Debating web development toolsets

[Richard Dice]

Kareem,

Know Thyself -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself


   - What is your purpose for getting into web development?
   - What is your expectation for growth of the web development project?
   - Do you plan on having other people join in on this project in the
   future?  If so, in what capacity?
   - Do you have a customer you will be doing this for?   Do they have
   specific needs or expectations that one web development framework will
   address more readily than others?
   - What is your existing skill-base in various aspects of web
   programming?  (I.e. programming, design/layout, graphics, UI design)
   - Do you want to play to your strengths (perhaps because your goal is
   to get the job done ASAP) or do you want to broaden your skills (because
   this is a learning project)?  I.e. do you pick something similar to
   what you already know or quite different from what you already know?


Don't look at technology first.  Look at what your goals and circumstances
are first and then pick the technology that is most suitable.  (And don't
expect to find a "perfect" technology -- first, there is no such thing, and
second it is quite possible that several of your goals will be mutually
exclusive and therefore you have to make best-compromises between your
goals, and so you should expect your technology choice to reflect
best-compromises as well.)

Cheers,
Richard

On Jan 7, 2008 3:39 PM, Kareem Shehata <kareem-d+8TeBu5bOew5LPnMra/2Q at public.gmane.org> wrote:

>
> I'm still wrestling with the problem of choosing a good language for web
> development projects.  As I mentioned previously, I'm looking to get into
> some web development this year, but have no idea where to start.
>
> I've looked into Ruby on Rails, and I have to admit the concepts of "Agile
> Development" sound sweet, but is it too good to be true?  Based on all of
> the articles, below I don't know who to believe anymore.  I simply don't
> have enough time to learn every language and then pick the best one -
> particularly since problems like maintenance and support can't be
> predicted
> by a quick tutorial session.
>
> Here's what I've figured out, and I don't see a good option out of the
> bunch.  Please feel free to add your own thoughts, a good discussion on
> the
> ins and outs of different languages would be much appreciated!
>
> Thanks,
>
> -kms
>
>
>
> PHP: The defacto web standard?  It seems to be supported everywhere,
> scales
> well, and has lots of libraries, but can be difficult to maintain and get
> up
> to speed on.
>
>
> Ruby On Rails: If you believe the marketing hype, it'll do everything
> including walk the dog three times a day with one line of code.  Is this
> yet
> another web fad, or is RoR something worth pursuing?
>
>
> Java: Difficult to develop with, not widely supported, and high hardware
> requirements.  Overall, sounds like an expensive PITA.  It might be good
> for
> enterprise-level apps with coders immersed in java for 5+ years, but not
> good for smaller, quicker development-time apps.
>
>
> ASP.NET: Gotta at least look at the MS options.  I know enough of the .NET
> framework that I could probably get up to speed really quickly, and MS
> does
> a pretty good job of making things easy.  They also do a very bad job of
> making it flexible, scalable, or secure.  Also locks in the platform to
> being MS-only.
>
>
> Python: Don't know much about python beyond Mailman.  Looks like a decent
> scripting language, can it do reports and interface mySQL well?
>
>
> Perl: "The Original Web Language" and I know it has a rabid following.
>  The
> whole world can be built in Perl, but is it the best way to go?
>
>
> Some site references:
> Ruby on Rails debate
> <http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/02/1811218>
> (the martial arts and melodrama doesn't scare me, but idea of the
> community
> imploding definitely does.  I don't plan on supporting this app forever,
> so
> having something maintainable by others is really big)
>
> <http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/23/1249235\<http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/23/1249235%5C>
> >
> <
> http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2007/09/7_reasons_i_switched_back_to_p_
> 1.html>
> More of the Ruby on Rails debate.
>
>
>
> Comparisons
>
> Are any of these accurate?
> <http://www.cmswire.com/cms/industry-news/php-vs-java-vs-ruby-000887.php>
> <
> http://www.syllogisticsoftware.com/papers/Web_Development_Technology_Compar
> ison.html>
>
> Any other good articles comparing languages/toolsets/platforms for web
> development?
>
>
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