Rene
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| Posted: 06/20/2002, 7:12 AM |
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For a novice just starting out (aka no programming experience)...working in an NT/IIS/SQL Server environment...what scripting language would you recommend that I devote time to learning - PHP or ASP? (or ASP.NET or others?). From briefly glancing at the alternatives, PHP seems a little more straightforward and intuitive to me but will ASP give me better SQL Server support and compatibility with Microsoft apps?
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Brent
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| Posted: 06/20/2002, 9:23 AM |
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>>Which to learn - PHP or ASP?
Good question. It all depends on whether you want to be married to Microsoft or not.<g>
If you want to use MS products until the end of time, then ASP is a good choice.
If you want something that runs on Windows, and Linux, and Solaris, try PHP.
It is easier to learn. Apache runs on Windows just fine. If you migrate to
Linux then it means you won't be paying M$ for database fees, operating system
fees, and upgrade fees.
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mcurry
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| Posted: 06/24/2002, 10:49 AM |
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Windows is the the process of becoming the CP/M of this century. As an OS, it is turgid and self-involved. Mac OSX is by far the better, and I hate Apples, which makes that a stunning revelation/admission on my part. Ya gotta innovate, ya gotta make things better, ya gotta make things more intuitive, ya gotta remember that the silicon beasts are tools to do work, and not the end in itself, no matter how entertaining it may be just as a plaything.
All Microsoft products focus on Microsoft strategy -- a strategy of dependence and market domination. Any time a competitor makes an application that runs better on Windows than the comparable MS product, Microsoft releases a "new" version that is just different enough to f*** things up for non-MS programs.
The upshot is that PHP runs on multiple platforms, is extensible, and is open-source. When you know enough about programming that you decide to add functions to PHP, and recompile it to produce your own run-times to do something you need to do better, THEN you'll know how valuable open-source is. You can pay a hundred-thousand dollars to Microsoft for compilers and tools, and NEVER be able to get ASP to do exactly what you want. Your call.
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Jeremy
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| Posted: 06/24/2002, 11:42 AM |
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If you are not going to change your platform (2k/IIS/SQL) then ASP is a better choice. I have run PHP on windows and it does not run as fast as ASP. PHP does run great on linux. If you aren't switching your platform, then you could probably learn ASP, and still learn PHP pretty easily. From what I have seen PHP/ASP look very similar, and if you get good at one I'm sure it wouldn't take you too much time to get good at the other. You could run Apache on windows with PHP, that is a good setup too. Overall most people hate microsoft, but they fail to give them credit where credit is due. ASP/SQL is the fastest web platform around in my eyes, having played around with both. I am not a MS plug, but I'm not a MS hater either. I have Redhat 7.3 running on a server here, also I have Lotus Domino on NT platform, and IIS also. It really depends on what YOUR needs are. Don't decide on a language based on people here that hate certain companies. After all, the learning curve for setting up linux server is a lot higher than just going with your platform. If you need something that handles a TON of users simultaneosly, I would go with the platform you have now with MS SQL/ASP. You will be happy and learning ASP wont hurt you. Microsoft isn't going anywhere. If you want to learn PHP/Linux it may help you be more marketable if you want to jump ship to some other company, as more people are starting to use PHP/Linux because they don't have the cash for MS products. Both run excellent and are very similar. It's really up to you what you want to do with the future. Hope this helps a little.
Jeremy
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lboeldt
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| Posted: 06/24/2002, 1:17 PM |
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Keep .net open as an option. If you're learning keep .NET open as an option at least you'll be able to leverage your skills across platforms and utilize the latest tools to do so. Perhaps you should learn C# but you might find a better support community under vb.net. Which is one reason I find it strange that CodeCharge Studio went the way of C#. Contrarary to a previous statement you can run mySQL (a free SQL server) on Win2k. There is also an initiative to port the CLR (Common Language Runtime) to linux. Check out <a href='http://www.ximian.com/devzone/projects/mono.html'> The MONO project </A>
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DaveRexel
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| Posted: 06/24/2002, 3:47 PM |
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I would still suggesst PHP as a an entry point.
The download and setup of PHP/MySQL is trivial on your above setup.
There is immense amounts of free learning material on both on the web.
Both are natively supported by CCS/CC.
With ASP you have to buy specialised tools for many daily functions :
Need encryption -- buy ASPEncrypt.
Need email management -- buy ServerObject's QMail.
Need file uploading -- buy Software Artisans SA-FileUp.
Need a better DataBase server software - pay a lot of money.
All this is built into PHP for free. There should be no issues with speed of script execution with your setup deployong a large scale site does not seem to be the issue here.
Here's a link with more details
http://www.blazonry.com/devnotes/phpasp1.php
Using PHP as a springboard it is not difficult to extend your knowledge to other diciplines.
Greetings,
Dave
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