when it comes to turn-around a particular request (the bulk of the time will usually be database-access anyway). The question-mark for PHP would be whether it can scale – whether one can have multiple threads, for instance; but, that might simply be my ignorance about PHP.
Not sure if by “inefficient” you mean run-time speed or development productivity.
I’m not sure about productivity with PHP, but if you’re thinking about hand-coding it and comparing that against using Visual Studio or Eclipse it’s not apples-to-apples. An IDE like Zend Studio would make it pretty productive. The $300 price tag would be steep for most learners and hobbyists, but not for someone using PHP for a job.
As for server-side, run-time speed, with the right platform all the options you listed are good enough when it comes to turn-around a particular request (the bulk of the time will usually be database-access anyway). The question-mark for PHP would be whether it can scale – whether one can have multiple threads, for instance; but, that might simply be my ignorance about PHP.
Oh, I mean development productivity, I realise PHP is not inefficent in terms of run-speed, most things I want to do lately and have tried in recent memory using PHP have proved a lot easier in ASP.NET, even with some of the sometimes slightly annoying quirks in ASP.NET.
And yes, there are some nice IDE that are a huge boon, however I hav not tried them, as I do not have the money that I want to spend on those paritcular IDEs, as much of help as they might be.
Hmm, I have not used Java/JSP, however from what I hear, it is something that I might want to take a look at one of these days, as it is also relatively easy and quite powerful as you say.
I would definitely recommend taking a look at it; I’ve been developing web apps with some rather complex features using Java Servlets + JSP and I’ve been amazed by how quickly I could put things together. It does require investing some time into learning, but I’ve found that to be time very well spent. Make sure you use Java 1.5 and JSP 2.0; the new language features can save you a whole lot of keystrokes!
As for servers, I use Apache and Tomcat, but I wouldn’t say I prefer them–they’re simply what’s available with my hosting plan. This is why I voted “other.” (I don’t know the other servers well enough to tell if I’ve got a favorite.)
I would definitely recommend taking a look at it; I’ve been developing web apps with some rather complex features using Java Servlets + JSP and I’ve been amazed by how quickly I could put things together. It does require investing some time into learning, but I’ve found that to be time very well spent. Make sure you use Java 1.5 and JSP 2.0; the new language features can save you a whole lot of keystrokes!
As for servers, I use Apache and Tomcat, but I wouldn’t say I prefer them–they’re simply what’s available with my hosting plan. This is why I voted “other.” (I don’t know the other servers well enough to tell if I’ve got a favorite.)
Well, while I am looking at some of the technologies that I have been neglecting, I might as well take a look at it I suppose, I have heard a few good things about it somewhere before that has made me wonder if I shoudl tak a serious look at it.
How easy it is to learn? Also I have heard the hosting costs for this can be quite high…
If you want to do JSP + Java, your best bet might be to download Sun’s Netbeans IDE, because it comes with an app-server quite like Tomcat. I use Eclipse, but Netbeans is good for free, and all-in-one set-up in which to learn.
If you want to do JSP + Java, your best bet might be to download Sun’s Netbeans IDE, because it comes with an app-server quite like Tomcat. I use Eclipse, but Netbeans is good for free, and all-in-one set-up in which to learn.
Yes, and there is the fact I can use both of those to practise Ruby on Rails as well (as RadRails is apparently no longer available for download, at least whenever I try I can never load up the website for it) with the right plugins.
Thanks for the advice though, I have Eclipse around here somewhere, I will get the other onel