Web Applications: What to use?? AJAX, Ruby on Rails, ASP.Net, etc.?

Am looking to develop a hosted application in the long-term. Requirements are pretty simplistic, relatively speaking: database-driven with usual record add/delete/modify functionality, a "rich" interface that's nice to look at and work with, and something responsive.





I have programming experience, though it's been 5+ years since I've done anything big and that was VB, C and ASP in the pre-.Net era. I'm not too familiar with OO technologies. Am pretty good with HTML with some understanding of CSS and very basic knowledge of XML.





I'm confident I can pick up new things pretty quickly once I get into it all again but I'm also not really interested in changing careers -- just want to get something up-and-running. Long-term I'd likely hire a pro to take it "big time".





So, what should I use? WAMP, WIMP, LAMP, WIMSA, AJAX, PHP, Perl, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, etc.??





As usual, money is an issue at this stage so I'm open to open-source. I do have Visual Studio.





Thanks for the help!

Web Applications: What to use?? AJAX, Ruby on Rails, ASP.Net, etc.?
i'm a web developer too and i use ASP and SQL Server 2000. i've already attended seminars on .NET and, based on your current proficiency, i think ASP.NET would be the best alternative for now. ASP.NET takes a little getting used to if you're used to the regular ASP programming since you don't code it straight to the HTML/ASP page itself. it's a bit like Visual InterDev and VB combined where you make use of "code-behind". if you want fast results, go for .NET since it has an easy Package and Deploy feature for ASP.NET, making server side and client side setup and configuration much simpler.
Reply:As a programmer myself, I can tell you that your best bet is to make your application with the programming languages that you are most familiar with. You have many choices on what "front end" you can use like perl or php, and connect to the "backend" of a MySql database. Since your strengths are Html and you have most experience with the pre-.Net era programming languages, I would reccommend that you stick with what you know best. Most of the internet is run by pre .Net!
Reply:If you like C you'll love perl. Databases are really simple if you have a good background in Perl. Perl can be cryptic just like C can be. Stick to good programming habbits and it will look beautiful. You can use Perl for your MySQL queries. For the interactive web page use AJAX. I've found PHP hard to read, but then again it could have been how it was written.





Perl actually has some object orientation, but it's sort of simple. It actually seems simplier than C's implementation. You don't have to write your code as objects, but all modules are objects and it's really easy to access. The best part of perl is you can write 3 lines of perl that would take 30 lines of C.





P.S. I'm kinda an open source guy. AJAX and Perl. I don't like any of that corporate stuff.
Reply:I think the ASP.Net is the best solution ... because it lets you use many languages (like VB, C++ , ....) and is designed very good.


however you may find some disadvantages in it because it's too young yet ... but in case of finding any problem just remember that Microsoft usually lets the programmer have many solutions for any problem .... then it ill not stop you if you get any problem .
Reply:90 % of the web is p on the back and and j on the front end.





p is perl (or maybe php) and the new kid python.





j is javascript. (my favorite env is http://jquery.com)





if you want to be a slave to MS for the rest of eternity, use their garbage.


Open Source and Open Standards will set you free... free to learn.
Reply:As you are saying that your project is relatively simpler, so I would suggest use of technologies that are simpler as well as efficient. So, my suggestion would be to use LAMP(Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) as it is completely open source, is easiest to learn and quickest to implement solutions, very low on maintenance and has a really good support available on net from the open source community :)