Debate on web programming languages.

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hellonearthisman

1819 posts

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#47575 12-Nov-2009 01:03

Well, I blogged about this and got a few comments so I thought I would try the forums on the subject.

I think one of the key languages for the web at the moment this Java and Python.
I picked those two languages as are both supported on googles cloud services.
Having them there means you have the processing power of google cloud.

PHP is a great language and I know it better then both Java and Python but it doesn't have a cloud hosting solution. If your site gets digged or boing boinged can your app scale with cloud services.

I am still open to other ideas a go.

friedCrumpet

271 posts

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#272244 12-Nov-2009 07:54

hellonearthisman:
PHP is a great language

Are you serious?

It's like Perl and Visual Basic combined into one soul destroying uber language.

8d52797c436

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#272254 12-Nov-2009 08:48

Amazon EC2 supports any language you can think of, as far as I am aware. We use VB.Net and ASP at work and are looking to migrate to Mono. Either way we can run it on the cloud.

casper021

96 posts

Master Geek

#272304 12-Nov-2009 10:00

another one for vb.net, easy to use and powerfull

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meesham

973 posts

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#272355 12-Nov-2009 12:09

I've been doing web application development professionally for 10 years and did PHP exclusively for 4 years, then ASP.Net (C#) for 2 years, and since then PHP and Ruby (with the Ruby on Rails framework), as well as some ASP, ASP.Net (VB.Net) and Java, and fixing other people's code in Python along the way. By far my favourite is Ruby on Rails, the Rails framework is great (I love ActiveRecord and their migration system) and Ruby is a really nice language to write code in, it was heavily influenced by Perl and Python.

Scaling Rails is getting much better, and for the applications I develop it's good enough - mostly internal CRMs and sales systems.

hellonearthisman

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#273347 16-Nov-2009 00:02

Some nice points, Ruby on Rails is a great language, I might have to spend some more time checking it out.
But it doesn't have the hosting abilities of python in a cloud.

Amazon EC2, doesn't have a free option, does it?

dazzanz

229 posts

Master Geek
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#273378 16-Nov-2009 08:25

hellonearthisman: Some nice points, Ruby on Rails is a great language, I might have to spend some more time checking it out.
But it doesn't have the hosting abilities of python in a cloud.

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Ragnor

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#273486 16-Nov-2009 13:06

There are scaling solutions for any popular language you care to develop in. The best language is usually one that's well supported plus one you are very productive in.

You only need worry about scaling and cloudifying your service if it ever becomes popular enough to warrant it (almost no chance it will).

YAGNI (you ain't gonna need it)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_ain%27t_gonna_need_it

Usually it's more important to focus on making something useful and good first before worrying about clouds and scaling.

BenRees

27 posts

Geek

#274698 20-Nov-2009 11:13

Hey guys,

I've been multilingual (*spelling?) in my job as a web application developer for about 8 years now. I've tried ASP, ASP.Net (in both C# and Vb.Net).

I'm actually working on a conversion / upgrade project at the moment converting Vb.net in 1.1 to .Net3.5 some in C# but mostly in Vb.net. My preference is undoubtedly C#, but Vb.Net sometimes has its advantages. I'm blogging about C# vs Vb.Net at the moment. http://blog.rees.biz

In my humble opinion web development doesnt get any richer with as many design and build time analytic and testing tools as .Net in either Vb or C#.

Cheers

ipalarms

1 post

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#275692 24-Nov-2009 04:20

I've been using ASP.Net since the day it was born and have no reason to complain. Now I just need to find out what the Google Cloud is. I missed that one.

BenRees

27 posts

Geek

#275721 24-Nov-2009 09:01

The google and amazon offerings for cloud computing are a little limited at the moment to a few open source languages. For Asp.Net your best bet is the Windows Azure cloud environment. Theres a free developer sign up at the moment I believe and you can get your hands on a small hosting environment.

I personally think its the way of the future, but right now it feels a little alpha.

benfes

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#277770 30-Nov-2009 12:10

ruby on rails is a great web solution for developing apps, there is a podcast called floss weekly that has an interview with David Heinemeier Hansson (the creator of the rails collection) and he stipulates what you one might consider to be good reasons for programming in ruby.

However I would agree with Ragnor, in saying that the best language is the one you are productive in and feel most comfortable using. I myself enjoy using c# on the .Net framework, asp isn't bad, especially considering a number of businesses use windows servers with the framework already installed.

All languages have their up and down points, and you should choose a language based on what is best for the job. Limitations can be a great chance for you to discover new languages.

As for ipalarms, the google cloud is really just google's take on the cloud. The cloud is the idea that everything you want, eg, documents, emails, music, contacts etc. are kept in the internet, spread across a number of different servers where they can be accessed 24-7 from anywhere in the world that you can get a net connection. Google refer to their cloud as the google cloud as the information that you might want eg gmail messages etc. is kept on their servers.

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robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

#277827 30-Nov-2009 13:19

Ragnor: T The best language is usually one that's well supported plus one you are very productive in.

Usually it's more important to focus on making something useful and good first before worrying about clouds and scaling.

Another factor to consider is how easy it is to find other team members or successors for the project. The web app ecosystem I am by far the most productive in is perl/mason/catalyst but now I only use that for quick prototypes and proofs of concept, with the real work done in Python. The reason is that Pythonistas are easier to recruit than perl freaks. If you code in a language that is hard to recruit for, you end up being indispensable for too many legacy sites -- as has happened to me ...