What language do you prefer: ASP, PHP, CGI / Perl, HTML, CFM? And why? Which would you say offers the most in the long run in terms of flexibility, ease of use, etc.?
Dave 'Fargo' Kosak: Every language has advantages and disadvantages. Perl, for instance, is really easy to code with but not very fast if you're going to have a lot of people using your webpage. Personally I don't program any of GameSpy's web services -- I code basic HTML and our coders take care of the complicated stuff, like ForumPlanet.com. You'll note that most of GameSpy's stuff is written in ASP. It's maybe not the most efficient language but it's powerful and relatively easy for a programmer to learn.
Frans P. de Vries: None and all of the above . Seriously, I have little experience in HTML, CGI/Perl and no knowledge at all of ASP, CFM and PHP (I'm only annoyed at bloated misuse of them that makes some websites slow to load ) As with the previous question, I can't answer this with any degree of authority.
Adam 'Barak' Perfect: PHP definitely. ASP I just don't like and even if it was good I doubt I'd use it as it's for NT servers which I don't like using. Perl isn't really optimised for web development and tends to be slower than PHP. CFM I haven't tried yet and wouldn't use as all my web sites are self-funded and I can't afford the license. PHP is an easy language to learn, aimed very definitely at the web and with excellent "out of the box" support for database integration.
Anthony 'Rayn' Maio: I find Perl extremely easy to use, but its becoming impractical to handle the traffic we have these days. PHP is a tremendously powerful and useful language I'm picking up, I find it to be the best out there right now, its ability to interface so easily with SQL databases is a necessity. HTML is an art more than a language, as it develops though its exciting to see what new stuff you can do with web pages.
Brian Clair: At AVault we've used ASP for the last few years, and while it has a lot of power to do things, it's not the greatest. My personal preference is HTML with a SQL database running things behind the scenes. SQL (and databases in general) offer the most in long term flexibility, ease and growth in my opinion. I would note, however, that such a setup would be overkill for most sites. HTML will work just fine unless your site is very complex.
John 'Rizzuh' Jensen: PHP by far is the best, you can do brilliant things with good code. But don't forget that static .html pages are still useful and fast. Don't use PHP just to use PHP.
Louis Wu: As I said earlier, I use MGI almost exclusively for dynamic stuff (databases, interactive pages, polls, etc). It started as a mac-only program, but now has an NT version, and will soon have a linux version. It's tag-based, so anyone who can learn HTML can learn it... but it's truly powerful, and the customer service can't be beat. There have been instances where a new feature was asked for on the mailing list, and an upgrade was made available by the company in a couple of hours.
Rob 'Keltic' Shea: They all have their advantages. I prefer CFML for its clean integration with HTML and it’s power. You can code most applications much faster with CFML than with any alternative. But the software is more expensive. CGI, Perl and PHP are great tools if you are on a limited budget or working in a UNIX/Linux environment. ASP is a solid tool for working in a Microsoft environment. But to make the most of any of these tools, you should have a good working knowledge of relational databases. The database is the heart and soul of any large web site. All of those languages are just different ways of getting at the data.
Tyler 'TySoft' Lott: HTML is easy although I do believe it will soon be phased out with a language that has more interactive goodies for the end-viewing-user (similar to Flash.) I’d say keep an eye on PHP - I also expect CGI / Perl to last for a while.
Joscha 'fraGGle' Dzielak: I'd love to PHP and HTML. It's not based on any platform (but I prefer to use linux for webservers) and it's very easy to use. You just have to learn some functions and that's it.
Matt 'Acrappa' Martinez: I pretty much only use HTML and SSI for my sites. SSI is great because it allows you to take the good aspects of frames and leave the rest behind. I will use some basic JavaScript at times and I also like CSS to add some more spice to the site. Basically, I have always been able to do what I want with these four items so I haven't taken time to learn the others. It also keeps things simple, which is something many sites can't accomplish.
However, I'm going to try to learn PHP this summer because I think I could make good use of it on future sites.
Ben 'Hypn0tik' Tamler: I prefer English. Because its the only language I fully understand. (and a bit of HTML as well!)
Manveer 'Eidolon' Heir: C -- sorry, I'm a programmer -- I prefer that language to all the above. As for the above, I only know a few (ASP, Perl, and HTML) and I'd say PERL is the easiest to use, however ASP, PERL, and HTML all have completely different uses.
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