Here you are, fixing to tackle your very first Web-based application. Your new creation will need access to databases and the ability to
respond to user input; it also must be dynamic, scalable, and robust.
So obviously, old standbys XSSI and static files just aren't going to cut it this time around.
The good news is that there's no shortage of server-side scripting languages that can be used to build such a site: Perl and ASP
(active server pages) are enormously popular, as are PHP, ColdFusion, and JSP
(Java server pages). But with such a wealth of options out there, determining which environment best suits your needs can be bewildering.
One reason this decision-making process is so tricky is that the languages all do pretty much the same thing. They interface with databases,
they access the file system of the OS, and they create dynamic pages. As a result, the reasons why you'd choose one over another are pretty subjective — it all depends on who you are and what you're trying to do.
So, what kind of programmer are you? Do you hate the look of curly brackets? Well, you should probably avoid Perl or PHP. Similarly, if the idea of using HTML-like tags makes you feel like a fraud (this isn't programming!), stay away from ColdFusion. There are, of course, more weighty matters to consider, like speed and stability. But as we discovered when we pitted Linux against NT, these attributes are evaluated differently by different people.
Since decisions like these are so subjective, we decided to ask actual Web programming professionals to tell us what development environment they prefer, and why. We found one champion for each of the more popular solutions: ASP, ColdFusion, JSP, Perl, and PHP. Hopefully one of the expert testimonials found in the pages that follow will resonate with you, and you'll walk away from this article having made a solid scripting-language decision.
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