Web application development language

[jaseman]

Hi

I am new to Mac OSX and web application programming, my background is VB on Windows.

I want to develop some web applications on my MacBook and eventually host them on a public server with a registered domain name. I have been looking at what languages to develop web applications in, for things like forums, carts etc. Where I have got to seems to be using either Ruby on Rails or PHP with an AJAX style front end. I have also read that Apache is built into OSX.

I would like some advice as to where the best place to start is, what framework is best for someone new to web application development and what web server and editors to best use? If I developed some a simple web application would I be able to initially host it on .mac as I already have an account, as long as the application had no database?

Any advice or good web links to get me started would be much appreciated.

Regards

Jason

[tominated]

apparantly ruby on rails is really good, but so is ajax. Yes apache is built in to os x, but an easier way to activate it is by downloading MAMP.

[jeremy.king]

You'll have an easier time picking up PHP and by doing so you will find much better web host support. Don't worry too much about frameworks - but do keep in mind PEAR has a ton of libraries.

For developing locally use MAMP or XAMPP with your favorite text editor to start (TextMate, TextEdit, Coda if you must)

A VERY good book to start with (new edition in July) - http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Deve...532639-1108757

[jaseman]

Are ruby on rails and ajax not for different purposes and can be used together anyway? I thought ruby on rails was for the server side and you can use ajax as more of a way of presenting the pages?

Thanks for your feedback, I have read that TextMate is very good, from a ruby on rails site. Why is PHP easier to pick up and is it difficult to find ruby on rails hosting?

If I use PHP or ruby on rails, can either of these be used if I host a web application on .mac, or do I need to find a host provider with specific support for one of these frameworks?

[jeremy.king]

Originally Posted by jaseman

Are ruby on rails and ajax not for different purposes and can be used together anyway? I thought ruby on rails was for the server side and you can use ajax as more of a way of presenting the pages?

Thanks for your feedback, I have read that TextMate is very good, from a ruby on rails site. Why is PHP easier to pick up and is it difficult to find ruby on rails hosting?

If I use PHP or ruby on rails, can either of these be used if I host a web application on .mac, or do I need to find a host provider with specific support for one of these frameworks?

If you are just getting started, don't bother with using AJAX (its not a language, BTW) in your presentation layer.

PHP will be easier to pick up because your background is in a procedural language, not OO. Ruby is true OO, so theres a bit more of a learning curve. Its not a bad skill to learn, in fact any web application developer should learn multiple languages beyond their main server side language, HTML and Javascript, in my opinion.

As for hosts, you will easily find 1000 PHP capable hosts for each RoR host. Thats just the way it is right now. 20+ million sites use PHP.

In either case, yes you will need to find your own web host, .mac only serves static HTML as far as I know.

You will learn a lot as you go...