asp vs asp.net vs java vs javascript

[Guest]

After painstakingly creating my first FP dynamic website (database and form
interfaces) I am ready to learn some more advanced website design programming
techniques.

There seem to be a dozen technologies out there. Could you enlighten me as
to which are the best web design/programming technologies out there. Maybe a
brief definition of what is what would help us all better understand their
capabilities and how they complement/enhance FP.

asp - asp.net - java - javascript - DHTML - php - SQL - others ??????

Thanks a lot.
EdH

 

[Jon Spivey]

Hi,
You get the prize for broadest question of the day I'm guessing because
you already have a dynamic site going you're on a windows server in which
case
asp - easy to learn and can do most of what you'd ever want
asp.net - like stepping from a BMW to a Ferrari
java - forget it, not well supported in browsers
javascript - client side, if you can program any language javascript might
take a morning to learn. It will be a morning well spent
php - forget it., doesn't (usually) run on windows
sql - you will need to know this

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I'm almost in total agreement with Jon, except for the comparison of ASP to
ASP.Net. I would say it's more like stepping from a BMW to a Boeing 747, and
just as hard a transition to make! ;-)

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Sometimes you eat the elephant.
Sometimes the elephant eats you.

 

[Tom Gahagan]

php - forget it., doesn't (usually) run on windows

A very small diffenrence of opinion......

Yes but all servers are not windows and a heck of a lot of the less
expensive hosting companines, if not 75 - 90% of them are nix machines. So
it is probably not to be ignored. I did for a long time and I am no longer
as I lost some work not knowing it and that will not happen any more!

Here is an interesting article I saw today....

Language of computer hobbyists hits the big time
http://news.com.com/Language+of+com...3-5705448.html?part=rss&tag=5705448&subj=news

 

[Murray]

Actually, IIS can run PHP....

At least I think it can.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

All of the major technologies can be run under a Window 2000/2003 Servers with the appropriate
service installed.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WebMaster Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Guest]

Hi Jon et al. Thanks for good responses to broad question!

I think I'll start with asp and javascript and sql. And I forgot to mention
Virtual Basic or VBscript, are they worth it, or will I have enough with the
others?

Thanks again,
Ed

 

[Jon Spivey]

Yes it can. But why would you want to? If you've got a windows server, a
copy of Visual Studio, a SQL Server database and asp.net you can do anything
you'd ever want to do with a web site - the rest is up to you

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

You can also do the same by starting with ASP/VBscript and Access and then have the ability to move
up to .Net and/or MS SQL when needed.

If you start with PHP, CFM, etc. you are kind of stuck with them, unless you want to complete start
over, since they don't currently have a migration path to more advanced versions.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WebMaster Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Murray]

Well, CF is really all you'd need - there is no 'advanced' version. It's a
mighty cool tag-based language and so quite different than ASP, or PHP....

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

But basically, you can do the same things no matter which of the following you use.
ASP/VBScript, ASP/JScript, ASP/Perl, PHP, CFM

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WebMaster Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Jon Spivey]

Hi Ed,

I think you mean Visual Basic If you start with asp you'll likely use VB
Script which is a cut down version of Visual Basic and very easy to learn.
You'll need javascript whichever way you go to do things client (as opposed
to server) side but again it's very easy. Same goes for SQL, you'll need it
whichever way you go as this is how you interact with databases - probably
90% of the work you'll do involves a database in some form. I've always
found sql the hardest part but you may be totally different.

 

[Jon Spivey]

True. I did a site last week pro bono for a charity my dad's involved with